In 1998, most European dance floors shook to the sound of "How Much Is The Fish?" from the German band SCOOTER. Russia did not lag behind. Moreover, according to a Russian MTV poll, SCOOTER was even declared the best band of the year. As a person alien to club music, I never liked all these techno-rhythms and groovy cries in the spirit of an entertainer. But even I couldn't help but notice the infectious melody, which, in fact, was the main highlight of this meaningless song.
“Senseless” is not an insult, but a statement of fact. They write that the idea of the hit "How Much Is The Fish?" SCOOTERS drew from STRIMP's "Buffalo", which parodied questions from a travel phrasebook. Although in the text of SCOOTER "How much is a fish?" is the only question. Everything else is ordinary cries in the spirit of “Zazhzhzho-oh-oh-oh!”, “Everyone is dancing !!!” etc.
By the way, these “scooter” tricks were once wittily scolded by Alexander Pushnoy in his parody “How much is the flounder?”, where the entire text consists of a set of unrelated phrases from Soviet cinema.
SCOOTER fans have been demanding an answer to the question posed in the song from the musicians for so long that they gave up and did answer (although, in my opinion, it is obvious that the whole story is made up as an excuse).
H. P. Baxter, Scooter vocalist:
“We bought this fish for the aquarium in our studio, but it turned out to be too noisy. We had to give her to a rural orphanage, where she still lives. We still keep in touch with her. You could say we're pen pals. And as for the price, it was 3.80”.
Another question is much more interesting - where did that very catchy melody come from in the work of this - rather non-musical - group?
Premonitions did not deceive me - the melody turned out to be not only someone else's, but also very old. Even something exotic. Its original source is "Son Ar Chistr" ("Song of the Cider"), written in Brittany in the same Breton language. Brittany should not be confused with Great Britain, although the similarity is not accidental. When the Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes rushed to the shores of Foggy Albion, then, some of the Celts living there, under the pressure of the conquerors, fled to the north of France, where they settled the future Brittany. The language of the fugitive Celts, as you know, was specific, although today only Breton nationalists and ethnic lovers speak it.
According to the official version, the famous "Song of the Cider" (text for sure) was composed in 1929 by two young brothers Jean-Bernard and Jean-Marie Prima from the Breton town of Giscriffe. They were farmers, so the song was about the last day of the harvest. This is when cider and wine are already poured into barrels, and the peasants make the first taste, which smoothly turns into a festive booze. In fact, the song begins with the line "Come on, drink cider, Lau!"(Where "Lau" is a diminutive nickname for Jean-Marie Prime). Then, of course, girls are mentioned - "Cider is made to drink, and girls are made to be loved." In general, the usual folk themes in the spirit of "We have done a good job and have a nice rest."
The first audio recordings of "Son Ar Chistr" began to appear in the 1940s. But special attention was paid to the song only in 1970, when the promoter of Breton folk music - Alan Stivell - released the album "Reflets". It was thanks to Stivell that other Breton masterpieces spread around the world.
With regard to the "Song of the Cider", the singer did another important thing - he reduced the original text to 4 verses. Stivell sang in Breton, accompanying himself on the "Celtic" harp, so everything sounded very authentic.
Well, the real expansion of the "Song of Cider" began after the guys from the Dutch band BOTS took it up. In 1976 they recorded a Dutch version called "Zeven dagen lang", and in 1980 they released a German version of "Sieben Tage lang".
In both cases, the title was translated as "Seven Long Days", and the text differed markedly from the Breton original. The heroes of the song first drink for seven days, then work for seven days, and then fight (read, fight) for seven days for “life without coercion” (exactly so and in that order).
The German language and the marching rhythm will even give rise to a strange legend that "Sieben Tage lang" is the anthem of the fascist Luftwaffe. About the Luftwaffe - this, of course, is nonsense, but the communist version of the song really existed. It was recorded by a group from the then socialist GDR - OKTOBERKLUB. The name was quite expected "Was wollen wir trinken" ("What are we going to drink?"), but the reason for drinking was quite unexpected. The German guys offered to drink to the health of Luis Corvalan, the leader of the Communist Party of Chile, who just in 1976 was released from the Pinochet prison and transported to Moscow (the USSR exchanged the disgraced communist for the dissident writer Vladimir Bukovsky).
The British also loved the song.
In 1982, folk singer Ray Fisher set the lyrics to the old English ballad "Willie's Lady" to a Breton melody. Although this version is loved in Britain, for us it will seem too long and tedious - especially if you do not know the language.
