Fum, Fum, Fum

Fum, Fum, Fum (Catalan: [ˈfum ˈfum ˈfum]) is a traditional Catalan Christmas carol. It was first documented by the folklorist Joaquim Pecanins in 1904, who had heard the song at the Christmas Eve midnight mass in Prats de Lluçanès. However, the song's origins stretch back to the 16th or 17th century, according to folklorist Joan Amades.

In 1922, the musicologist Kurt Schindler first translated the song into English, publishing it in one of the largest musical publishing houses of the era, Oliver Ditson and Company in Boston. Spanish-language versions are also popular today, and it is included in many traditional Spanish Christmas carol collections.

Meaning

Before being written down in the early 20th century, the song was a typical example of a cançó de les mentides (English: "song of lies"), appropriate for the debaucherous way in which Christmas was celebrated in the 18th and 19th centuries. Lyrics were improvised each time it was sung, with each verse more absurd than the last. Some of this survives in the modern Catalan version, which in one verse asks qui dirà més gran mentida? (English: "who will tell a bigger lie?"), while a different verse references shepherds eating eggs and sausage—an explicit reference to fellatio.

Indeed, the ethnomusicologist Jaume Ayats notes that the word "fum" is the imperative form of the verb "fúmer", which in a literal sense means "to fornicate" but can be used as a slang form of saying "to do". In fact, the original song was sung with "fot, fot, fot", from the verb "fotre" instead, a less polite verb with the same meaning. When Pecanins first documented the song, he changed the lyrics to "fum, fum, fum", thought to be more acceptable to a broader audience.

Other sources have suggested a more innocent meaning to the lyrics. Since the word "fum" also means "smoke" in Catalan, it has been suggested the name may simply refer to the smoke rising from a chimney as seen from afar, or, as indicated in the New Oxford Book of Carols, "may imitate the sound of a drum (or perhaps the strumming of a guitar)". Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) defines "fum" as "to play upon a fiddle", quoting Ben Jonson, "Follow me, and fum as you go."

Lyrics

Foreign-language versions typically do not literally translate the original lyrics. For example, the typical English version of the carol, created by Alice Parker and Robert Shaw in 1953, does not take into account the satirical substratum of the original. It was this version that popularized the carol in the United States and other English-speaking areas, though there are several other versions in English as well.

English version	Catalan Version	Alternative Catalan version	Translation of Catalan lyrics
On December five and twenty fum, fum, fum. On December five and twenty, fum, fum fum. Oh, a child was born this night So rosy white, so rosy white Son of Mary, virgin holy In a stable, mean and lowly, fum, fum, fum. On December five and twenty fum, fum, fum. On December five and twenty fum, fum, fum. Comes a most important day Let us be gay, let us be gay. We go first to church and then we Have the sweetest buns and candy, fum, fum, fum, fum, fum. God will send us days of feasting fum, fum, fum. God will send us days of feasting fum, fum, fum. Both in hot months and in cold for young and old, for young and old. We will tell the holy story Ever singing of his glory, fum, fum, fum.	A vint-i-cinc de desembre fum, fum, fum A vint-i-cinc de desembre fum, fum, fum Ha nascut un minyonet ros i blanquet, ros i blanquet; Fill de la Verge Maria, n'és nat en una establia. Fum, fum, fum. Allí dalt de la muntanya fum, fum, fum Allí dalt de la muntanya fum, fum, fum Si n'hi ha dos pastorets abrigadets, abrigadets; amb la pell i la samarra, menjant ous i botifarra. Fum, fum, fum. Qui dirà més gran mentida? Fum, fum, fum Qui dirà més gran mentida? Fum, fum, fum Ja en respon el majoral el gran tabal, el gran tabal; jo en faré deu mil camades amb un salt totes plegades. Fum, fum, fum. A vint-i-cinc de desembre fum, fum, fum A vint-i-cinc de desembre fum, fum, fum n'és el dia de Nadal, molt principal, molt principal, quan n'eixirem de matines, farem bones escudines. Fum, fum, fum. Déu vos do unes santes festes fum, fum, fum Déu vos do unes santes festes fum, fum, fum amb temps de fred i calor, i molt millor, i molt millor fent-ne de Jesús memòria perquè ens vulgui dalt la glòria. Fum, fum, fum.	El vint-i-cinc de desembre fum, fum, fum El vint-i-cinc de desembre fum, fum, fum Ha nascut un minyonet ros i blanquet, ros i blanquet; Fill de la Verge Maria, si n'és nat en una establia. Fum, fum, fum. Aquí dalt de la muntanya fum, fum, fum Aquí dalt de la muntanya fum, fum, fum N'hi ha dos pastorets abrigadets, abrigadets; amb la pell i la samarra, mengen ous i botifarra. Fum, fum, fum. Qui dirà més gran mentida? Fum, fum, fum Qui dirà més gran mentida? Fum, fum, fum Ja respon el majoral amb gran cabal, amb gran cabal; jo faré deu mil camades amb un salt totes plegades. Fum, fum, fum.	On the 25th of December fum, fum, fum On the 25th of December fum, fum, fum A little boy was born blond and fair, blond and fair; Son of the Virgin Mary, he has been born in a stable. Fum, fum, fum. Here atop the mountain fum, fum, fum Here atop the mountain fum, fum, fum There are two little shepherds warming themselves, warming themselves; In their sheepskin and zamarra, They are eating eggs and sausage. Fum, fum, fum. Who will tell a bigger lie? Fum, fum, fum Who will tell a bigger lie? Fum, fum, fum The majoral responds very fluidly, very fluidly; I will take ten thousand strides all in one jump. Fum, fum, fum.

See also

• List of Christmas carols

External links

Scores

• Fum, Fum, Fum: Scores at the International Music Score Library Project

Audio

• A folk version by the Mallorcan band Música nostra,
• A version from València by Paco Muñoz and a children's chorus
• Choral version from Barcelona by the Capella de Música de Santa Maria del Pi choral society
• English version by the Jubilate Ensemble, at Christ United Methodist Church, College Station, Texas

Text

• "El vint-i-cinc de desembre"