오늘 저녁 소개해 볼 노래는 유명한 '매기의 추억'
'옛날에 금잔디 동산에 메기 같이 앉아서 놀던 곳...'
이란 가사로 너무나도 잘 알려진 이 노래는
가사내용 탓인지 곡조 때문인지 뭔가 향수에 젖게 하는 매력이 있는 곡으로
아마도 우리가 학창시절에 가장 많이 흥얼거린 곡중의 하나일 것이다.
이 노래는 카나다 시인 George Johnson이 일찍 작고한 부인 Maggie Clark에 대한
그리움을 담아 지은 'When you and I were young Maggie' 라는 시에
미국인 James Butterfield가 곡을 붙여 미국민요로 널리 알려진 곡이다.
It was first published as a song in 1866. The lyrics tell of
the tragic love story of Maggie Clarke and George Johnson who,
in the early 1860s, courted in Canada near Hamilton Ontario.
They were married in 1864, but Maggie died less than a year
later. Her husband immortalized their short life together in
a poem which he published in a book of verse entitled 'Maple
Leaves'. A young Englishman by the name of James Butterfield
was so touched by the poem that he set it to music. Traces of
the old mill can still be seen at Albions Falls near Hamilton.
매기의 추억이라는 노래를 부른 여러 가수들 중에
우리에게 가장 잘 알려진 가수는 카나다인 Jean Redpath 이다.
그런데 자세히 살펴보면 Redpath는 여자가수인 데다가
노래가사도 원래 Johnson이 지은 시가 아니어서
여러가지로 우리가 알고 있는 미국민요와는 차이가 있다고 할 수 있다.
그런데도 Redpath의 노래가 가슴에 와 닿는 것은
원래 스토리의 주인공인 Maggie와 Johnson과 같은 카나다인이며
우리가사로 번역된 매기의 추억에 오히려 근접한 가사 내용과
정감어린 목소리로 우리에게 향수를 불러 일으켜 주기 때문이 아닌가 싶다.
<Jean Redpath 노래 가사>
Maggie
The violets were scenting the woods, Maggie,
Displaying their charm to the bee,
When I first said I loved only you, Maggie,
And you said you loved only me.
The chestnut blooms gleamed through the glade, Maggie,
A robin sang loud from a tree,
When I first said I loved only you, Maggie,
And you said you loved only me.
The golden rows of daffodils shone, Maggie,
And danced with the leaves on the trees,
When I first said I loved only you, Maggie,
And you said you loved only me.
Birds in the trees sang a song, Maggie,
Of happier transports to be,
When I first said I loved only you, Maggie,
And you said you loved only me.
Our dreams they have never come true, Maggie,
Our hopes they never were to be,
When I first said I loved only you, Maggie,
And you said you loved only me.
When I first said I loved only you, Maggie,
And you said you loved only me.
<George Johnson의 원래 가사>
When You and I Were Young, Maggie
I wandered today to the hill, Maggie
To watch the scene below
The creek and the rusty old mill, Maggie
Where we sat in the long, long ago.
The green grove is gone from the hill, Maggie
Where first the daisies sprung
The old rusty mill is still, Maggie
Since you and I were young.
A city so silent and lone, Maggie
Where the young and the gay and the best
In polished white mansion of stone, Maggie
Have each found a place of rest
Is built where the birds used to play, Maggie
And join in the songs that were sung
For we sang just as gay as they, Maggie
When you and I were young.
They say I am feeble with age, Maggie
My steps are less sprightly than then
My face is a well written page, Maggie
But time alone was the pen.
They say we are aged and grey, Maggie
As spray by the white breakers flung
But to me you're as fair as you were, Maggie
When you and I were young.
And now we are aged and grey, Maggie
The trials of life nearly done
Let us sing of the days that are gone, Maggie
When you and I were young.
