The Dream Passes by the Windows

"Oy Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon" - Kate Orange.

"The Dream Passes by the Windows" (Ukrainian: «Ой ходить сон коло вікон»), better known as Oi Khodyt Son Kolo Vikon, is a Ukrainian children's lullaby.

The song is a traditional lullaby for young children, composed of three verses in a minor tone. However, as it is a folk song, there are many popular versions of both the lyrics and the melody. The first recordings of the lyrics were made in the 19th century. In particular, in the almanac "Mermaid of the Dniester" in 1837 on page 35. There it is marked as "lelial".^[1] On page 65 of Nikolai Gatsuk's collection "Harvest of the Native Field", published in Moscow in 1857.^[2]

The Russian Invasion (the war) is the reason why there are so many covers of the song on YouTube by many people and choirs. They covered the song and uploaded their covers of it to YouTube to show their support for the people and children of Ukraine, and that they want to stop the war.

Lyrics

Ukrainian original

Romanization

Translation

Ой ходить сон, коло вікон.
А дрімота коло плота.
Питається сон дрімоти:
"Де ж ми будем ночувати?"

Де хатонька теплесенька,
Де дитина малесенька,
Туди підем ночувати,
І дитинку колисати.

Там ми будем спочивати,
І дитинку присипляти:
Спати, спати, соколятко,
Спати, спати, голуб'ятко.^[3]

Oy khodyt' son, kolo vikon.
A drimota kolo plota.
Pytayetsya son drimoty:
De zh my budem nochuvaty?

De khaton'ka teplesen'ka,
De dytynka malesen'ka,
Tudy pidem nochuvaty
I dytynku kolysaty.

Tam budem spochyvaty,
I dytynku prysypl'yaty:
Spaty, spaty, sokol'yatko,
Spaty, spaty, holubyatko.

The Dream passes by the window,
And Sleep by the fence.
The Dream asks Sleep:
"Where should we rest tonight?"

Where the cottage is warm,
Where the tot is tiny,
There we will go,
And rock the child to sleep.

There we will sleep,
and will sing to the child:
Sleep, sleep, my little falcon,
Sleep, sleep, my little dove.

Possible "Summertime" connection

When, after a performance, the Ukrainian-Canadian composer and singer Alexis Kochan was asked about the similarity of (the first line of) this lullaby and the melody of George Gershwin's aria Summertime (composed in December 1933), Kochan suggested that "Gershwin was deeply affected by the Ukrainian lullaby when he heard it sung by the Koshetz Ukrainian National Choir at Carnegie Hall in 1929 [1926?]." ^[4]

References

^ Іван Бойко. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
^ Uz︠h︡ynok ridnoho pola (in Ukrainian). U drukarni Katkoua. 1857.
^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2008-12-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^ Helen Smindak DATELINE NEW YORK: Kochan and Kytasty delve deeply into musical past, The Ukrainian Weekly, 24 May 1998

[ib-1] Іван Бойко. {{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[2] Uz︠h︡ynok ridnoho pola (in Ukrainian). U drukarni Katkoua. 1857.

[3] "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-10-15. Retrieved 2008-12-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)

[4] Helen Smindak DATELINE NEW YORK: Kochan and Kytasty delve deeply into musical past, The Ukrainian Weekly, 24 May 1998

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