Lyrics in english for Brian Boru's ??

[anniemcu]

I have found some, by Alan Stivell, but they are decidedly not in English, and I cannot seem to locate a translator that will handle Gaeilge or Brezhoneg, so I am begging. Anyone?? Please?

[peeplj]

Here is one persons' attempt I found on the Web:

Brian Bórú, who gave the life to Ireland, died.
Peace in Ulster and in Dublin,
Unity of the houses, unity of the people,
Unity of the world and the Celts.

Strength of the engagements to that of the peace
Of the divine world blessing of the Love

They said that we were shameless
celebrating our love
With devastation all around us.

We are like the weather,
especially the sun
And we choose a soft place by the river

This came from http://celtic-lyrics.com/forum/lofivers ... /t589.html .
--James

[anniemcu]

Here is one persons' attempt I found on the Web:

Brian Bórú, who gave the life to Ireland, died.
Peace in Ulster and in Dublin,
Unity of the houses, unity of the people,
Unity of the world and the Celts.

Strength of the engagements to that of the peace
Of the divine world blessing of the Love

They said that we were shameless
celebrating our love
With devastation all around us.

We are like the weather,
especially the sun
And we choose a soft place by the river

This came from http://celtic-lyrics.com/forum/lofivers ... /t589.html .
--James

i saw that but couldn't get the words to fit the rythym, and the sense doesn't seem clear. It's a start though, thanks!

[Redwolf]

I have found some, by Alan Stivell, but they are decidedly not in English, and I cannot seem to locate a translator that will handle Gaeilge or Brezhoneg, so I am begging. Anyone?? Please?

While I can translate them for you, if they're in Modern Irish, I can guarantee that they won't fit the meter once translated. Irish and English are so different in how they express things, a singable translation of most songs is really, really hard to do. We get asked to do this kind of thing on IGTF all the time, and we have the same answer...we can give you a translation, but it would take a really gifted poet to make a singable song from it.

An alternative...if they're in Modern Irish, I can tell you how to pronounce them and give you the general sense. That would be a better way to sing the song in any case.

One question...are you sure these are authentic words, and not something someone wrote later? My impression of Brian Boru's march is that it was a funeral march played on the harp.

Redwolf

[Redwolf]

I have found some, by Alan Stivell, but they are decidedly not in English, and I cannot seem to locate a translator that will handle Gaeilge or Brezhoneg, so I am begging. Anyone?? Please?

While I can translate them for you, if they're in Modern Irish, I can guarantee that they won't fit the meter once translated. Irish and English are so different in how they express things, a singable translation of most songs is really, really hard to do. We get asked to do this kind of thing on IGTF all the time, and we have the same answer...we can give you a translation, but it would take a really gifted poet to make a singable song from it.

An alternative...if they're in Modern Irish, I can tell you how to pronounce them and give you the general sense. That would be a better way to sing the song in any case.

One question...are you sure these are authentic words, and not something someone wrote later? My impression of Brian Boru's march is that it was a funeral march played on the harp.

Redwolf

[dubhlinn]

I have always thought that BBs March was strictly an instrumental piece.
I have a very vague recollection of Stivells version and I seem to recall that he "spoke" those lyrics over the melody...

Slan,
D.

[djm]

The lyrics are modern. They give themselves away. No Gael ever called himself a "Celt", and the general tone of the lyrics overall is the current New Age drivel.

djm

[anniemcu]

I have found some, by Alan Stivell, but they are decidedly not in English, and I cannot seem to locate a translator that will handle Gaeilge or Brezhoneg, so I am begging. Anyone?? Please?

While I can translate them for you, if they're in Modern Irish, I can guarantee that they won't fit the meter once translated. Irish and English are so different in how they express things, a singable translation of most songs is really, really hard to do. We get asked to do this kind of thing on IGTF all the time, and we have the same answer...we can give you a translation, but it would take a really gifted poet to make a singable song from it.

An alternative...if they're in Modern Irish, I can tell you how to pronounce them and give you the general sense. That would be a better way to sing the song in any case.

One question...are you sure these are authentic words, and not something someone wrote later? My impression of Brian Boru's march is that it was a funeral march played on the harp.

