Imagine a lonely mother in a remote Ukrainian village listening to this song on a crackly old bit of vinyl on her old Soviet era gramophone player as the last child to leave home sings along to it in a far away land.
It's a popular Ukrainian traditional song by composer P. Mayboroda (words by Malyshko) about mother and child parting for ever, a common occurrence in Ukraine's often tragic history. The mother gives him a traditional cloth into which she has embroidered all her hopes and fears, and her love for him. That's basically the gist of the song.
I thought it lends itself to Spanish guitar and French accordion interpretation quite nicely.
Dearest mother of mine.
Dearest mother of mine tell me why you weren’t sleeping,
Why you woke me to gaze at the stars up above.
Did you know I was leaving?
Tell me why, was that why you were grieving?
Was the cloth that you gave me a sign of your love?
Did you know I was leaving?
Tell me why, was that why you were grieving?
Was the cloth that you gave me goodbye and a sign of your love?
In my dreams I still see there’s a blossoming garden
And a meadow so green with birds full of song
And your smile never leaves me
Through your tears you had said you believed me
When I said I must go but I wouldn’t be long
And your smile never leaves me
Through your tears you had said you believed me
Now I live in a far away land and I know I was wrong.
On this cloth I still gaze as my fate is unfolding
You still whisper to me through the grass and the trees
Though your heart was so broken
You insisted on making this token
Of your motherly love so important to me
Though your heart was so broken
You insisted on giving this token
Of your motherly love though you knew what was going to be.
Original : Mayboroda/Malyshko Trad Ukr Ballad
English lyrical adaptaion: Stepan "Ludwig" Pasicznyk
England 07/2007
