Translation by Tao-Lin Hwang
Firefly
Language: Chinese (中文)
火金姑 來食茶 茶燒燒 配弓焦 茶冷冷 配龍眼 龍眼會開花 蒲仔换菜瓜 菜瓜好煮湯 蒲仔換粗糠 粗糠好起火 九嬸婆仔賢炊粿 炊到臭火焦 又個兼著火
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Shih-Hui Chen (b. 1962), "Firefly", 2005, copyright © 2005 [ baritone clarinet, flute, violoncello, harp and percussion ], from Sweet Rice Pie: Six Songs on Four Taiwanese Nursery Rhymes, no. 4, Trigon Music Press
Publisher: Black Tea Music [external link] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-06-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 14
Firefly, firefly
Language: English after the Chinese (中文)
Firefly, firefly Tea party do come by So hot a cuppa Eat a banana When the tea gets so cold A longan makes you bold Flowers on the longan tree Gourd for loofa let it be Loofa soup will lift you off So trade the gourd for chaff Use the chaff a fire to make For nanny sweet cake will bake And the cake will bum to black All around a fire will crack
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in Chinese (中文) from Volkslieder (Folksongs)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Joost van der Linden [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2026-06-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 74