When we were kids, the soundtrack of our car trips was often Irish folk music and, although I don't think of us as spending a lot of time in the car, it didn't take long for us to learn all the words and sing along. We were then also encouraged to share our songs at family gatherings. But since we learned by listening rather than reading, we just repeated the sounds we heard, which meant we were singing with a sort of Yank Irish brogue. We didn't really know we were doing it, but I do remember wondering why the adults we sang for were stifling laughs (not always entirely successfully) as we sang out, "I never will mah-rry. Isle be no mahn's wife. I intend to stay sing-gill, all the days of my life." (Aside from the fact of elementary and pre-school aged kids singing about never getting married, that is. And other songs about drinking and war. You know, kid stuff.)

Now I have the view from the other side. We just got a new CD of one of the kids' favorite singers, Farmer Jason (one of the few performers of kids music who doesn't make adults want to claw their ears off.) One of the catchiest songs on the CD is performed with a Celtic rock band, who sings the chorus while Farmer Jason chimes in on the verses.

The song is called "Well, Oh Whale" (which I didn't even realize until I just Googled it--thought it was "Whale, Oh Whale"--see, I still can't hear through the brogue!)

Well oh whale it's a whale whale whale
To always amaze us she will never fail
She could throw a party on her giant tale
Well oh whale it's a whale whale whale

When the kids sing along, they're repeating what they hear, just as we did in the back seat of the brown and tan Suburban all through the 80s. It's hard to transcribe, but it sounds something like this:

Will oh will it's a will will will
To always amaze us she will never fill
She could throw a pahr-tee on her giant till
Will oh will it's a will will will

And listening to it on the way home from swimming lessons tonight I realized the singers are even saying "trow" rather than "throw," though the boys can't hear that subtle distinction. It made me think of my Grandma Geraghty, who said things like "fill-im" for "film" and who I never even realized had any sort of accent until a friend of mine asked me why she talked that way. "What way?" I wondered. That's just Grandma.

This picture has almost nothing to do with the story, except that Aunt Peggy (on the left) was one of the adults who always loved to hear us singing about staying "sing-gill all the days of my life." And Sr. Diane (on the right) was our favorite sing-along companion for "Wild Rover" because we thought it was funny that she never could quite get the rhythm right on the clapping.

They visited us late last month. Unfortunately the occasion was a funeral of a friend of theirs, but we were so happy to be able to spend a morning together. The boys just bounced around the room trying to show off all their tricks and toys. This was their only calm time as they worked in pairs with the sticker books that Aunt Peggy brought for the boys. A very fun activity!