first music ever....

that I recall listening to was bagpipe music....!!

my mum had brought along cassette tapes from Glasgow when we moved back to Singapore. (actually e word 'back' doesn't apply to me since at that point in time I'd never been in Singapore before....)

two other songs that I listened to since before I could walk:

I Vow To Thee, My Country
I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love:
The love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar, the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
[Repeat]

And there's another country, I've heard of long ago
Most dear to them that loves her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King:
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering:
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness and all her paths are peace.
[Repeat]

Danny Boy (Londonderry Aire)
O Danny Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling
From glen to glen, and down the mountain side.
The summer's gone and all the roses falling;
It's you, it's you must go and I must bide.

But come ye back when summer's in the meadow,
Or when the valley's hushed and white with snow
I'll be there in sunshine or in shadow;
Oh Danny Boy, oh Danny Boy, I love you so

But when ye come, and all the flow'rs are dying
If I am dead, as dead I may well be.
Ye'll come and find the place where I am lying.
And kneel and say an Ave there for me.

And I shall hear, though soft you tread above me;
And all my grave will warmer, sweeter be.
For you will bend and tell me that you love:
And I shall sleep in peace until you come to me

former is a British patriotic song, where e first verse refers to those who died during WW1. came across it again when watching e 1995 Rugby World Cup when it was used as e anthem. apparently people have this song sung at funerals & weddings too. can listen to it here, though this isn't e best of renditions - sounds like it was sung by a bunch of rugby guys =P

e latter is Irish, & believed to refer to someone leaving for war & whom probably will not return before e 'singer' dies. came across it again when my secondary school choir sang it as part of their repertoire for some competition/performance, & later on in e soundtrack of e WW2 movie Paradise Road. also a 'favourite' at funerals. years later both of these songs appeared in Charlotte Church's first album.


[ filed under: music1 ]