Music by tradtional, lyrics by traditional
©2017 Jay Sand
The Thompson River people are indigenous to British Colombia, Canada,and are said to have links to indigenous populations that may have entered North America via the Bering Strait land bridge, differentiating them from the Hopi and Pueblo whose origins are more likely Meso-American.
The lyrics of the All Around This World version of this song are “vocables,” which are sounds made in a song in place of words:
Hey hey hey hey, oh oh hey hey
Teachers can use this song as a drum-along to introduce kids to the musical concept of "vocables," sounds that replace words in songs but still express emotions. Start with "oh oh, hey hey" then ask kids what sounds they may make if they're happy ("ha ha! hey hey"), sad ("wah wah! hey hey), etc.
CMN's Multicultural Songbook is an anthology of some of the best songs originating from (or about) countries beyond the United States, often sung in languages other than English. In sharing songs of other cultures, we broaden the global understanding of our children so that they might see themselves as part of a larger world of people, not so unlike themselves, who hope, dream, play and learn in far-away lands sometimes in unfamiliar--but equally interesting--languages.
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