Ah Ceri this is fantastic, thank you! I love both of Cerys Matthews’s Welsh-language albums but I’m more of a digital lass these days … hopefully the lyrics can get added to the Spotify app at some point.
Thanks again!
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Help needed with lyrics to Dal Dig by Buddug, please.
The song appears to be about a breakdown in a (friendship or) relationship, where one party has possibly had some sort of mental health crisis/bout of depression. It’s all in quite straightforward, colloquial North Welsh; I managed to find some partially correct lyrics for it on some French lyrics site, and have corrected the discrepancies between what I found and what I hear except for one little snippet, that I need help with. (I also have a couple of questions about mutations, but they’re less pressing.)
Here’s a link to the song on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFtZxri0ab0
At 2:08 she sings:
Helo, ti’n ffansi galw heibio / Neu ydi’r dagrau’n dal i lifo? followed by something, followed by A mae’r byd yn dal i droi / Ond ti’m yn symud dim…
At just about 1:00 (although the phrase starts slightly before) the lyrics I found have Ond dwi’n dal yma’n cnocio ar dy ddrws, which appears correct (treiglad meddal after dy), but it sounds to me like she sings dy drws (no mutation) – what do others think?
And at 1:28, the lyrics I found had (Dal i ffonio / Yn dal yn dyn) Ar y ffydd sydd yn / Prysur fynd; I changed Prysur to Brysur in my copy, since I though it should soften after yn, but it does sound to me like she sings it with a p rather than a b - what do others think?
And if you want the full context / the rest of the lyrics, I’ve put them here (including some meaningless nonsense at the point I’m asking about that represents roughly what I hear) with a translation of everything except the missing bit.
Click for details...
Helo, oes na rywun adra?
Neu wyt ti eto di mynd allan?
Partio er mwyn teimlo dim.
(Hello, is anyone home? Or have you gone out again - partying in order not to feel?)
Helo, lle wti arni,
Mae na fis di bod o beidio gweld chdi,
Mae dy gwmpeini di troi’n brin,
(Hello, how are you getting on? A month has gone by without seeing you - your company’s becoming scarce)
A mae’r, byd yn dal i droi,
Ond ti’m yn symud dim,
Dal i orwedd yn dy wely ar ben dy hun,
Yn deud bob dim ond gwrthod cyfadda’r gwir,
Ti’n chwarae gêm yn chwarae gyda nghalon i
(And the world keps turning, but you don’t move - still lying alone in bed, saying anything but refusing to admit the truth; you’re playing a game, playing with my heart.)
Ond dwi’n dal yma’n cnocio ar dy ddrws,
Bora dydd tan nôs, dewis aberthu nghwsg,
Ond ti’n fy ngadael i yn y glaw,
Cogio bod yn fud i gael cadw draw,
(But I’m still here knocking on your door, morning, day, until night, choosing to sacrifice my sleep, but you leave me out here in the rain, pretending to be mute so as to get to keep away.)
A dwi dal i aros,
Dwi dal fan hyn,
Methu cerdded ffwrdd,
Dal yn ddihun,
Yn trio cofio dy wen ond fedrai ddim,
Yn trio cofio dy lais ond dwi’n cofio dim,
(And I’m still waiting, I’m still here, unable to walk away, still awake, trying to remember your smile, but I can’t, trying to remember your voice but I don’t remember anything.)
Dal i ffonio,
Yn dal yn dyn,
Ar y ffydd sydd yn
Brysur fynd,
Ond ti methu helpu dy hun rhag teimlo’n unig,
Methu atal dy hun rhag dal dig,
Ata i
Ata i
Dal dig
At y byd
At y byd
(Still phoning, holding tight to the faith that’s busy going, but you can’t help yourself from feeling lonely, can’t stop yourself from staying angry with me, with me, staying angry with the world, with the world.)
Helo, sut wyt ti’n teimlo,
Maddeua fi am holi eto,
Paid troi dy gefn, sbia arna i
(Hello, how are you feeling? Forgive me for asking again; don’t turn your back, look at me.)
Helo, ti’n ffansi galw heibio,
Neu ydi’r dagrau’n dal i lifo,
???Y Dywedi??? ers ti fynd [possibly something to do with diwedd, or wedi, or dywedaf = dweud?]
Ond ???brydira ngadael i??? [possibly something to do with pryderau?]
(Hello, do you fancy dropping by, or are the tears still flowing? […] since you left […] leaving me.)