Redwolf

I have the words as supposedly written by Alan Stivell, http://www.uplyrics.com/alan_stivell_ly ... 09095.html. This is not the same link I finally found last night, but it seems to match the version I've heard. I believe it is in Gaelic, but i don't know for sure. I would very much like to be able to pronounce it properly in the original. Thank you if you can do that.

I do know that a translation wouldn't fit initially, but if I can make enough sense of the wording and storylines involved, I can probably alter it enough to make it fit, but I would like to at least initially follow his scenario... I want to be able to tell people what it is they are hearing, and although I know some of the history of Boru, I value the author's version of the song.

In refinding that link, I also found this, though I haven't had time to even try it. (came at the top of the lists! Wonder what little change I made in my search terms that I hadn't tried in my many earlier ones??)
http://www.silverbranch.com/h2hlyrics.htm

Thanks much for your response. I appreciate any help I can get.

[anniemcu]

The lyrics are modern. They give themselves away. No Gael ever called himself a "Celt", and the general tone of the lyrics overall is the current New Age drivel.

djm

Oh yes, they are decidedly modern. (from his album of 1995 or so, I think) I suffer no delusions that someone has the words spoken (if any) to the tune at the beginning. But it just moved me to hear them, even though (possibly precisely because ) I couldn't understand them. It seems proper, somehow, to either tell the tale or express respect, which is what I hope they do. What I really want is to know what they do say... then I can decide whether they are what *I* want to say...

[Redwolf]

Well, for some reason he's got it both in Irish and in Breton (why the Breton, I have no idea). The spelling on the Irish is pretty bad, but I think I can work it out for you...maybe early next week?

FWIW, the words are definitely modern. The tune was supposedly played by the bards as Brian's body was born back to Tara...he was a major promoter of the bardic order.

Redwolf

[Redwolf]

I have to tell you, looking at the French translation, that the person who wrote those lyrics doesn't have good Irish at all. To start off, they've confused the words for "die" and "to kill"! And the spelling is atrocious, and the tenses are all over the map. I think they cobbled this together from a dictionary, to tell you the truth.

What the first verse says (taking misspellings into account):

Brian Boru will kill for the life of Ireland
Peace in the province of Ulster and in Dublin
Unity of the households, unity of the tribes/peoples
Unity of the world and of the Celtic (I assume he meant "Celts").

Redwolf

[anniemcu]

I have to tell you, looking at the French translation, that the person who wrote those lyrics doesn't have good Irish at all. To start off, they've confused the words for "die" and "to kill"! And the spelling is atrocious, and the tenses are all over the map. I think they cobbled this together from a dictionary, to tell you the truth.

What the first verse says (taking misspellings into account):

Brian Boru will kill for the life of Ireland
Peace in the province of Ulster and in Dublin
Unity of the households, unity of the tribes/peoples
Unity of the world and of the Celtic (I assume he meant "Celts").

Redwolf

I'm not surprised. I believe the guy who wrote the lyrics is Breton. I would imagine the French would be a more accurate version of his original words than the Irish, and there's no telling what got lost in the translations. When he sang it in the Gaelic(ish), the *sound* was beautiful... what it actually says may not be quite so pretty in the harsh light of proper usage of the language.

The SilverBranch site's lyrics seem more usable for English.

At any rate, the tune is absolutely wonderful, and i will try to put together what you can give me with what else I've found and attempt to do it some meager justice. Again, thank you for your help on this!!!!

[Redwolf]

Well, I can tell you that his grammar is really bad. I wouldn't recommend singing it using his Irish words at all...while you can kind of puzzle out what he MEANS, it doesn't actually make sense.

Redwolf

[Redwolf]

The one from "silverbranch" doesn't appear to be an attempt to write lyrics to this tune at all...rather it's a somewhat rambling neo-pagan ode to Brian Boru that won't scan with the tune.

BTW, "Erin go bragh" is Americanized gibberish. "Éire go brách" is "Ireland forever."

The tune is lovely, and is a tribute in and of itself...I'm not sure why it needs words at all. Sometimes a melody speaks more clearly than any words.

Redwolf