Sunday 6 December 2015

Nordic Diary: ÍSLAND (ICELAND) IN THE SUN

POST #111
PARODY-LYRICS
ORIGINAL SONG "Island In the Sun", Harry Belafonte 1957. The original song has been covered in versions in German and Swedish, but not as far as I can tell in Icelandic. 
PARODY COMPOSED: Giorgio Coniglio, December 2015.


This song resulted from a family trip to Iceland in June 2015. Our few days there were packed with wonderful sightseeing excursions. The weather was as good as it gets in Iceland (only minimal rain, not interfering with our travels). The highlight of the trip was the recently opened IceCave excursion; after a palpitating ride by giant truck over a huge ice-field, we walked into a system of tunnels in the glacier itself, led by an excellent informative guide.
The Icelandic language, a venerable tongue which has apparently changed little since the first settlers came to the island in the 9th century, seems challenging to learn. Fortunately for us, the friendly locals we encountered, at least in Reykjavik, all spoke English quite well.

Ísland = Iceland , pronounced eess-lant
ðan daginn = good morning, hello, pronounced goh-than die-in.
Eyjafjallajökull (j's pronounced as y)  = Island-Mountain-icecap, the subglacial volcano whose brief eruption caused the Icelandic ash problem in 2010; the volcano has now been considered dormant for 5 years.
    

KEYWORDS: multicultural, goldenoldy 






ÍSLAND (Iceland) IN THE SUN

(to the tune of Belafonte's "Island in The Sun")

This year we flew with Icelandair
Europe-bound and stopped halfway there.
We left TO, our kids from DC,
A meet-up trip for our family. 

Oh, Ísland, land of sun
Nights stay bright for the month of June;
Four full days, awesome sights to praise
Geysers, glaciers, volcanoes
IceCave, Langjökull
And Blue Lagoon.

A neat idea, break our trip
Meet at hotel-suite in Reykjavik.
Restos coped with vegg-necessity
And one kid GF lactose-free.

Didn’t know, but they’re eco-smart
Geo-thermal at system’s heart
Hot water piped everywhere you see
Heat all home and greenhouse for free.

Oh, Ísland, northern light
Eyjafjallajökull
eruption March 2010
Four full days touring awesome sights
Hotel choose, or your sleep you’ll lose
Weekends downtown bars
Never close at night.

Recent attraction, not to skip
Monster truck, glacier Ice-Cave trip
Bundle up, walk though colored ice
View crevasse, bottom-up is nice. 

Oh, Ísland, isle of fun
Nights stay bright for the month of June
Four full days, awesome sights to praise
Glacier overlying
 dormant volcano, 2013
Close with steamy bathing
At Blue Lagoon.

I'll greet old friends - ðan daginn”, soon
When we go back some year in June
Next time stay longer, get my fill - 
Climb, and say, “Eyjafjallajökull”.

Oh, Ísland, isle of sun
Nights stay bright for the month of June;
More full days, awesome sights to praise
Geysers, glaciers, volcanoes
And Blue Lagoon.


tourist-party atop the glacier
 'night'-time hike down volcano
 to a steamy bathing spot








Performing Notes

[D] This year we flew with Ice[G]landAir
[A7] Europe-bound and stopped [D] halfway there.
[Bm] We left TO, our [Em] kids from DC,
[D] Meet-up trip for our [A7] fami[D]ly. 

[D] Oh, Ísland *, isle of sun
[A7] Nights stay bright for the [D] month of June;
[Bm] Four full days, awesome [G] sights to praise
Geysers, [A7] glaciers, volcanoes
And [D] Blue Lagoon.

* pronounce as  'eess-lant'


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