"Poniedzia l ek Rano"

A Polish Folk Song

Melody Transcribed by Robert J. Baran

This Page Last Updated: September 11, 2004
 

This was sung for my family by my father on several occasions while I was growing up.
(There do exist videotapes with segments of Dad crooning it to some of his grandchildren.)
Dad's brothers and my grandfather before them also sang it.
Grandpa Baran was born in Lowczowek, Plesniak, Poland on January 23, 1893.
His children were all born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Two different partial transcriptions were used as a basis for the following,
plus text from a non-family source (see below).
To represent the Polish letter "l" which has a short diagonal line through its center
(and pronounced as if it were "w"), the bolded " l " is used herein.
To represent the Polish letter "a" which has a cedilla under it, the bolded " a " is used herein.
To represent the Polish letter "e" which has a cedilla under it, the bolded " e " is used herein.


Melody:
C   D   E   F   G  C
A   A   C   A   G   E
F   F   G   F   E   E   E
D   D   E   D   C   E   G
F   F   G   F   E   E   E
D   D   E   D   C   E   C



1
W Poniedzia l ek rano,
kosi l ojciec siano,
kosi l ojciec, kosi l ja,
kosilísmy obydwa.
kosi l ojciec, kosi l ja,
kosilísmy obydwa.

(On a Monday morning,
busy Monday morning,
Father cut hay, and so did I,
mowed together he and I.
Father cut hay, and so did I,
mowed together he and I.)


2
A we Wtorek rano,
grabi l ojciec siano,
grabi l ojciec, grabi l ja,
grabilísmy obydwa.
grabi l ojciec, grabi l ja
grabilísmy obydwa.


(On a Tuesday morning,
busy Tuesday morning,
Father raked hay, and so did I,
raked together he and I.
Father raked hay, and so did I,
raked together he and I.)

3
A we Sroda rano
suszy l ojciec siano,
suszy l ojciec, suszy l ja,
suszylísmy obydwa.
suszy l ojciec, suszy l ja
suszylísmy obydwa.

(On a Wednesday morning,
busy Wednesday morning,
Father dried hay, and so did I,
dried together he and I.
Father dried hay, and so did I,
dried together he and I.)


4
A we Czwartek rano,
przewracalim siano,
robi l ojciec, robi l ja,
robilísmy obydwa.
robi l ojciec, robi l ja,
robilísmy obydwa.

(On a Thursday morning,
busy Thursday morning,
Father pitched hay, and so did I,
pitched together he and I.
Father pitched hay, and so did I,
pitched together he and I.)

5
A na Pi a tek rano,
sk l ada l ojciec siano,
sk l ada l ojciec, sk l ada l ja,
sk l adalísmy obydwa.
sk l ada l ojciec, sk l ada l ja,
sk l adalísmy obydwa.

(On a Friday morning,
busy Friday morning,
Father stacked hay, and so did I,
stacked together he and I.
Father stacked hay, and so did I,
stacked together he and I.)


6
A w Sobota rano,
zwozi l ojciec siano,
zwozi l ojciec, zwozi l ja,
zwozilísmy obydwa.
zwozi l ojciec, zwozi l ja,
zwozilísmy obydwa.

(On a Saturday morning,
busy Saturday morning,
Father hauled hay, and so did I,
hauled together he and I.
Father hauled hay, and so did I,
hauled together he and I.)

7
A w Niedziela rano,
krówki jad l y siano,
spocz al ojciec, spocz al ja,
spocz el ismy obydwa.
spocz al ojciec, spocz al ja,
spocz el ismy obydwa.

(And on Sunday morning,
cows ate hay that morning,
Father rested, and so did I,
rested well, both he and I.
Father rested, and so did I,
rested well, both he and I.)
 

NOTE FROM RJB:  The Sunday verse
that was sung to me was as follows:

A w Niedziela rano,
pzepi l ismy siano,
pzepi l ojciec, pzepi l ja,
pzepilismy obydwa.
pzepi l ojciec, pzepi l ja,
pzepilismy obydwa.

(And on Sunday morning,
busy Sunday morning,
Father drank, and so did I,
Drank together he and I.
Father drank, and so did I,
Drank together he and I.)