A mae’r, byd yn dal i droi,
Ond ti’m yn symud dim,
Dal i orwedd yn dy wely ar ben dy hun,
Ond ti’n fy ngadael i yn y glaw,
Cogio bod yn fud i gael cadw draw,
A dwi dal i aros,
Dwi dal fan hyn,
Methu cerdded ffwrdd,
Dal yn ddihun,
Yn trio cofio dy wen ond fedrai ddim,
Yn trio cofio dy lais ond dwi’n cofio dim,
Dal i ffonio,
Yn dal yn dyn,
Ar y ffydd sydd yn
Brysur fynd,
Ond ti methu helpu dy hun rhag teimlo’n unig,
Methu atal dy hun rhag dal dig,
Ata i
Ata i
Dal dig
At y byd
At y byd
Lle ti di bod,
Gad i’r hiraeth dy dynnu di yn ol,
(Where have you been? Let your longing/nostalgia/hiraeth draw you back…)
Tyrd o’r cysgod
Gad i’r golau dy arwain di yn ol,
Ata i,
Paid a ffoi,
Paid a dianc,
(Come from the shadow; let the light lead you back to me; don’t flee, don’t escape.)
Dwi dal i aros,
Dwi dal fan hyn,
Methu cerdded ffwrdd,
Dal yn ddihun,
Yn trio cofio dy wen ond fedrai ddim,
Yn trio cofio dy lais ond dwi’n cofio dim,
Dal i ffonio,
Yn dal yn dyn,
Ar y ffydd sydd yn
Brysur fynd,
Ond ti methu helpu dy hun rhag teimlo’n unig,
Methu atal dy hun rhag dal dig,
Ata i
Ata i
Dal dig
At y byd
At y byd
Interestingly, the lyrics I found on paroles-musique.com purport to be “official”, and the only real barbarisms they include seem to be typos by someone who clearly speaks Welsh (absrthu for aberthu), but they seem to be for a different version of the song, with some of the lines missing or rearranged:
Dal Dig lyrics by Buddug | Paroles-musique.com
Learn while you listen to Welsh music
Lirica is an app which helps people learn languages by listening to popular music.
Lirica has launched a Welsh version. You can find the app on Google Play or the App Store.
Well, I’m replying to myself to try and give this a bump, and tagging @siaronjames and @Hendrik as being folk who might be good with music things… In the meantime I’ve tried asking a friend whom I thought might help, without success; looking for the artist on Facebook (not sure I found the right Buddug Jones); and emailing the address given on Facebook for the record label (Recordiau Côsh, no reply as yet). Ho hum. Email to the record label follows…
Slightly silly email...
Helo
Dw i’n sgwennu atoch chi i ofyn am eiriau’r gân “Dal Dig” gan Buddug. Dw i wedi dal neu ddod o hyd i bopeth, heblaw un frawddeg, sy’n hala fi’n wallgof. Dw i hyd yn oed wedi gofyn am help i ffrind sy’n (a) ieithydd (b) mamiaith ac (c) Gog, heb lwyddiant. A oes modd ffeindio allan beth mae hi’n canu am 2:08 yn y gân, yn syth ar ôl “Helo, ti’n ffansi galw heibio / Neu ydi’r dagrau’n dal i lifo?” (Gofyn i’r artist ei hun, efallai!?)
Diolch yn fawr am eich help chi,
Cofion gorau
Richard M Buck
PS: Dyma sut aeth y sgwrs am y peth ar lein…
@garicgymro Ga i ofyn ffafr i chdi? Fedri di ddeutha fi a wyt ti’n medru dal geiriau’r gân 'ma am 2:08, jysd ar ôl iddi ganu
“Helo, ti’n ffansi galw heibio / Neu ydi’r dagrau’n dal i lifo?” Dw i’n deall weddill y gân, ond mae’r frawddeg 'na fy rhwystro! (Wnes i ofyn ar fforwm Say Something in Welsh ond does neb wedi ateb hyd yn hyn… Ac ymddiheuriadau am ofyn, yn arbennig os nad ydy hyn i’th ddant!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFtZxri0ab0
@tortipede Hmmm… rhaid i mi gyfadda nad ydw i’n arbennig o dda am glywed geiriau caneuon yn glir! Ar ôl gwrando ychydig o weithia dwi’n clywed:
“Neu ydi’r dagrau’n dal i lifo? / ??? ers i ti fynd am Gaerdydd / a 'nghadael i / a mae’r byd yn dal i droi”
Dwi’n ansicr iawn be sy’n dod lle mae’r “???”! Mae’n swnio’n debyg i “a dwi wedi”, sy ddim yn neud llawer o synnwyr…
oni bai mai ateb i’r cwestiwn ydy o efallai: “a dwi wedi [bod yn wylo]”, ond mae hynny ychydig yn od. A deud y gwir mae’n swnio ychydig yn debyach i “y dywedi” yn lle “a dwi wedi” beth bynnag…
Ond dwi’n hoff o’r gân!
