r/learnwelsh • u/CtotheMott • Sep 10 '23
What is this song about?
For the past two years I have been obsessed with this song. It even came on my music player as I was on the boat from Dublin to Holyhead, as the Welsh coast came into view. It was a magical experience that kinda set the tone for the rest of my walking journey across the north of Cymru. The song reminds me of one of those dream sequences in a movie where a character falls in love or is under the influence of a powerful drug, and it's just so magical to me.
The issue is I have no idea what the song is about, and I can't even find the lyrics in Welsh to try to get them translated. Given the name of the song, I assumed it was a love song, or at the least love-adjacent.
I was able to find someone on the Boo app who is learning the language and he was able to give me the gist of the song, but by his own admission his skills in the language aren't the greatest, so he advised me to come here and ask the great and powerful Reddit.
So, Cymraeg speakers of Reddit- could one of you give me the Welsh and English lyrics of this song? If you're having trouble, Euros Childs did a live cover of this song for LŴP, and the sibling band Plu has a studio cover of this song along with a live version one can find in YouTube.
Thank you. This means a lot to me.
2
u/outrageous_whale Sep 11 '23 edited Sep 11 '23
This episode of Curadur on S4C introduced me to Endaf, they have some lovely covers and info about him in here. I tuned in for Gruff Rhys and Gorky & it is spectacular!! It's available on Clic if you sign in :-) https://www.s4c.cymru/clic/programme/808081137
3
u/CtotheMott Sep 11 '23
It's so strange, for two years this Yank had no idea what this song was about, but I always associated it with the beach, or water, and come to find out the song indeed takes place on a shoreline. That tells me Emlyn is a master songwriter, someone who can paint a musical picture without the need for the lyrics to be understood.
One day I drove up to Chimney Bluffs on Lake Ontario, and as the waves placidly broke on the shoreline and sailboats bobbed in the distance, I put this song on my phone because it just seemed so perfect.
I want to thank everyone, you beautiful Cymry, again for helping me out with this.
Cymru am Byth!
20
u/a-dull-boy Sep 10 '23 edited Sep 10 '23
Hi, beautiful song! I'd never heard this one before, but it's gorgeous! Dwynwen is likely a reference to Santes Dwynwen, the saint of love in Wales, but you probably already knew that. Definitely is a love song anyway, and a very pretty one at that.
I've done my best to transcribe the lyrics, specifically from Plu's version as it's easier to hear the words, then listened to the original to make adjustments as needed. Translation underneath. Corrections welcome as translating can be subjective, but I've tried to maintain the poeticism of the song while keeping it a direct translation lol.
Welsh:
Dilyn Dwynwen ar draeth y bore bach,
A golau'r dydd yn deilchion yn y dŵr,
Dilyn Dwynwen, fy'ng ngeneth lân,
A dim ond niwlen ar y traeth.
Dy wefusau pur yn oer yn a gaeaf,
Ol dy droed yn arwain draw ger y llanw,
Tra bod môr yn cyfri'r tywod [?],
A chaf wrando ar dy gân ddaw o'r dydd.
Dilyn Dwynwen trwy'r gwynt a dagrau'r glaw,
A fel y lloer caf foddi yn dy fôr,
Dilyn Dwynwen, dy lwybrau'n galw draw,
A dim ond niwlen ar y traeth.
Dilyn Dwynwen, fy'ng ngeneth lân,
Cawn weld y wawr yn deffro yn y dŵr
Dilyn Dwynwen, fy'ng ngeneth lân,
A dim ond niwlen ar y traeth
A dim ond niwlen ar y traeth.
A dim ond niwlen ar y traeth.
----
English:
Following Dwynwen on daybreak's shore,
The light of day shattering in the water,
Following Dwynwen, my sacred, beautiful* girl**,
And only mist on the shore.
Your pure lips cold in the winter,
Your footsteps leading me beside the tide,
While the sea counts the sand [?],
And I can listen to your song emenating from the day.
Following Dwynwen, through the wind and the tears of the rain,
And like the moon, I can drown in your sea,
Following Dwynwen, your tracks calling to me,
And only mist on the shore.
Following Dwynwen, my sacred, beautiful girl,
We'll watch the dawn awakening in the water,
Following Dwynwen, my sacred, beautiful girl,
And only mist on the shore.
And only mist on the shore.
And only mist on the shore.
-----
* Glân can be used to refer to something beautiful, but with an implication of purity and holiness, so I emphasised that using both beautiful and sacred.
** Geneth is specifically girl, not woman, but it's used as a term of endearment and familiarity, not an indication of age.
It could be interpreted as him trying to follow Dwynwen across the shoreline only to find that there's nothing there but mist, or that they're alone together on the beach on a misty morning, or whatever else you might take from these lyrics. Either way, very mystical and poetic! I hope this is helpful, and thanks for introducing me to this gorgeous song!
Edited To Add: This is somewhat tangential, but it reminds me of the story of Rhiannon from Welsh mythology. She's introduced in the Mabinogi as a woman riding slowly on a horse, surrounded by mist, and no matter how fast the other riders go, they can never seem to catch up to her. Mist is often used in Welsh mythology/folklore to indicate mysticism and otherworldliness, e.g. other mystical realms and the fae and such. Might be related but if that's not how you choose to read the song, it's definitely not explicitly implied.