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DONA, DONA

(learned from Joan Baez album)

(staff with melody line)

On a wagon bound for market
There's a calf with a mournful eye
High above him there's a swallow
Winging swiftly through the sky
    How the winds are laughing!
    They laugh with all their might
    Laugh and laugh the whole day through
    And half the summer's night, dona dona,
    Dona, dona, dona,
    Dona, dona, dona, don..
    Dona, dona, dona,
    Dona, dona, dona, don.

Stop complaining, said the farmer,
Who told you a calf to be?
Why don't you have wings to fly with,
Like the swallow, so proud and free?
    How the winds are laughing, (etc.)

Calves are easily bound and slaughtered
Never knowing the reason why
But for those who treasure freedom,
Like the swallow, they learn to fly.
    How the winds are laughing, (etc.)

(from miriam berg's folksong collection)