Lyrics – Transliteration
(Chinese folk song)
Chit chia eh hoay chun kia tee Hokkien.
Kia kau tee poa hai chut or ean.
Ah Hock ee chin sooi goa boh gian.
Kamgoan khee chia chye khee seng tian.
English Translation
The only information I have is it is about a rocking boat and is often sung as a lullaby.
Recorder Notes D, E, F#, A, B, D’
See also
- Country: China
- Subject: boats
- Type: lullaby
- Harmony: chords I & V
- Melody: mi, re, do / D,E,F#,A,B,D’ / C,D,E,G,A,C’
- Meter: 4
- Rhythm: syncopation
- Scale: pentatonic
- Tones: drmsld’
- Source: Festivals, Jean Gilbert, Oxford University Press, 1986
YouTube
- PDF of song with chords
- MIDI file
- Listen to the melody
2 thoughts on “Fukien Boat Song”
Hi Beth!
Thanks for sharing this!! I came across this song earlier this year as I was trying to find songs from Fujian (we say Hokkien in Singapore) to learn. This a little bit in the effort of retracing my musical heritage! I grew up speaking some Hokkien with my grandparents, but I’m not fluent by any means.
I put in a bit of research (in the form of asking my dad for help to decipher the transliterated lyrics), and here’s a version I just posted with possibly a bit more information on this piece!
https://www.instagram.com/p/DCYiBrdSQjJ/
Thank you so much!