h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: First Songs: From Assyria to Sirius - A87782269
Author: Dmitri Gheorgheni - U1590784

Just a few ditties for your amusement.

'Om. Om. Mane padme. Om.'</>

This is nice, Dmitri.

A few carpets (little carps):

1 Why do we have to take Ombra mai fu as a hymn? Just because it's a song of praise?

Music is praise, at least according to Captain Tobias Hume (not a religious composer). He is the one who said that 'To praise music were to say, that the sun shines'.

2 What is so naughty about Sumer is icumen in? The farting buck? < meh >

3 Which 'first song' was about the moon?

Thanks for reading!

1. 'Ombra mai fu': It's a song directed at something - in this case, a tree - and praising it. I was taught that this was called a hymn. In other words, hymns don't have to be religious. But maybe I should reword.

2. Well, I was thinking about the bulloc sterteth part, as well as the farting buck. It's generally about randy nature. But I could remove the 'slightly naughty' part, if you like. It IS pretty PG.

3. Hm. The first song - the Assyrian number - was a hymn to Nikkal. Who was the wife of the moon god. I was assuming they were domiciled somewhere near the Sea of Tranquility.

But that's a good point - now I see that Nikkal, the goddess, was in charge of orchards:

http://www.thaliatook.com/OGOD/nikkal.html

Apparently, her parents weren't very happy with her marrying an out-of-towner, and took a lot of persuading on the part of the moon god. But eventually, they got hitched, and he dropped dew on her fruit trees nightly. Sounds a little complicated, like a bi-coastal relationship.

I'll go and reword that part. Thanks for the help!

Okay, a few rewrites, and an additional lyric excerpt from that Hurrian hymn.

Again, much thanks!

Those tweaks help enormously.

What is unfortunate about having to count it as a hymn, though? (Still on the subject of Ombra mai fu). A hymn is a song, nothing to regret there, I would have thought. Mr Moonlight -- is that a hymn? I wouldn't find it worth a mention, if I were writing this Entry.

About hymns, though, in a well-used move, some cleric did add alternative religious words to Sumer is icumen in; they are there in Latin in the 12th-century original copy.

Breezy hits it exactly right. I'm doubtful about the transcription of the words: you seem to have used a ð where the original has þ (a thorn rather than an eth). The original also divides the words springþ and þe which you do not. And is there a u in wude? It looks like wde to me. And do you need to add commas and exclamation marks and the like?

About the Exodus one, again if it were my Entry which it is not, I would go for the good old King James translation:

The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

This is a delightful little article, with lots of interesting things to listen and read.

But I feel I want to ask the sort of question my philosophy professor used to ask 'what do you mean by song?' When does poetry become song? Where does dance end and song begin? Were Homer's poems sung? Were the psalms? I end up feeling a bit

Ah, MVP, it sounds like you've just got an idea for a new Guide Entry.

I think a lot of what you're calling poetry was song once - at least, it was sung. Or chanted, sort of. With minimal musical accompaniment. But hey.

Recumbantman, the hymn thing was an attempt at a joke. If it's bothering you that much, I'll go take 'unfortunately' out.

And I'll take a look at that transcription of 'Sumer'. The source I was using used eth rather than thorn, and I didn't go back to the manuscript.

Okay, I updated the transcription of 'Sumer Is Icumen In'.

But I've made an executive decision to kept the New International Version of Miriam's song, just to remind people that the Hebrews didn't speak King James English.

Fair enough.

'Springth' and 'the' still need a space between ...

On it!

I figured it out - if you don't put a &nbps; in between, the code jams them together.

Curious. Well solved!

It strikes me the last couple of paragraphs are definitely speculative. Now I don't mind a bit of speculation, personally. It stretches our horizons - and justifies your alliterative title.

But I wonder whether the guardians of the old Edited Guide might have said "We don't do speculation." The new Edited Guide is more flexible. Is a bit of speculation OK?

Well, that's true enough.

As always, I'm always ready to take this Stuff back where it belongs, if where it belongs is the Post. Just because I felt like collecting the information doesn't mean it belongs in the Guide.

'The Green Hills of Earth' probably can't be called a 'first' song of any sort - and I did make up the title afterwards. Hm...

Let's see what other PR experts say before I take this away. GEs, Subs? Scouts?

I got a highly speculative piece through in 2004, confessing (as Dmitri does) that that's what it was A1986951

I see nothing amiss with the speculative part of this otherwise highly factual and informative Entry

I love it! That's a wonderful way to talk about bike safety.

So maybe it's not too speculative to wonder about Robert Heinlein's song?

I thought I'd spare people the terrible filk versions.

I see nothing wrong with a reasonable degree of speculation if it is in context with the rest of the article.

If speculation dominates the article, then I'd be inclined to rethink.

<BB<

Your Guide Entry has just been picked from Peer Review by one of our Scouts, and is now heading off into the Editorial Process, which ends with publication in the Edited Guide. We've moved this Review Conversation out of Peer Review and to the entry itself.

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Congratulations on another superb entry, Dmitri.