Singing has been employed for myriad purposes such as expressing love, conveying spiritual beliefs, selling products, and satirizing people (Tom Lehrer’s “Wernher Von Braun“). Now we can add developing empathy to the list. In “School Sings ‘Stefania,'” RTEnews mobile journalist Eleanor Mannion captures scores of students performing the Ukrainian song that won this year’s Eurovision prize. As they struggled to learn the Ukrainian lyrics, the Irish students came to realize how difficult it was for the recently arrived Ukrainian students to master English.

About “Stefania”

The song “Stefania” was written by the members of the Ukrainian folk-rap group Kalush Orchestra. The group consists of Ivan Klymenko, Oleh Psiuk, Tymofii Muzychuk, Vitalii Duzhyk, and Ihor Didenchuk. The song  is a tribute to Oleh’s mother, who heard it for the first time when she saw her son’s band compete to be Ukraine’s entry in the Eurovision competition.

“Stefania” lyrics in Ukrainian and in English.

Стефанія мамо мамо Стефанія,

Розквітає поле, а вона сивіє,

Заспівай мені мамо колискову

Хочу ще почути твоє рідне слово.

1 – куплет:

Вона мене колисала дала мені ритм

і напевне силу волі не забрати в мене бо дала вона

Напевне знала може більше і від соломона,

ломаними дорогами прийду я завжди тебе

Вона не розБудить не будить, мене в сильні бурі

Забере в бабулі 2 дулі, ніби вони кулі

Дуже добре знала мене не була обманута,

як була дуже втомлена, гойдала мене в такт

Люлі-люлі-люлі-a

Приспів:

Стефанія мамо мамо Стефанія,

Розквітає поле, а вона сивіє,

Заспівай мені мамо колискову

Хочу ще почути твоє рідне слово.

2 – куплет:

Я не в пеленах но ма, но ма, хватить,

як би я не виріс на виріст, за речі платить

Я не мала дитина, вона далі нерви тратить,

я гуляв, шлях би тебе трафив,

Ти все молода о мамо на піку,

якщо не ціню опіку на піку слави мені втупіку Забивайте піку цю піку я би попік спік, своєю любов’ю

 Люлі-люлі-люлі-а

~~~~~ English Lyrics ~~~~~

Mother Stephania Stephania mother

The field is blooming, but her hair is getting gray

Mother, sing me the lullaby

I want to hear your dear word

Verse 1

She was rocking me as a baby, she gave me a rhythm,

And you can’t take willpower from me, as I got it from her

I think she knew more than King Solomon.

I’ll always find my way home, even if all roads are destroyed

She wouldn’t wake me up even if there was a storm outside

Or if there was a storm between her and grandma,

She trusted me over everyone else

Even when she was tired, she just kept rocking me

Lully-lully-lullaby

Chorus

Mother Stephania Stephania mother

The field is blooming, but her hair is getting gray

Mother, sing me the lullaby

I want to hear your dear word

Verse 2

I’m not a kid anymore,

but she will always treat me like one

I’m not a kid anymore, but she keeps worrying about me,

anytime I’m out

Mother, you are still young.

If I don’t appreciate your kindness, I’m moving towards a dead-end

But my love for you has no end.

Lully-lully-lullaby

Chorus

Mother Stephania Stephania mother

The field is blooming, but her hair is getting gray

Mother, sing me the lullaby

I want to hear your dear word

Mother Stephania Stephania mother

The field is blooming, but her hair is getting gray

Mother, sing me the lullaby

I want to hear your dear word

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The editors of MobileMovieMaking have chosen “School Sings ‘Stefania'” as the Mobile Movie of the Week.