Isn't she wonderful? Vanessa Mae

[Whisp]

4. I do housecleaning to music too.

this is my vacuuming one - Marta's Song. I turn up the knobs till they scream 'help me'. If I used a faster tempo I might not survive the vacuuming.

Its a Hungarian song about a young girl who is pregnant and doesn't know:
Marta's Song

Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
Three units of red ribbon
does not fit

Oh my God, oh my God
What has happened to me?
Three units of red ribbon
does not fit around me!

Oh my God, oh my God
What has happened to me?
I have a sorrow too...
What happened to me?
Three units, three units

Arararararara aira rararara rarara...

Oh my God, oh my God
What has happened to me?
Three units of red ribbon
does not fit around me!
Three units, three units

Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
I have a sorrow too...
Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
What happened to me?
Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
I have a sorrow too...
Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
What happened to me?
Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
I have a sorrow too...
Arararararara aira rararara rarara...
What happened to me?

Marta's Song is about a girl, who cries that she has a big sorrow, which is that three units of red ribbon do not fit her. The Csángó people used (and somewhere still use) a long ribbon as a belt, which was whipped round them three times (one round whipping was called "mérő", which also means unit os measure). The girls used a red ribbon. So what happens if someone can't whip round her three times? She does not fit her belt anymore, because... there is something wrong with her.

The young csángó girls get this ribbon at a very young age, and always use the same length for a new ribbon, when they decide to change. What is wrong, if someone cannot be whipped round three times with a ribbon? The problem is, that she has become a little bit "fat", this is why she does not fit in her belt anymore. And to finalize this interpretation: the (young) girl is pregnant, this is why she is so sad. We know that the girl is young because she does not recognize her problem correctly, and she is afraid to tell her mother her problem, this is why she does not know her "problem".

Finally there is a lot of archaism in this song, and there is no dictionary which contains their correspondent english form, this is why those strange english phrases were used as translations.

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I have another one for you, a deaf percussionist called Evelyn Glennie, you may have heard of her - but yes, she is deaf and an awesome musician. She lost her hearing at age 12. This thread is memory lane for me now, as I haven't listened to Glennie for years now too.

Title: Evelyn Glennie Shows How to Listen (I could use some of that sometime
This link is a talky she gives - really interesting stuff. There are some youtube performances here and there, not as many as I think should be out there tho.
http://www.ted.com/talks/evelyn_glennie_shows_how_to_listen.html