Give me oil in my lamp

I perhaps didn’t sing enough of this song when I was taught it at seven. As a little boy I just wondered what Hosanna meant. I didnt like the song because it was so full of Hosanna anyway.

I still don’t know what Hosanna means, there are no authoritative meanings assigned to it as much as I could find from the internet. Possible origins are as varied as Old english, Late Latin and ofcourse Hebrew.

But as I grew up this song took a different meaning. I began to like the simple words that make powerful expressions.

I dont know when I will ever get to sing this song again, or perhaps if I will sing it out loud at all.

But here goes.

Give me oil in my lamp

Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning. Give me oil in my lamp, I pray.
Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning. Keep me burning ’til the break of day.

Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.
Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.

Give me joy in my heart, keep me singing. Give me joy in my heart, I pray.
Give me joy in my heart, keep me singing. Keep me singing ’til the break of day.

Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.
Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.

Give me love in my heart, keep me serving. Give me love in my heart, I pray.
Give me love in my heart, keep me serving. Keep me serving ’til the break of day.

Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.
Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.

Give me peace in my soul, keep me praising. Give me peace in my soul, I pray.
Give me peace in my soul, keep me praising. Keep me praising ’til the break of day.

Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.
Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, Sing Hosanna, to the King of Kings.

There Shall be showers of Blessing

Year 1993.

One of my close friends, who helped me through a surgery just a few months back suggested that I spend a week end in a Christian camp with him. I agreed, though I am not a Christian by birth, and was present there for two full days, praying, worshipping and singing the glory of Jesus. I learn’t many new hymns and this one was particularly close to my heart.

My friend has moved on with life now. Some where we even pick-up disagreements and we are no longer in touch. But all said and done, he was a good Christian and I regret that I didn’t use him to learn more about Christianity, despite his repeated offerings to help me learn.

I suddenly remember this song today and decided to check if it is available for download. There are only 135 listings even of the Lyrics. I will be pleased if some one is willing to share an mp3 version of this song with me.

There Shall be showers of Blessing

There shall be showers of blessing
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.

(Chorus)
Showers of blessings,
Showers of blessings we need;
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead

There shall be showers of blessing
Precious, reviving again,
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.

(Chorus)
Showers of blessings,
Showers of blessings we need;
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead

There shall be showers of blessing
Send them upon us, O Lord!
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come and now honor Thy Word!

(Chorus)
Showers of blessings,
Showers of blessings we need;
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead

There shall be showers of blessing
O that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!

(Chorus)
Showers of blessings,
Showers of blessings we need;
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead

There shall be showers of blessing
If we but trust and obey
There shall be seasons refreshing
If we let God have His way

(Chorus)

Showers of blessings,
Showers of blessings we need;
Mercy drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead

How do I know who am I

When I first saw Rabbi Shergill’s video for the song Bulla ki jaana main kaun, I knew instantly that I would be spending more time on it.

After researching the lyrics for 8 hours and listening to it several times to firm up the lyrics, I found my own translation to be the most convincing. Come on folks, I’m not even Punjabi. I even found the guitar tabs here

Baba Bulleh Shah (1680-1758), has surely been an excellent writer of songs. No other song in an unknown langauage would have impressed me more. Though he lived during the time before the printing press, most of what we know about him has come to us through unreliable anecdotes and folklore. The limited authentic historical record, based on sporadic references to events of his life in his poetry and in the writings of his contemporaries, is barely enough for a brief sketch of his life.

I’ll read more – if only I find time. Anyways, here is my translation of the song:

Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I

Na main moman vich maseetan 	Neither am I believer in a Mosque
Na main vich kufar dian reetan 	Nor a pagan practising false rites
Na main pakan vich paleetan 	Nor am I the Pure amongst impure

Na main andar bed kitaban 	Neither am I in any Holy Books (Vedas)
Na main rehnda phaang sharaban 	Nor high on any drugs or alochol
Na main rehnda mast kharaban	Nor am I an idle delinquent

Na main shadi na ghamnaki 	I am neither happy union nor lonely misery
Na main vich paleetan pakeen 	Nor am I pure or impure
Na main aaabi na main khaki	Nor am I water or earth
Na main aatish na main paun	Nor am I fire or air

Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I

Na main arabi na lahori	        I am neither an Arab or a Lahori (Pakistani)
Na main hindi shehar Nagauri	Nor am I from the (Indian) town of Nagaur
Na hindu na turk pashauri	Nor am I a Hindu or a Peshawari Turk

Na main bhet mazhab de paya	I did not create any differences in faiths
Na main aadam hawwa jaya	Nor do I know of any Adam or Eve
Na koi apna naam dharaya	I did not name myself

Avval aakhar aap nu jana 	I know only of the Self
Na koi dooja hor pacchana 	and recognise no Other
Mai ton na koi hor syana	There is nobody wiser than I

Bulle shah kharha hai kaun?	Bulleshah, who is standing (in your place)?

Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I

Na main moosa na pharaoh	Neither am I Moses nor the Pharoah
Na main jagan na vich saun	Neither am I awake nor asleep
Na main aatish na main paun	Neither am I am fire nor wind
Na main rahnda vich Nadaun	Nor do I live in Nadaun
Na main baitthan na vich bhaun	Neither am I at rest nor in a storm

Bulle shah kharha hai kaun?	Bulleshah, who is standing (in your place)?

Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I

Oh! Oh! Oh!  Oh! Oh! Oh!

Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I
Bulla ki jaana main kaun 	Bulla, how do I know who am I

About the song Scarborough Fair

Lyrics of the song

Are you going to scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She once was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Without a seam or needle work,
For once she was be a true love of mine.

Tell her to wash it in yinder dry well,
Parsley,sage,rosemary and tyme;
Were water n’er sprang,nor drop of rain fell,
For once she was a true love of mine.

Tell her to dry it on yonder gray thorn,
Parsley,sage,rosemary and tyme;
Which n’er bore blossom since Adam was born,
For once she was a true love of mine.

Tell her to find me an acre of land,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
Between the salt water and the sea sand,
For once she was be a true love of mine.

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather,
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme;
And gather it all in a bunch of heather,
For once she was a true love of mine.

Are you going to Scarborough fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there.
She was once a true love of mine.

The history of Scarborough and its fair

This English folk song dates back to late medieval times, when the seaside resort of Scarborough was an important venue for tradesmen from all over England. Founded well over a thousand years ago as Skarthaborg by the norman Skartha, the Viking settlement in North Yorkshire in the north-west of England became a very important port as the dark ages drew to a close.

Scarborough Fair was not a fair as we know it today (although it attracted jesters and jugglers) but a huge forty-five day trading event, starting August fifteen, which was exceptionally long for a fair in those days. People from all over England, and even some from the continent, came to Scarborough to do their business. As eventually the harbour started to decline, so did the fair, and Scarborough is a quiet, small town now.

The history of the song

In the middle ages, people didn’t usually take credit for songs or other works of art they made, so the writer of Scarborough Fair is unknown. The song was sung by bards (or shapers, as they were known in medieval England) who went from town to town, and as they heard the song and took it with them to another town, the lyrics and arrangements changed. This is why today there are many versions of Scarborough Fair, and there are dozens of ways in which the words have been written down.

Explanations of the lyrics

The narrator of the song is a man who was jilted by his lover. Although dealing with the paradoxes he sees himself posed to in a very subtle and poetic manner, this was a folk song and not written by nobles. The courtly ideal of romantic love in the middle ages, practised by knights and noblemen, was loving a lady and adoring her from a distance, in a very detached manner. There was hardly a dream and sometimes not even a wish that such love could ever be answered.

As a version of the song exists which is set in Whittington Fair and which is presumed to be equally old, it is puzzling why the lieu d’action of the song eventually became reverted to Scarborough. A possible explanation is that this is a hint from the singer to his lover, telling how she went away suddenly without warning or reason.

Scarborough was known as a town where suspected thieves or other criminals were quickly dealt with and hung on a tree or a la lanterne after some form of street justice. This is why a ‘Scarborough warning’ still means ‘without any warning’ in today’s English. This would also account for the absence of any suggestion of a reason for her departure, which could mean either that the singer doesn’t have a clue why his lady left, or perhaps that these reasons are too difficult to explain and he gently leaves them out. The writer goes on to assign his true love impossible tasks, to try and explain to her that love sometimes requires doing things which seem downright impossible on the face of it. The singer is asking his love to do the impossible, and then come back to him and ask for his hand. This is a highly unusual suggestion, because in those days it was a grave faux-pas to people from all walks of life for a lady to ask for a man’s hand. Yet it fits in well with the rest of the lyrics, as nothing seems to be impossible in the song.

The meaning of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme

The herbs parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, recurring in the second line of each stanza, make up for a key motive in the song. Although meaningless to most people today, these herbs spoke to the imagination of medieval people as much as red roses do to us today. Without any connotation neccesary, they symbolize virtues the singer wishes his true love and himself to have, in order to make it possible for her to come back again.

Parsley (Petroselinum crispum)

Parsley is still prescribed by phytotherapists today to people who suffer from bad digestion. Eating a leaf of parsley with a meal makes the digestion of heavy vegetables such as spinach a lot easier. It was said to take away the bitterness, and medieval doctors took this in a spiritual sense as well.

Sage (Salvia officinalis)

Sage has been known to symbolize strength for thousands of years.
Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis)
Rosemary represents faithfulness, love and remembrance. Ancient Greek lovers used to give rosemary to their ladies, and the custom of a bride wearing twigs of rosemary in her hair is still practised in England and several other European countries today. The herb also stands for sensibility and prudence. Ancient Roman doctors recommended putting a small bag of rosemary leaves under the pillow of someone who had to perform a difficult mental task, such as an exam. Rosemary is associated with feminine love, because it’s very strong and tough, although it grows slowly.

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris)

According to legend, the king of fairies dances in the wild thyme with all of the fairies on midsummernight; that’s the best known legendary appearance of the herb. But the reason Thyme is mentioned here is that it symbolizes courage. At the time this song was written, knights used to wear images of thyme in their shields when they went to combat, which their ladies embroidered in them as a symbol of their courage.
This makes it clear what the disappointed lover means to say by mentioning these herbs. He wishes his true love mildness to soothe the bitterness which is between them, strength to stand firm in the time of their being apart from each other, faithfulness to stay with him during this period of loneliness and paradoxically courage to fulfill her impossible tasks and to come back to him by the time she can.

Songs sung later by Nana Mouskouri and Sara Brightman can be found here.