 

GLOSSARY

a
and
czwartek
Thursday
grabi c
to rake
ja
I, me
je sc
to eat
kosi c
to mow
krówki
cows
na
on, at, upon
niedziela
Sunday
obydwa
both
ojciec
father
pi a tek
Friday
poniedzia l ek
Monday
przewraca c
to turn, to overturn
pzepi c
to drink
rano
morning
robi c
to work
siano
hay
sk l ada c
to put together, to store
sobota
Saturday
spocz ac
to rest
sroda
Wednesday
suszy c
to dry
w, we
on
wtorek
Tuesday
zwozi c
to carry, to transport

 

FEEDBACK

     "Thanks for posting the words for 'Poniedzialek Rano' on the web.  I've intended to learn the rest of the Polish words to this song for most of my life.  I learned the chorus from my father.  He told me that the words meant, 'I sling hay, my father slings hay, we both sling hay together.', and that there was one verse for each day of the week, and that on Saturday they went out and got drunk, and on Sunday they went to church [sic] .   The melody is catchy.  As a Boy Scout, I would sing this song as I hiked.  It tends to be one of the songs that run in my mind as I walk around doing other things.  I now work as a programmer, and have been sent to Korea several times.  One of the Korean men that I work with asked me about this song that I was always singing, and would I please write down the words.  This spurred me to do a web search to try to find the right words, which led me to your site.  Thanks!  In the library I found a children's book based on this song, but it only gives an English translation (no mention of getting drunk).  [ Busy Monday Morning   Copyright 1985 by Janina Domanska, Greenwillow Books, New York  ISBN 0-688-03833-6;  ISBN 0-688-03834-4 (lib. bdg.)]    Thanks again, and best regards..."

Herb Perkins-Frederick, Canberra, Australia, in e-mail to RJB, February 14, 2002

* * * * *

     "I just saw your rendition of Poniedzialek Rano and it brought tears to my eyes. I am an american of polish decent and we always sang and still sing that song. Though my babcia and dziadziu have passed on,  I sing it to my nieces now and they love it...  Thank you!"

Teresa, in e-mail to RJB, February 10, 2003.

* * * * *

     "Szanowny Pan RJB:
     "Your site with above song was a real thrill to find!  I have been trying with very little luck to trace the origin and age of the song, to find out all I can about it.  Your information more than doubled what I knew.  And I would like to tell you what I knew.   Since I have been in the record business all my life, including Polish and polka music, the earliest recording found listed was a 78 rpm Dana recording of Frank Wojnarowski, probably recorded in the late 1940's.  I could not find the record, although I have hundreds of Polish and polka records.  Later it was transfered to both EP and LP.  The second recording was by Ted Maksymowich, I believe an ABC Record Co. LP, with words to all the songs on the back.  For this song the words are somewhat different from both your version, the other version listed, and the one we sang in Polish school (adult).  And another was recorded by the Polka Family (formerly of Los Angeles, now back East, PA, I believe).  Their title was "On Monday Morning", sung but not the complete song.

All the recordings and our singing were in 2/4 polka time; the web site gives the sheet music [see below] as 3/4 waltz time.

... And since I have also been in the folk dance world, I put together a number of years ago a children's dance imitating the various actions of the song...

Bardzo dziekuje"

Jan, in e-mail to RJB, May 2, 2004.

* * * * *

POLISH HAYING SONG

On a Monday morning, sunny Monday morning,
Sowed our seed, tatus* and I
Sowed it when the sun was high
Sowed our seed, tatus and I
Sowed it when the sun was high

Tuesday...mowed our hay
Wednesday...dried our hay
Thursday...raked our hay
Friday...hauled our hay....hauled it 'til the dusk was nigh

On a Saturday morning, sunny noon and evening
Sold our hay, tatus and I
Sold it when the night was nigh...

On a Sunday morning, bright and sunny morning
Bowed our heads, tatus and I
Thanked the Lord who dwells on high

*pronounced TAH-toosh - affectionate name for "father"

Polish folk song - English by Edmund Lukaszewski
copyright 1946, Handy songs, Delaware, Ohio

from Sing Around the World, Cooperative Recreation Service, Delaware, Ohio.
(Cooperative Recreation Service is now World Around Songs )

* * * * *

     The name of the song is Ojciec i Syn, and can be found on Songs and Dances from Poland by ARC records(cd).

per GUEST,polski_chlopiec@msn.com , 09 Jun 04 - 08:31 PM, http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=63150&messages=17  

* * * * *

     Per a copy in braille and English from the Phoenix Public Library, Busy Monday Morning text adapted from Treasured Polish Folk Rhymes, Songs and Games, translated by the Polanie Editorial Staff, from Koszalki Opalki of Zofia Rogoszówna, Copyright 1976 by Polanie Club, Inc., published by Polanie Publishing Company, Minneapolis.  This latter work has been also tracked down and the words and translation above are from pg. 50.  The music on pg. 51, adapted by Daniel Feigelson, is just a little different than RJB recalls, but is in the same key.  The Glossary is per the Wiedza Powszechna Polish and English Dictionary, Chicago: National Textbook Company, 1993.  Original copyright 1981 Wiedza Powszechna, Warsaw Poland. 


Anyone else who can supply further details about this folksong
is urged to contact me at rjb@phoenixbonsai.com.
Bardzo dzi e kuj e.

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