Rough translation: Slept the girl till breakfast, The boy did not believe. Wake up girl, my heart, Have you not slept enough? Slept the girl till lunch, The boy did not believe. Wake up girl, my heart, Have you not slept enough? Slept the girl till dinner, The boy did not believe. Wake up girl, my heart, Have you not slept enough? The girl was laid in a white coffin, The boy did not believe. Wake up girl, my heart, Have you not slept enough? The girl was laid in a deep pit, The boy did not believe. Wake up girl, my heart, Have you not slept enough? The girl was being covered in white sand, The boy starts to cry. Take a sword, chop my head, Let me down with her.
We are currently doing this piece in our choir (in South Africa), but the pronunciation of the words are a bit of an obstacle. Can someone please make a video of how to pronounce the words.
It is ... pretty much a funeral song. It is about a boy mourning his beloved one, who obviously died too young. As it is a folk song, some people have proposed that it was part of the older tradition (that was more pagan than christian) of singing for and of the diseased.
RU-vid randomly brought me back to this song a couple of years later and I just saw your answer. So, later is better than ever, thank you ! xD (still love that song)