Andare, Partire, Tornare ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two Two the lily-white boys I'll sing you one-o Green grow the rushes-o What is your two-o? Two two the lily-white boys Clothed all in green-o, One is one and all alone And ever more shall be so. I'll sing you three-o Green grow the rushes-o What is your three-o? Three-e-e three-e-e The ri-i-i-ivals, Two two the lily-white boys Clothed all in green-o, One is one and all alone And ever more shall be so. I'll sing you four-o ... four for the Gospel makers, ... five for the symbols at your door, ... six for the six proud walkers, ... seven for the seven stars in the sky, eight for the April rainers, ... nine for the nine bright shiners, ... ten for the Ten Commandments, ... eleven for the eleven that went to heaven, twelve for the twelve Apostles Apparently there is an urban legend floating around that this song, or a slightly similar one by Robert Burns called Green Grow the Rashes O (sounds painful, doesn't it?) resulted in Mexicans calling American's "Gringos" - Snopes, as usual, has the real scoop. "The true origin of gringo is most likely that it came from griego, the Spanish word for "Greek." In Spanish, as in English, something difficult or impossible to understand is referred to as being Greek: We say "It's Greek to me," just as in Spanish an incomprehensible person is said to hablar en griego (i.e., "speak in Greek")." My original reason for putting up Green Grow the Rushes O was because I was thinking of the book _Green Knowe_ and also because I've been trying to find the tune for the song recently, so it's been on my mind. But really, I don't have much to say today. 1:28 p.m. - 2002-04-09 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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