I Will Give Peter a Bowl of Beans lyrics and meaning

Duosiu Petrui pupų bliūdą,
Tegul pučia labai dūdą.
Tyr lyr dūda dūda. / 2 k.

Duosiu pupų dar daugiau,
Tegul pučia dar labiau.
Tyr lyr dūda dūda.

Paprašysiu Kazimierą,
Tegul išims dūdai mierą.
Tyr lyr dūda dūda.

Paprašysiu Gudo Jono,
Tegul daro dūdai roną.
Tyr lyr dūda dūda.

Paprašysiu Rozaliją,
Tegul dūdą instrajija.
Tyr lyr dūda dūda.

I Will Give Peter a Bowl of Beans: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a humorous, playful song about blowing a pipe, built on sound imitation. At the beginning, Peter is promised a bowl of beans so that he will blow the pipe strongly, while the refrain "Tyr lyr dūda dūda" imitates the sound of the instrument. The pairing of beans and blowing gives the song a mischievous comic tone.

Then even more beans are promised so he will blow even harder, and various people are called in: Kazimieras is to take the measure of the pipe, Gudo Jonas is to make a hole in it, and Rozalija is to tune the instrument. This chain of names and tasks can be read as the cheerful involvement of the village community in the game.

With its sound-word refrain and comic images, the whole song was probably sung for amusement or dancing. It can be understood as carefree joking in which sound and mood matter more than serious meaning. That is one possible meaning, but the humorous character of the song is obvious.

I Will Give Peter a Bowl of Beans: symbols and phrases

Bowl of beans
The beans promised in return for blowing the pipe. The pairing of beans and blowing gives the song its mischievous humor.
Dūda
The wind instrument around which the whole song turns. It is the source of both music and comedy.
"Tyr lyr dūda dūda"
A sound-imitating refrain. It gives the song rhythm and a cheerful sound.
Village names
Peter, Kazimieras, Gudo Jonas, Rozalija, and the other named people draw the community into the playful action.

I Will Give Peter a Bowl of Beans: song history

"I Will Give Peter a Bowl of Beans" belongs to humorous, playful songs based on sound imitation and comic images. The whole song turns around blowing the pipe: Peter is promised beans so that he will blow harder, and the refrain "Tyr lyr dūda dūda" imitates the instrument's sound. Village people are drawn into the game one by one - Kazimieras, Gudo Jonas, Rozalija - each assigned a funny job connected with the pipe.

The specific recording place and date are not given on this page, so the song is presented through its genre features. The sound-word refrain, chain of names, and carefree rhythm suited to dance or entertainment are typical features of humorous songs; variants of such mocking and playful songs occur in many Lithuanian regions.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

I Will Give Peter a Bowl of Beans: sources