In general terms, the plot of the ballad is as follows. King William marries a girl, but his mother is categorically against her daughter-in-law. The mother-in-law turns out to be not only an evil fury, but also a witch. Therefore, she casts a spell on her pregnant daughter-in-law - the unfortunate woman suffers from contractions, but cannot give birth in any way. The brownie comes to the aid of the king, who offers to deceive the witch. On his advice, the king makes a model of the child and brings him to the church - supposedly for baptism. Seeing that the child was born, the witch sadly exclaims and gives out the secret of the spell - “Why did I stick a comb in her hair?” etc. The witch devices are destroyed and the king's wife gives birth safely...
A more cheerful and interesting cover of the same melody was recorded in 2003 by another Englishman - Ritchie Blackmore for his project BLACKMORE'S NIGHT. The text of the song was close to the German version of the BOTS group and was called in Musketeer "All For One" ("All for One"). Of course, the great guitarist could not resist the piercing guitar gasps, and his wife, Candice Knight, not only sang the song, but also played a provocative solo on the pipe.
To denote a large number of something or someone in English, quantitative are used. Both are translated into Russian by the word "many". The question arises: if the value is the same, why do we need two different ones? It turns out that this makes sense, since each of them has its own scope.
Difference between many and much
Pronoun many used when it refers to objects (animate or inanimate) that can be counted. Words denoting such things are called countable nouns.
For example, in the sentence "There are many animals in the zoo", the noun "animals" is countable. Here it is used in the plural. In English it will sound like this: “There are many animals in the zoo.
It would be nice to go around all the cages and count all the animals that live in them! There are many things in the zoo and who can be counted. For example, tigers, elephants, bears, monkeys, and the cells themselves in which they live. Translated into English, it would look like this: many tigers, many elephants, many bears, many monkeys, many cages".
While you were counting the inhabitants of the zoo, it was time for lunch, and food was brought to the animals. Lots of food: meat, fruits, milk. And more water to drink. Is it possible to count what is in the feeders of animals? No. Therefore, the words that denote such objects are called.
So, when translating into English, you need to use the second pronoun. The phrases in this case will look like this: much food, much meat, much milk, much water".
If you remember this difference, then you will never get confused with the use
All words that come after the pronoun much are used in the singular.
By the way, the same thing happens in our native language. People don't say "a lot of meat", "a lot of food" (sounds funny, right?). Uncountable nouns in Russian grammar also have a singular form after the word “many”, for example: “a lot of meat”, “a lot of food”. Here we have a direct similarity with the English language.
Read also
affirmative sentences
In modern English, in affirmative sentences, instead of the pronouns much and many, their synonym is increasingly used a lot of.
This is a universal pronoun, as it is suitable for animate nouns - a lot of people and inanimate - a lot of books, for countables - a lot of minutes and uncountable - a lot of time.
In those speech situations when you find it difficult to choose between many and much, use a lot of - you will not be mistaken.
For example: " A lot of children came to the zoo to see a new-born polar bear". “A lot of kids came to the zoo to see the newborn polar bear cub.”
The pronouns many and much are often included in the subject, for example:
- There are many candles on the fireplace shelf. - There are a lot of candles on the mantelpiece.
- There is much soup in the pan. - There is a lot of soup in the pot.
In these sentences, many and much can easily be replaced by a lot of, and the meaning of the sentences will not change.
For example:
- how much salt do you take in your salad?
How much salt do you put in your salad? - how much money do you need to be happy?
How much money do you need to be happy?
num.
how many
how much
how much it
nar.
how much, how much
how much
how strong
how much
noun
how many
what volume
what degree
what amount
how much money
To what extent
adj.
how big
how strong
Phrases
how much — how much?
how much? — Excuse me?, what did you say?, what?
how much time
how much is it — how much does it cost
how much p.c.? - How many percent?
how much food? — How much food do we need?
how much is it? - how much is it?
no matter how much
how much do you go? — How much do you bet?
how much is it, lady? “Why are you selling, mother?”
Word translation
how — how, how, how much, what, way, method
much — much, much, much, very, almost, much
Examples
Do you know how much it weighs?
Do you know how much he weighs?
You know how much I care about you.
You know how much I care about you.
It "s none of your business how much I weigh.
It's none of your business how much I weigh.
You don't know how much I missed him.
You don't know how much I miss them.
I know how much your work means to you.
I know how much your work means to you.
Do you know how much the ring is worth?
Do you know how much the ring costs?
You'd be amazed at how much money you can save.
You won't believe how much money you can save.
