2023-06-14 16:53:42
Whether in a children’s class, Kita (daycare centre) or birthday party, you’ll undoubtedly encounter at least one of these long-standing Lieder (songs) and maybe even pick up the lyrics yourself.
Maybe you’re an international parent who wants to be in the know – or are simply looking to better your German with a few catchy tunes (“ear worms”, or songs you just can’t get out of your head).
We look at seven of the most popular, as well as their lyrics in both English and German.
READ ALSO: Music to our ears: The top 10 melodic German phrases
Sleep child sleep
It’s been a long day, and it’s finally time to turn off the lights and go to sleep: that’s not always an easy task for little kids, nor their parents. So this gentle ballad has long been a classic to try to woo children to sleep. Sometimes child (little child) is also replaced by the equivalent, and more modern word, child.
The first version of the song was published in 1611 and the lyrics and tunes sung today date back to 1781. Nowadays it’s the goodnight song that Germans can recite from their childhood and, in turn, pass on to their own offspring.
But the song – which describes a whimsical world in which everything is worry-free – isn’t just popular among parents. Over the years many bands, especially rock ones, have extrapolated the tune and lyrics into their own songs.
Its uses have ranged from pure covers, such as that of German pop singer Nena, to a remix from the Punkband The fat cop with Brother sleep.
READ ALSO: The lingo you need to talk about sleep like a true German
Here are the famous lyrics of the classic Lied.
Sleep kid sleep,
The father tends the sheep
The mother shakes the little tree,
A little dream falls down.
Sleep kid sleep!
And a rough English translation:
Sleep, little child, sleep,
The father herds the sheep,
The mother shakes the little tree,
A little dream is falling down.
Sleep, little child, sleep!
All my little ducklings[children’ssong
Like their English counterparts, German children’s songs love to feature animals, whether a cat lying down in the snow (‘A,B,C, die Katze lief im Schnee’) or a fox who swiftly steals a goose (‘Fuchs, du hast die Ganz gestohlen’).
But the most recognisable animal song is a sweet ballad about birds, starting with lyrics about ducks. The song ‘Alle meine Entchen’ (All my ducks) originated in the mid-19th century and is traditionally sung as children walk around in a circle, imitating the gestures of the various birds – and especially the ducks – in their environments.
The first two verses go:
All my little ducklings[children’ssong
swim on the lake,
swim on the lake,
head in the water,
little tail in the air.
All my doves
coo on the roof,
coo on the roof,
one flies in the air
all follow.
And in English:
All my ducklings
swimming on the lake,
swimming on the lake,
Head in the water,
Tails in the air.
All my little pigeons
cooing on the roof,
cooing on the roof,
one flies into the air,
everyone’s following.
Singing happy birthday
Nowadays many people in Germany simply sing the English version of “Happy Birthday” when someone’s special day arrives. But especially at children’s birthday parties, it’s common to keep the traditional German variant alive, which is sung to the same tune as its English equivalent:
Birthday good luck (All the best for your birthday).
These lyrics are repeated, throwing in a liebe/lieber (dear), depending on the name of the birthday girl or boy.
Another popular song for the birthday boy (birthday child) is How wonderful that you were born (How wonderful that you were born). While there are several verses, the core (and most catchy is):
We would otherwise have missed you very much
How nice that we are together
We congratulate you, birthday boy
How wonderful that you were born
We would otherwise have missed you very much
How nice that we are together
We congratulate you, birthday boy
That roughly translates to:
We would have missed you very much otherwise
How nice that we are together
Congratulations, birthday boy
How wonderful that you were born
We would have missed you so much
How wonderful that we are together
Congratulations, birthday boy
Bake bake cake
In a country like Germany, that’s pretty much obsessed with baked goods, it comes as little surprise that one of the most popular children’s songs already teaches the littlest of kids to recite in rhyme all of the key ingredients and steps needed to make the perfect Cake (cake).
READ ALSO: Coffee and cake: The history behind a very German tradition
This classic, Bake, bake a cake, can be traced back to the eastern German states of Saxony and Thuringia in 1840. The lyrics have remained the same since then, so it’s worth noting that the Middle High German word gehl (today written as “gelb” meaning yellow) is used to rhyme with Flourmeaning flour.
Bake, bake cakes, the baker called!
If you want to bake good cakes, you must have seven things:
eggs and salt, butter and lard, milk and flour,
Saffron makes the cake gehl. Put it in the oven.
In other (English) words:
Bake a cake, bake a cake.
The baker has called.
Whoever wants to bake a good cake,
must have seven things,
Eggs and lard,
Sugar and salt,
Milk and flour.
Saffron makes the cake yellow
Push it into the oven.
Es regnet (It’s raining)
A group of kids is eager to get outside and play but, alas, it’s pouring down with rain. In order to convince them that it’s not so bad to stay inside, this song boasts of the benefits of rain for the earth – everything is going to grow and be bright and green afterwards – and describes how lucky they are to take cover where it’s dry and warm.
The song stems from the 19th century, when there was likely even more rain in Germany, and nowadays is sung mostly in Kitas and primary schools.
It’s raining, it’s raining
The earth gets wet
And if it’s rained enough
Then grass will grow again
It’s raining, it’s raining
It’s raining its course
And if it’s rained enough
Then it stops again
It’s raining, it’s raining
What do we care?
We’re sitting dry
And don’t get wet
In English, it goes:
It’s raining, it’s raining
The earth gets wet
And when it has rained enough
Grass will grow again
It rains, it rains
It rains its course
And when it’s rained enough
It’s gonna stop
It rains, it rains
What do we care?
We sit in the dry
And we don’t get wet
all people
When a group of children is dispersing, be it from a swim class or the Kita, this is a popular goodbye ballad bidding everyone farewell. Several of the German words are abbreviated, as they often are in colloquial form, so People (people) becomes people and today (today) as today’.
Everyone, everyone go home now
Everyone, everyone go home now
big people, little people,
Fat people, thin people
Loud people, quiet people
Everyone, everyone go home now
All people, all people wave to each other
say goodbye
That was nice again today.
All people, all people wave at each other
In translation:
Everyone, everyone is going home.
Everyone, everyone is going home.
Big people, little people,
Fat people, thin people,
Loud people, quiet people,
Everyone, everyone is going home.
Everyone, everyone is waving goodbye.
We say goodbye,
That was fun again today!
Everyone, everyone is waving goodbye.
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