Talk:Oleanna (song)

Can anyone support the assertion that these lines are in the song? "The women there do all the work As round the fields they quickly go Each one has a hickory stick And beats herself if she works too slow" --Stlemur 05:53, 7 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The English version is Pete Seeger's translation of the Norwegian song. Actually it's just a interpretation, since some verses are different. But Pete Seeger has talked between the verses and said something like this, so I'm not sure this should be in the article. Actually thehe Norwegian verse which he probably misinterpreted, "Men kjerringa må styre og base og stelle, og blir hun sint, slår hun seg selv må jeg fortelle" means that if the wife gets angry, she should beat herself. As I interpret it, she beats herself instead of her husband, that's one of the reasons why Oleanna is so great. Spelemann 11:53, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

The HICKORY STICK verse was written by Theodore Bikel — not Pete Seeger. He recorded his version of the song in 1959 and published it in a songbook in 1960. Mudcat Cafe has Seeger's translation and the one by Bikel in their Oleanna thread. The Digital Tradition link is a mixture of the two. Pfa

Here are four translations of the same verse. Martin B. Ruud wrote a literal translation of Oleanna for Blegen's book. Years later Blegen wrote a singable version for a magazine article. Bikel and Silverman each wrote translations for a songbook. Pfa

RUUD 1936 And she has to sweat and toil and struggle; and if she doesn't do it, she gives herself a beating.

BLEGEN 1944 The dear old ladies struggle, and sweat for us, and labor, And if they're cross, they spank themselves, they do it as a favor.

BIKEL 1960 The women there do all the work as round the fields they swiftly go, They carry around the hickory stick and beat themselves if they work too slow.

SILVERMAN 1992 And she has to sweat and toil, all her work completing. If she doesn't finish it, she gives herself a beating.

The english language lyrics appear to be Pete Seeger's translation: http://www.mudcat.org/@displaysong.cfm?SongID=4455. It's not exact, but it's close. Wouldn't that be a violation of copyright? His original copyright EU516133 was filed 7Mar58, and his renweal RE-284-834 was filed 28Jan86.