Happy 4th of July!

Wondering Poppy Flower

Wondering Poppy Flower

I Papaveri (The Poppy Song)

Traditional Italian, translated by Michael Mark & Tom Chapin
© 1996 HCD Music & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)

Lo sai che i papaveri son’ alti, alti, alti.
Ma tu se piccolino,
Tu se paparino.
Lo sai che i papaveri son’ alti, alti, alti.
Per esere come loro
Tu devi aspettar’.

You know the poppy flower grows up
Tall and slim and straight,
But you are not a tall flower,
You are still a small flower.
You know the poppy flower grows up
Tall and slim and straight.
To grow as tall as they do
You’re going to have to wait.

Lo sai che i papaveri son’ alti, alti, alti.
Ma tu se piccolino,
Tu se paparino.
Lo sai che i papaveri son’ alti, alti, alti.
Per esere come loro
Tu devi aspettar’.

For all the Mothers in the Wood…

…And especially mine.

Natalie Merchant, “Kind & Generous”

You’ve been so kind and generous
I don’t know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I’m in debt to you
For your selflessness, my admiration
And for everything you’ve done

You know I’m bound…
I’m bound to thank you for it

You’ve been so kind and generous
I don’t know how you keep on giving
For your kindness I’m in debt to you
And I never could have come this far without you
So for everything you’ve done

You know I’m bound…
I’m bound to thank you for it

I want to thank you
For so many gifts
You gave with love and tenderness
I want to thank you

I want to thank you
For your generosity
The love and the honesty
That you gave me

I want to thank you
Show my gratitude
My love and my respect for you
I want to thank you

I want to…

Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you

And for all the future mothers…

… thank you in advance.
♥

Tom Paxton

TOM Paxton, whom I adore, wrote a song for his daughter, Kate, which I have adapted:

Oh, I have a little son, and my son his name is Tom.
And he’s every bit mischievous as the lizard in his palm.
With a bandage on his forehead and the bruises on his knees,
You would swear he’d fought with buccaneers on all the seven seas.
For its up the stairs and down the stairs and in the room and out.
Like a miniature tornado, he can blow the house about.
Take an angel with the devil in the twinkling of his eye,
And that’s my Tommy, I’m his mommy, and I love him.

Now you might have heard of miracles, you might believe in saints,
But you’d never believe my Tommy when he’s playing with his paints.
For there’s red upon the window and there’s green upon his face,
On the wall, and in his hair, but on the paper, not a trace.
When he’s in his room and quiet, and there comes a little calm,
You develop the sensation that you’re sitting on a bomb.
Take an angel with the devil in the twinkling of his eye,
And that’s my Tommy, I’m his Mommy, and I love him.

My Tommy loves his games, you know, and thirty times a week,
I find myself dragooned into a game of hide-and-seek.
So I find myself in closets, under beds I quietly creep,
And I wait for thirty minutes till my brain has gone to sleep.
Yes I sit there in the closet and it seems like half a day,
Till I find his sister’s come to call and Tom’s moved on to play!
Take an angel with the devil in the twinkling of his eye,
And that’s my Tommy, I’m his mommy, and I love him.

Now ya might’ve heard of mommies who would dote upon their sons,
Who get wrapped around their fingers by their handsome little buns,
Who respond to hugs and kisses till there’s nothing they wouldn’t do,
Don’t you ever believe a word if it, it simply isn’t true.
For I’d only jump the moon for him, I’d only jump the sea,
For the hugs I get to give him and the kisses he gives to me.
Take an angel with the devil in the twinkling of his eye,
And that’s my Tommy, I’m his mommy, and I love him.

Tom Paxton’s original song, sung by my hero, Pete Seeger:

BOTH of these folk singers are a very large part of the music that plays in the woods.
The children dance.

Wandering’s New Song

Folk music is popular in the wood. Wandering likes “I had a rooster.”

I had a rooster, my rooster pleased me
I fed my rooster ‘neath the greenberry tree
My little rooster went cocka doodle doo
Dee doodle-ee doodle-ee doodle-ee do.

I had a dog, my dog pleased me
I fed my dog ‘neath the greenberry tree
My little doggie went ruff ruff ruff
My little rooster went cocka doodle doo
Dee doodle-ee doodle-ee doodle-ee do.

I had a kitty, my kitty pleased me
I fed my kitty ‘neath the greenberry tree
My little kitty went meow
My little doggie went ruff ruff ruff
My little rooster went cocka doodle doo
Dee doodle-ee doodle-ee doodle-ee do.

Etc.

(Music info here.)

Well, I heard Wandering sing this song the other day, but apparently he changed the words. It now goes like this:

I had a Jenna Rose, and the Jenna Rose pleased me
I fed my Jenna Rose ‘neath the greenberry tree
The little Jenna Rose went I love you
Dee doodle-ee doodle-ee doodle-ee do.

Hmmmmmm…

Turkey in the Straw

On stage at the fair…