Reggae Time! A cheesy homework essay ad-hoc reggae tune.

This was actually a ONE SONG project.

I have recorded this as a memory refreshment for my family and as a birthday gift for my 8 years younger sister.

To understand the concept you may want to read its genesis story, first.

TRUE STORY:

Many years ago when my sister was a cute school kid, she had to write a short essay about the WW2.

And she did and left her homework lay on the table. I happened to have a look at her opened notebook,  found these words very well structured and since the sentences were so short it somehow read like a poem.

I thought it would be interesting to test this text on its compatibility with music.

So I grabbed my guitar and on the spot created a melody. My sister laughed her butt off and so did I. It was such a cheap and cheesy tune but it sounded just right.

We called the rest of our family (mother, father and my second sister) and played the comical tune to them, too. It was so hilarious, we had such a good time – it was amazing.

Years flew by and ever since then nobody had ever mentioned this „essay“ song anymore. Not even once.
I had never recorded it and almost totally forgotten about it.

Then there was this call with my sister. We spoke about this and that and the other and she goes: „Hey, do you remember this song from back then?“
And she sings it to me completely perfectly as if she would have prepared herself beforehand.

I was impressed that after all those years – now she herself has 2 kids as young as she was back then – she was able to remember the lyrics and the melody so perfectly. I was like: This is just amazing, this must be a good song. And we laughed and forgot about it again.

A couple of weeks later, her birthday was coming up. You can guess what a hideous plan I had…

The original words (now lyrics) were in Slovak language since we were born and raised in Slovakia. But we live in Germany and we speak German, too.  And since the „song“ was actually only about a minute long tune I needed something to make it look like a real song. The best solution seemed to be to translate it to German. I needed one more minute – ok. One more translation to English and it was done.

Eventually, my sister received her birthday gift right on time. It was a hell of surprise! She got a „fake copy“ of her notebook (in English) from me and a CD. She and her kids were dancing and playing it non stop over and over again. Her daughter even said her uncle was so cool! What more could I have wished for?

So… I reckon now you are ready to listen to the tune… 🙂

Dnesne Deti, Children Today, Kinder von Heut‘ – T.A.D.G

This song was published online in 2018. My publisher’s automatic system wouldn’t let me to title it what I wanted – in three languages. I was forced to only choose one. There is always a hidden ding dong everywhere…

Here on my website it’s titled as originally intended. 

Anyway, enjoy the tri-lingual ride!

iTunes

Listen to this song on iTunes

VERSE (SK):

Dnesne deti
sa maju velmi dobre
nemaju nic za ulohu
len sa ucit

V minulosti
Sa deti museli ucit
Ale museli aj tazko pracovat
na poliach

CHORUS:

A ked isli do skoly
nenaucene
tak sa triasli

A ked isli do skoly
cele znicene
tak sa triasli

Ale museli aj tvrdo pracovat
na poliach

VERSE (ENG):

Children today
Let me tell you they got it real good
they really got nothing to do
but to learn

Back in the day
I’d assume they had to learn too
But they were also working effing hard
On the fields

CHORUS:

And when they went to school
Often unprepared
They were trembling bad

And when they went to school
Totally wrecked and tired
They were trembling bad

But they were also working effing hard
On the fields

VERSE (GER):

Den Kindern von Heut’
Ja denen geht’s sowas von gut
Ja die müssen fast rein gar nichts tun
Nur was lernen

Damals jedoch
Mussten Kinder auch was lernen
Dabei taten sie noch diese harte
Arbeit auf dem Feld

CHORUS:

Und wenn sie zur Schule gingen
Oft unvorbereitet
Dann hatten sie Schiss

Und wenn sie zur Schule gingen
Total kaput
Ja dann hatten sie Schiss

Dabei taten sie noch diese harte
Arbeit auf dem Feld