“Momma, sing me this song,” Claire says.
She often asks me to sing songs for her, and I try my best. Sometimes, I’m really good at it…and other times, not so much.
“Which one, sweetie?” I ask, wondering what it will be this time. Beyonce? Oasis? Man in a Box? Lump? What. Anything is possible.
“Hallaline a chanchaline,” she says.
“Halla what?” I ask.
This isn’t the first time she’s requested this song. The other day, she asked me to sing this song, and I couldn’t figure it out. When we’re not trapped in the car, I can pull them up on my iTunes or Youtube if I don’t know how they go. As this wasn’t an option at the moment, I was able to distract her by singing a different song. She forgot all about her original song request, and so I had I…until now.
“Hallaline a chanchaline,” she says again. “You know, the one on Rock Band.”
That doesn’t really narrow it down. We have a lot of songs on Rock Band.
“Say it again,” I coax her. She’s usually really good at pronouncing words, and there are very few times when I don’t understand her.
“HALLALINE A CHANCHALINE,” she says, exasperated. “It goes, ‘Hallaline a chanchaline. Hallaline a chancheline. Wouldya like time. Wouldya like time.’ Ya know? Come on, Momma. SING IT.”
Uhh… “Hallaline a chanchaline” I sing, matching her tune.
“No, sing ALL of it,” she says. My trick hadn’t worked.
The tune and the words are distorted as they travel from her four-year old brain out her mouth, but she sings it the same way every time. Now, she’s signing it over and over, the exact same way every time, hoping that I’ll finally understand it.
I don’t.
Soon she finds that singing it louder doesn’t help me figure it out any quicker.
“Okay, you said it’s on Rock Band. Which one? The first one or the second one?” I ask. Maybe she’ll give me a clue.
“The second one. Duh! HALLALINE A CHANCHALINE! HALLALINE A CHANCHALINE! WOULDYA LIKE TIME. WOULDYA LIKE TIME.”
“Okay, calm down. We’ll figure it out. Just give me a second,” I say as I’m wracking my brain. I love puzzles. I’m good at puzzles. Most normal, sane people would be amazed at some of the things I figure out, even on the smallest of clues.
Normally, I can Name That Tune in two notes, Jim, or knock Twisted Lyrics for 1,000 out of the park, Alex.
But not this time.
Hallaline a chanchaline? Wouldya like time? The second part (that she’s now shouting) sounds vaguely familiar.
“Rock Band 2?” I say, stalling.
“YES,” she says. “HALLALINE A CHANCHALINE! ON ROCK BAND TWO! It’s the one where the cars are racing, and then they crash! And he’s bald! The guy singer. He’s a man! He’s singing! And he’s bald! And the drummer guy is drumming! And they crash! But they keep singing! And they go whhhhhoaaaa, and they fly! And they keep singing!” She’s showing all the animation for this, of course.
She’s describing the opening song/animation of Rock Band 2, so I know we’re on the right track.
“Okay, so it’s on Rock Band 2,” I say. “Is it the song they sing during that opening or is it on into the game?”
“HALLALINE A CHANCHALINE!” she sings again. “They play it! Hallaline a chanchaline. Wouldya like time. Wouldya like time.”
Luckily, we’re at home, close to youtube. I could go downstairs and get Rock Band all set up to see exactly what the opening song is, but I’m sure I can find it online. I can picture the opening in my mind, but the song totally escapes me, what with all the Hallaline a chanchaline being shouted at me.
Sure enough, we find it, and she’s thrilled!
“THAT’S IT!” she screams as Cheap Trick’s, Hello There starts playing. “HALLALINE A CHANCHALINE!”
Want the translation? Hallaline a chanchaline is “Hello there ladies and gentlemen,” and Wouldya like time actually sounds exactly like that to me, but is technically, “Would you like to.” (As in “Would you like to do do a number with me? Would you like to do a number with me? Would you like to? Would you like to?”)
So, the mystery is solved. We listened to the song a few times, and then I shut youtube and started to go about my day.
“Sing me a song,” she says.
“Okay, sweetie. What would you like me to sing?” How about Lump, I think to myself. I love singing that song, and I know the tune and all the words by heart.
“Hallaline a chanchaline!” she says with a smile.
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