63. Singing, Singing

Rivka Yehoshua. Recorded by Barbara Johnson, Moshav Aviezer, July 2, 1995; IV-124.

Pāḍuka pāḍuka nammaḷŏkkě taṃburāņḍě tirumuṃbil
Kīṟttanaṅṅaḷ pāḍuṃboḷ sandoṣaṃ pūņḍāḍuṃbo

1. Singing, singing, all together, in the holy Presence of God—
As we’re singing hymns of praise, so our hearts are filled with joy.

2. O God, when You began to reign, before creating everything,
When You did what you desired, that day Your Name was hailed as King.

3. After all the world was made, You remain, the Awesome God.
You are alone, the only God; You are the Everlasting One.

4. All that’s alive You rule with might, in every way, in any form. 
You the beginning and the end, You are not two but the Only One.

5. Beginning and end of all the world, of humanity in every form,
Let all living creatures go to You without beginning, without end.

6. Without change, You are the One Who varies not in deed or shape.
Within, You keep the greatest strength; from suffering You keep us safe. 

7. You the One Who does not change—counting the countless, You are One. 
You keep within Yourself the strength to help and care for everyone.

8. My salvation and my God, You are testing me each day.  
You, O my Examiner—please examine me, I pray.

9. I pray to You for daily food, Physician of everything that is, 
Creator and Healer of all life, Helper of humanity.

10. Whenever I lie down to sleep, I entrust my soul to You.
Since God is always there to help, I will never be afraid. 

11. Every time that I awake, with life and body I rise anew. 
In Your temple may my soul rejoice. Quickly send Mashiya now.

12. And on that day we’ll sing with joy songs of praise, one by one—
Singing, singing praise to God, singing praise. Amen, amen!  

This song incorporates elements from and elaborates upon one of the most universally known Hebrew piyyutim—Adon Olam—“Lord of the World” (’Areshet 1980, 222). This Hebrew hymn, which is part of daily and Sabbath services for Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews alike, is included among the morning bakashot sung by Kerala Jewish women.          

The Malayalam song “Singing, Singing” is performed to a livelier melody than that of the Hebrew piyyut as it is sung in Kerala. It includes additional stanzas and content, while preserving the strict metrical form of eight-syllable lines. Its text is found in two notebooks from Parur, and it was also written in an Ernakulam notebook that is not part of our collection. In 1995 in Moshav Aviezer, Rivka Yehoshua from Parur sang and recorded for Barbara the first few verses from her own notebook. An almost identical text of the song is found in another notebook from Parur.

The entire song had been performed to virtually the same melody in 1977 by Miriam (Yaakov Hai) Eliyahu from Ernakulam. She sang it from her notebook for anthropologist Shirley Isenberg, who recorded her performance but was not able to borrow the notebook for copying, so the Ernakulam text has not been transcribed

Our English translation includes twelve of the seventeen stanzas that are found in both Parur notebooks.