New Translation: Friesenlied: Where the North Sea Waves
This is a beloved German song that my father and the family used to sing, so I thought I would translate it into English.
Friesen Song: Where the North Sea Waves
1. Where the North Sea waves roll in against the shore,
And yellow flowers bedeck the lush green moor,
|: Where the cries of sea gulls pierce the ocean’s roar,
There you’ll find my homeland, where I lived before. (Repeat)
2. Wind and waves sang me their lilting lullaby;
My childhood sheltered there by dikes so high.
The land knew all my yearning, when I was still but small
When flying o’er the oceans I had to leave it all.
My heart’s no longer aching, gone is all the pain,
I may have made my fortune, but I’m homesick again.
3. Homesick for green and yellow flowering moor,
Where North Sea waves wash up against the shore.
|:Where the cries of sea gulls pierce the ocean’s roar,
That’s the place where I lived, the home I had before. (Repeat)
September 6- 8, 2012 peter krey
In Plattdeutsch:
Friesenlied (Wo die Nordseewellen)
Wo de Nordseewellen trekken an den Strand,
Wo de geelen Blöme bleuhn int gröne Land,
|: Wor de Möwen schrieen hell int Stormgebrus,
Dor is mine Heimat, dor bün ick to Hus. (Repeat)
2 Wind un Wogen sungen mi dat Weegenleed,
Un de hohe Diek, de kennt min Kinnertied,
|: Kennt ok oll min Sehnsucht as noch lütt ick weer:
In de Welt to flegen, ower Land un Meer. (Repeat)
Nu is alls verswunnen, wat mi quäl un dreev,
Hev dat Glück woll funnen, doch dat de Sehnsucht bleev.
Modern German:
1. Wo die Nordseewellen spülen an den Strand,
Wo die gelben Blumen blühn ins grüne Land,
|: Wo die Möwen schreien schrill im Sturmgebrus,
Da ist mine Heimat, da bin ich zu Hus. (Repeat)
2. Well’n und Wogen sangen mir min Wiegenlied,
Hohe Deiche waren mir das “Gott behüt”,
|: Merkten auch min Sehnen und min heiß Begehr:
Durch die Welt zu fliegen, über Land und Meer. (Repeat)
3. Wohl hat mir das Leben mine Qual gestillt,
Und mir das gegeben, was min Herz erfüllt.
|: Alles ist verschwunnen, was mir leid und lieb,
Hab das Glück wol funnen, doch das Heimweh blieb. (Repeat)
4. Heimweh nach dem schönen, grünen Marschenland,
Wo die Nordseewellen spülen an den Strand,
|: Wo die Möwen schreien, schrill im Sturmgebrus,
Da ist meine Heimat, da bin ich zu Hus. (Repeat)
Hear it sung in Low German by Ronny: Friesenlied
Hello, Peter. I arrived here from a search on Friesenlied. It was also a favorite of my father, who came to America with my mother in 1929. There was a German waiter at the Sunrise Village restaurant/dance hall on Sunrise Highway on Long Island who had a beautiful tenor voice. On the rare occasions when our entire family went there, including my sister’s and my wedding receptions in the early 50’s, my father would ask the waiter (I’ve forgotten his name for the moment) to sing that song, which he did, and my usually stoic father, with tears in his eyes, would sing along with him. Still now, I occasionally find myself searching for it, and always it stirs deep feelings in me. Now that I’m here, I’ll be perusing your website. I see you have a space for website–I just put up the beginnings of one. It needs all the content to be uploaded yet.
Regards, Margaret Hinck O’Brien
Marge O'Brien
October 1, 2014 at 12:54 pm
Dear Marge,
I’m glad you found the Friesenlied here in my website. Do you speak German? If so, how do you think my translation came out?
I have so much in my website, that I look on the Internet for a song sometimes, and I find it in my own website and even translated!
lovejoypeace,
peterkrey
peterkrey
October 1, 2014 at 1:21 pm
So happy I found the words to this song! My mother and grandmother used to sing
it to me as a child. Brings back memories! Suzanne Pruess B.
Suzanne Pruess B.
May 24, 2017 at 9:21 am