Happy Birthday and other Birthday Songs.

Recently I celebrated my birthday. In our western societies, it is common to say Happy Birthday to you! and sing a popular song with this same name. I was having a chat a friend who was surprised to see that there are other different ways to greet people for their Birthdays and not everybody use this song.

For someone with close contact with other cultures it can be easily assumed that everybody sings the “Happy Birthday” song whenever there is a birthday in our family or community. As a personal experience, I can tell about the time I studied Mandarin. When we had a birthday in class, we sang the “Happy Birthday” song in Mandarin. Future visits to Internet confirmed that this song indeed is used in Mandarin. (There is also a version in Cantonese).

There are good reasons for this belief. In first place, the song “Happy Birthday to you” is not only the most known song in English in the world, but is also the most translated song into other languages. Wikipedia lists more than 40 versions of this song in different languages. In my personal experience, I´ve heard this song sung in languages such as English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Arabic (I mention Mandarin previously). Second, most of the existing birthday traditions are relatively new in our history.

But there are some cultures where there are different songs used in birthday celebrations. Here’s a list of some of them. You can write me in the comments if you know a different song not mention here.

Poland:

Polish sing the song “Sto lat”, which means: 100 years. It is used also to express good wishes in other occasions. You can read the lyrics and translation here. It is unknown the origin and who the author of this song is. You can use the phrase Sto lat to congratulate someone on their birthday, alongside the phrase “Happy Birthday” or instead of it.

Sweden:

Swedish have their own song to celebrate birthdays and is “Ja, må han (hon) leva” which means: Yes, may he (she) live. This is a song originated in the 18^th century. You can read the lyrics here and listen to a couple of versions in Youtube. If you want to great someone in their birthday you have to say: Grattis på födelsedagen! (Congratulations on your Birthday). 

   

Holland/Belgium:

In the Dutch speaking world, there is a similar song for birthday and is called “Lang zal hij/zij leven” which means: Long shall he/she live. The first part of the song is same as the Swedish birthday song but the rest of the tune differs. The lyrics are not the same. You can read the lyrics here . In Indonesia, they sing a version of this song in Indonesian language: “Panjang Umurnya” (Long Live).  

Surinam:

A very popular birthday song from this Dutch speaking country is “A di mi yere yu friyari”. This song is in Sranan language (An English based Creole spoken by almost 75% of the population of Surinam) and it means “Because I heard it is your birthday”. It uses the same tune as the famous hymn “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”. The origin of this song is unknown, but can be traced to the 19^th century.  If you want to congratulate someone on their birthday, in Sranan you need to say: Fersteri nanga yu friyari! (Congratulations for your birthday!). But you can use greetings in English and Dutch as an alternative.

Iran:

If you go to a Persian birthday party, you will probably hear people singing the birthday song “ تولدت مبارک “ (Tavalodet mobarak) which means: blessed be your birthday. This popular song was composed by the Iranian pianist and composer Anoushiravan Rohani, and this work was released in an album in 1972. Today, this is the most popular birthday song for Iranians all over the world. Here I leave a link of this song played by the author himself and sung by Hayedeh, who is one of the greatest singers of Iran. Link to access the lyrics here. The phrase “tavalodet mobarak!” is also the most popular greeting to congratulate someone celebrating their birthday. You can use also traditional phrases as: “ صد و بیست سال زنده باشی “ (Sad-o bist sāl zendeh bāshi) which means: May you life 120 years!

Ukraine:

For birthdays, Ukrainians sing the song Многая Літа (Mnohaja Lita). The lyric consists basically on repeat the phrase Многая Літа! Which means Many years. This song has its origin in the traditional songs of the Orthodox Church and remains an integral part of the Ukrainian culture. Today it is sung alongside or instead of the “Happy Birthday” song. I leave here the link to a version sung by Marko Farion and Ukrainian Bandurist Choir. This same phrase is used as greet and express good wishes for someone’s birthday.  

Georgia:

A typical birthday song in this country is: “მრავალჯამიერი“ (Mravaljamieri). This is also a toast song and means: May you live a long life. It is sung in a 3-voice polyphony repeating this same phrase and there are different possible tunes and versions depending on the Georgian region. I leave a link of a version of thissong here.

Hispanic America:  

In most of this area of the world, different translations of the song “Happy Birthday to you” are sung. But in some parts of Hispanic America there are different birthday songs. One of the most known is “Las Mañanitas”. The meaning of the word is closest to “Little mornings” but formally this term is translated as “Birthday serenade”. It is widely used in Mexico. In other countries is a serenade for women that can be sung in their birthday and in some places is used for other special occasions like the Name day.