In the US we sing the song “Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear"so and so”, happy birthday to you."
I know in some other countries they just change the words but I’d like to ask, are there any other “Happy Birthday” songs used in other countries?
In Poland, the song is “*Sto lat” *which means “100 years” and, like the American song, it’s a simple, repetitive ditty of general good wishes.
Translated roughly, it goes:
A hundred years, a hundred years,
May s/he live with (for?) us all.
… Repeated a few times, with the last line re-repeated on a slower meter. Honestly, if you can’t understand the words, it probably sounds like a drinking song.
Then again, vodka is generally involved, sooooo …
Among English-speakers in Canada, we use the same Happy Birthday song as in America.
I live in a French part of Canada, and French speakers either sing a translation of the birthday song (with the same tune,) or a version of a different French song originally called “Gens du pays.”
In Spanish we also have Feliz, feliz en tu día. It was written by the guy in the red hat, Alfonso Aragón, aka Fofó. Along with his brothers Gabriel (Gaby, the MC) and Emilio (Miliki, with a beret), and with his son Alfonso (Fofito, with a black hat) he had for many years a show in Spanish TV called Los payasos de la tele (TV clowns), where they’d sing that song for any birthday children in the audience. At first it was only the brothers, Fofito joined later.
The Aragón family have been circus people for many generations; Miliki’s firstborn, also called Emilio, is perhaps the most famous producer in Spain as well as a director and comedian. The three brothers lived in several American countries before coming back to start their program, which was very popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
*
Feliz, feliz en tu día
amiguito que Dios te bendiga
que reine la paz en tu día
y que cumplas muchos más.*
Have a merry, merry day,
dear little friend may God bless you
may peace reign in this your day
and may you have many returns.
Some people prefer to sing vida instead of día, wishing for a peaceful life.
I Thailand, they just sing “Happy Birthday.” Really. In English, or a close approximation.
ETA: the red hat looks grey in the video; I had originally used another one with a full-color still but changed it for one that’s got the lyrics.
Aaaaand in Mexico they sing Las mañanitas:
Estas son las mañanitas
que cantaba el rey David
hoy por ser día de tu santo
te las cantamos a tí.
These are the mornings (actually a type of song, think of a lullaby for waking up)
that King David used to sing
as today is your feastday
we are singing them for you.
Strictly speaking it would be for someone’s name-day, but that used to be the same as the birthday; as those separated, custom has kept the song for birthdays.
In the Netherlands they have “Lang zal hij leven”:
Lang zal hij leven,
Lang zal hij leven,
Lang zal hij leven in de gloria,
In the gloria, in de glooo-riiiii-aaaaaa…
(That is for a man – for a woman, change “hij” to “ze”)
It roughly means “He/she shall live long and gloriously”.
In Ecuador they sing, to the tune of Happy Birthday:
Cumpleaños, feliz
Te deseamos a tí
Cumpleaños, en tu día
Cumpleaños feliz
For the record, the original song was based on a different tune, “Good Morning To All”…
In Afrikaans, the birthday song is “Veels geluk, liewe maatjie” which has a different tune.
Veels geluk is “Congratulations” (It’s cognate with, but doesn’t mean, “Good luck”, for which the Afrikaans is more like “Strength” or “Godspeed”). Liewe maatjie is “dear friend,” with maatjie being a diminutive, it’s what you use for playmates rather than adult friends. Here’s one rendition, they kind of lose the plot towards the end…
So a rough translation of that whole video would be:
Congratulations, dear friend,
because it’s your birthday
May the Lord bless you
and spare you many more years
Happy Birthday, man, have a happy birthday (repeated ad nauseum and tunelessly)
In practice, of course, nowadays people just sing Fiddy’s In Da Club…
Swedish:
Han is for a male, hon is for a female.
Ja, må han leva!
Ja, må han leva!
Ja, må han leva uti hundrade år!
Javisst ska han leva!
Javisst ska han leva!
Javisst ska han leva uti hundrade år!
In Madeira,(Portuguese)
Parabéns a você
Nesta data querida
Muitas felicidades
Muitos anos de vida
Hoje é dia de festa
Cantam as nossas almas
Para o menino/a [name]
Uma salva de palmas
English,
Congratulations to you
On this day honey
Many good wishes,
Many years of your life
Today is the day to party
Sing out our souls
for (the birthday boy/girls name)
A round of applause.
And thats it followed by a round of cheering and some cake.