(O leiaf oedd o’n hoff o’r gân…)
Yes, it sounds like drws (without the mutation) to me too.
To be honest, I can’t fully make out the lyrics on this part - I can’t hear an yn at all, though I think it is a p rather than a b on prysur
I think the missing bit here is A dywed ti est ti fynd ambell dydd a adael fi
Hope that’s of some use!
I never got back to you to thank you for this! I was really happy to get such a quick, helpful reply, and then went back to the song & listened again, and was unconvinced… and was trying to think of a good way to say “thanks anyway” that didn’t sound actually ungrateful when it wasn’t meant to. So: thank you.
Anyway: I found the singer on Instagram & borrowed my partner’s account to ask her directly, and tonight, after we’d given up on it, she got a reply - apparently the lyric is “Heb dy weld di ers ti fynd am Gaerdydd a 'ngadael i.” So that’s the solution to the mystery!
This song is really catchy. With the help of a dictionary I think I can understand/poorly translate them, but there is one but I’m really stumped by and another that doesn’t feel quite right.
“tithan” in the line “Gwenllian, tithan mynd dy boini dim”. I can’t find it in a dictionary. When I was flicking through Mr King’s “Thinking Welsh” I stumbled across “tithau” and thought I’d cracked it, but that was a dead end because I still can’t work out what it might meen.
The other one is “tywyllwch rhyngddyn ni.”, which I have literally translated as “the darkness between us”, but I’m not sure it makes sense… is it suggesting that there is a great distance between us? Apart from that bit I would interpret it as thinking about the times when there wasn’t a distance?
Calfari - Gwenllian
Edrych yn ôl, / Looking back
Dy gysgod syn dy ddilyn di. / Your shadow that is following you
Yng ghanol y nôs, / In the middle of the night
Dy feddwl syn dy boini di. / Your thoughts are worrying you
A ti’n meddwl am y dyddiau, / and you think about the days
dyddiau oeddyn ni, / the days that we
yn syllu mewn tywyllwch, / gazed into the darkness
tywyllwch rhyngddyn ni. / darkness between us.
ti’m gorwedd yn dy wely yn syllu ar y to, / You lie in your bed and stare at the ceiling
yn meddwl am yr helynt sydd yn dod yn ôl / and think about the trouble that is coming back.
Gwenllian, tithan mynd dy boini dim. / Gwenllian, ???, don’t worry.
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
Dwi ishio gafael yn dyn, / I want to grab the man
Ond dy rhyddid sydd yn brin. / but your freedom is rare
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
Hwylio i ffwrdd, / Sailing away
Y tonau gwyllt yn cymrud ti, / The wild sounds are taking you
A cyn i ni gwrdd / and before we met
Oedd gwagle yn fy mywyd i! / there was a void in my life.
A ti’n meddwl am y dyddiau, / And you think about the days
Y dyddiau oeddyn ni, / the days we were
yn syllu mewn tywyllwch, / gazing into the darkness
tywyllwch rhyngddyn ni. / the darkness between us
ti’n gorwedd yn dy wely yn syllu ar y to, / You lie in your bed and stare at the ceiling
yn meddwl am yr helynt sydd yn dod yn ôl / and think about the trouble that is coming back.
Gwenllian, tithan mynd dy boini dim. / Gwenllian, ???, don’t worry.
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
Dwi ishio gafael yn dyn, / I want to grab the man
Ond dy rhyddid sydd yn brin. / but your freedom is rare
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
Gwenllian, tyd yn ôl. / Gwenllian, come back.
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I’m usually pretty useless at listening to lyrics, even in English, but this one is fairly clear so I’ll challenge myself and see how I get on 
I think this is tithau’n which is tithau with yn contracted on the end, so where we would normally say ti’n the song is using the more emphatic tithau which probably just scans better to match the melody. So the meaning is “Gwenllian, you’re not going to worry about anything”
And I think you’re right with the “darkness between us” - a sort of metaphorical distance, lack of communication, lack of understanding, that kind of thing.
A couple of other minor points, mainly spelling, in your otherwise superb capturing of the lyrics!
Yng nghanol y nos
boeni
dyddiau oedden ni
dw i isio gafael yn dynn (dynn means tight, so it’s “I want to hold on tight”)
cymryd
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Thank you!
Ah I can’t take credit. I found them on the Internet. Actually it was searching for a line from the song to try and work out the meaning and it led me to the full transcript.
That makes so much more sense! Thank you.
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