108. Learn Irish – Wake Me Up Lyrics

Avicii Vs Lurgan – “Wake Me Up” as Gaeilge got a lot of people interested in learning Irish so I thought I’d break the lyrics down a little more for you.

For just the Lyrics please go to Post Number 107.

Though it is MUCH better to listen to Stiofán singing the song and imitate him, these approximations of pronunciations may help some people who want to learn more of the language.

BTW If you are a complete beginner and want to learn a simple way to read and speak the Irish language, please explore: https://ancroiait.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/learn-irish-lesson-1/

Here’s how I arranged each line of the song in four parts

Line 1: Correct Irish

Line 2: Approximate sound

Line 3. Word for word translation

Line 4. Translation

Note: Something to learn from this line

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Before you begin, please note: ch is a gentle short gargling sound unless it’s written as tch below.

G and C are always hard sounds (never j or s)

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Verse 1
Fáinne             fí          i           gcoim na        hoíche.

Fawnye            fee       i           guim    na        heeha

Circle               vicious in         waist    the         of-night

A vicious circle in the middle of the night.

Note: Adjectives come after the noun like in Spanish – Circle vicious, Book blue, Car red etc.

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(Níl)   ‘tada        riamh  nach    mbíonn            thart.

(Neel)  tada        reev     noch    mee-on            hart

Not is    nothing ever     not       is                      ended

There’s nothing ever without an end.

Note: Double negatives are good as in Spanish

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‘Diabhail         fhios      ‘am      cá       bhfuil   deireadh          mo       scéil.

Dyowl              is             om      caw    will      de-re                mu       shkayl

Devil (the)       knowing have I  where  is        end            my       of-story

I’ve no clue where my story’s end lies.

Note: ‘am is short for agam which literally is ‘at me’ but means ‘I have’

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Ach     tá         mé       ar         an        mbealach         ceart.

Och     taw      may     er         o          maloch            kyart

But       am       I           on        the       way                  right

But I am on the right way.

 Note: When n and b come together as in ‘ ar an_bealach’ the combination sounds like m

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Verse 2

Deir     siad      liom       gan    a          dhul     sa         tseans.

Der      sheed   lum        gon    a          gul       sa         tchans

Say      they      with me not      to         go        in the   chance

They tell me not to take any risks.

 Note: ‘gan a dhul’ is typical of one region; ‘gan dul’ is standard Irish

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Nach         dtagann           ciall      roimh   aois.

Noch          dogon              keel       riv       eesh

That not    comes              wisdom before  age

(That) wisdom doesn’t come before you’re old.

 Note: Ch and t combine to make a d sound Nach + tagann ► noch dogan (sound)

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Bhuel   ‘sé        m’aistear          é.         Ní        léir       cén       fhad     a          mhairfidh        sé.

Well    shay     mashter           eh.       Nee      layr      kayn     od        a          oo-ar-hee         shay

Well     it’s       my journey      it.         Not     clear    how     long     that      last-will            it.

Well it’s my journey. Who knows how long it’s gonna last.

Note: Verbs have tense endings at the end Mair=last / Mairfidh=will last. …fidh indicates future

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‘Sé       togha     ar       aon      chaoi.

Shay   ta-oo      er       ayn      chee

It’s       brilliant on       any      way

It’s brilliant, anyway.

 Note: The sound of the gh in togha is lost

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Chorus

So        lig        mé       saor      ón                    suan     ‘tá        orm.

So       lig        may     seer      ohn                  soon    taw      urum

So        let        me       free      from the           sleep    that is   on me

So free me from this slumber of mine.

 Note: The word So is English. Some English words get incorporated into the language.

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(Tai)speáin       dom     bóthar              éasca    cothrom.

Spawn             dum     boh-hur           aysku   ku-hrum

Show               to me   road                 easy     fair

Show me a fair and easy road.

Note: ‘an’ is the definite article (the). There is no indefinite article (a) in Irish.

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Bainfidh          mé       ceann   scríbe               amach.  ‘Sí                  m’aidhm.

Bon-hee           may     kyon    shkreebeh       omoch.   Shee             my-m.

Take-will        I           destination                  out.         She is            my aim.

I’ll make it to my destination. That’s my goal.

Note: Nouns have gender. Aim is feminine. So instead of It’s my aim, it’s ‘She’s my aim.’

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Cibé                 treo      atá       i           ndán.

Kibay              troh     ataw    i           nawn.

Whichever       way      that is in         store (for me).

Whichever way is meant for me.

 Note: Dán means poem. What is in store for you is like a poem already written of your future.

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Verse 3

(Tá) mé ag         iompar             ualach              mór      an        tsaoil.

(Taw) May  eg    umpor             ooloch             mohr   on        teel

(Am) I       at         carrying          burden             big       the       of-life

I’m carrying life’s heavy burden.

Note: There is no ‘s in Irish (just as in Spanish) so we use ‘of’ such as The book of the boy

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Ach     níl        ‘am      ach       péire    lámh.

Och     neel      om       och      payreh lawv

But      not is    at me   but       pair     of-hands

But I only have two hands

 Note: To say ‘I have only …’ you say ‘I don’t have but…’

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Súile    troma   is          an        ghrian              ag dul faoi.

Soo-le trum-eh is        on        ghreen            e gul fwee

Eyes    heavy   and      the       sun                   going   under

[My] eyes are heavy as the sun is going down.

Note: ‘and’ is used for ‘while’ here

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Ach     ní         chodlaíonn      mé       go        sámh.

Och    nee       chud-lee-un     may     gu        sawv

But      not       sleep                I           to     peace

But I don’t sleep peacefully.

Note: ‘go’ functions like the ‘ly’ at the end of peacefully here

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Verse 4

“Bris    amach             agus     tú         fós       sách     óg.”

Brish    umoch            ogus     too       fohs      sawch   ohg

Break  out (leave)        and      you      still       enough young

“Break away while you’re still young enough.”

 Note: Bris amach = Leave

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Chinnigh         mé       le         dul       in’        aghaidh.

Chui-nee          may     le         dul       in         ah-ee

Decided           I           with     going   it          against

I’ve decided against that.

Note: Aghaidh means face. In aghaidh means in the face of (against)

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Bhuel, seo       mo       ré.        Seasfaidh        mé       an        fód.

Well     shu       muh     ray.     Shas-hee          may     on        fohd

Well     this      my       era         Stand-will        I           the       sod

Well, this is my time. I will stand my ground.

Note: Bhuel is just an Irish spelling of the English word well and sounds and means the same.

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‘S         leanfaidh         mé       ar         aghaidh.

Is        lan-hee             may     er         ah-ee

And    continue-will   I           on        forwards

And I will go on.

Note: Is or ‘S is a shorter form of the word ‘agus’ meaning ‘and.’

If you are happy with all this and want to explore the things you learned from each line a little deeper, go to https://ancroiait.wordpress.com/2013/08/19/109-lessons-from-wake-me-up-as-gaeilge/

If you want to start at the beginning learning how to read Irish words and some basic phrases try:

https://ancroiait.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/learn-irish-lesson-1/

Good Luck! ♥