Don't Say Happy Birthday

I realized recently that Norway is the only country I've been to where they don't sing "Happy Birthday". As in most places I've been, the tune's the same but the text is different. My friend recently celebrated her 30th and we wished her a happy birthday in no less than nine languages: Russian, Polish, German, French, English, Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic.

It was then that I realized that I never learned the text to the Norwegian birthday song. It's kind of embarrassing that it escaped me for so long, but there you have it. I learned the tune, which is completely different from the "Happy Birthday" tune most countries seem to use. Even in Egypt, they sing the "Happy Birthday" song with the text "senna helwa, ya gamil" ("A year of sweetness, my love"), but not so in Norway. I found the Norwegian birthday song text on the internet and I thought I'd share. The song goes like this:

Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år,
Ja, deg vil vi gratulere!
Alle i ring omkring deg vi står og se,
Nå vi vil marsjere,
Bukke, nikke, neie, snu oss omkring,
Danse for deg med hopp og sprett og spring!
Ønsker deg av hjerte alle gode ting og
Si meg så hva vil du mere –
Gratulerer!

A very loose translation goes something like this:

Cheers to you on your birthday,
Yes, you will we celebrate!
Everyone in a circle around you stands, and look!
Now we will march, bow, courtesy, nod and spin,
Dance for you with a hop, a leap and a jump!
With all of our hearts, we wish you only good things and
Tell me what else you wish for –
Congratulations!

You stand up when you sing the song and children will usually act out the commands in the song while the adults tend just nod and bow. It's cute, really. There are a lot of birthdays in the coming months and I'm glad that I've finally learned the words.

Gratulerer med dagen!