This song from 1941 was originally in Yiddish and written for the stage production Esterke, but was made famous in English by Joan Baez in the 1960s. It tells the allegory of a cow and a swallow. Who do you want to be: the cow "bound for slaughter" or the swallow "proud and free"? Meanwhile, the winds are laughing....
lyrics
On a wagon bound for market
There's a calf with a mournful eye
High above him there's a swallow
Winging swiftly through the sky
How the winds are laughing
They laugh with all their might
Laugh and laugh the whole day through
And half the summer's night
Dona, Dona, Dona, Dona; Dona, Dona, Dona, Di
Dona, Dona, Dona, Dona; Dona, Dona, Dona, Di
"Stop complaining!" said the farmer
"Who told you a calf to be?
Why don't you have wings to fly with
Like the swallow so proud and free?"
How the winds are laughing
They laugh with all their might
Laugh and laugh the whole day through
And half the summer's night
Dona, Dona, Dona, Dona; Dona, Dona, Dona, Di
Dona, Dona, Dona, Dona; Dona, Dona, Dona, Di
credits
from Points on the Map of Heaven,
released March 16, 2021
Lucie Carlson: vocals/violin
James Carlson: vocals/baritone ukulele, arrangement
Music: Sholom Secunda
English Lyrics: Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz
Cricket and Snail is a duo in Prague that features Lucie Carlson, violin/voice, and James Carlson, accordion/baritone
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