My Top Ten Geordie Song Titles

The Geordie lexicon is rich in words that are unique to the north-eastern region of England. There are those that are regular English words, but pronounced differently, such as oot for out, and there are others that are specific, like divvint, which means don't, and gadgie, which is a man.

I'm not a true Geordie myself, but rather a Northumbrian, although my speech is pretty much identical to that of a Tynesider, but then I'm only some twelve miles from Newcastle. The accent changes noticeably only eight miles south in Sunderland, and northwards there are many variations across Northumberland.

I thought it would be fun to compile a top ten of Geordie song titles to demonstrate just how different many of these words are, while comparing them with recognised hits. But first, a word about I.

The capital letter A on its own is how we say the pronoun I. It is pronounced in the same way as the a sound in cat, but hammered flat. A good example of how A replaces I can be heard at the start of the famous Geordie song, The Blaydon Races.

A went to Blaydon Races

'Twas on the ninth of June

To sing I went to Blaydon Races just wouldn't sound right.

Anyway, here is my countdown of the Geordie song title top ten.

10: A Wanna Haad Ya Maahler

The Fab Four were renowned for their dry scouse wit. However, had they come from Longbenton rather than Liverpool, they might have come up with this instead of I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Haad, pronounced like bad, but with the a sound slightly elongated, means hold. Maahler is pronounced as in the composer Mahler, but with the a sound again elongated and pronounced as in bad. It is a form of mauler, i.e., that with which a lion, for example, mauls its prey. Basically, a paw.

09: Waddn't it be Canny

I live in Blyth, a town on the Northumberland coast, and we sometimes see surfers just off the beach, braving the icy depths of the North Sea. Perhaps, if they could stop shivering long enough, a band of them might come up with a regional version of an upbeat song from a far warmer beach in California, Wouldn't it be Nice. Waddn't is a regional pronunciation of wouldn't, and canny in this case means nice

08: What's Gannin' Ern?

Swap Four Non Blondes for Four Guys from Newbiggin, and you get this. It's just as raucous as the original, but with that north-eastern touch. Gannin' means going, and ern is how people in certain areas of south-east Northumberland pronounce on. The chorus is immediately preceded by the line, I said hey! In these parts, hey is often said as how, that being a very short, sharp utterance, not unlike a dog's bark, with the stress on the back end of the word. That gives us, A said how! What's gannin' ern? Sheer poetry.

07: Divvent Gan Brekkin Me Heart

This number, which doesn't scan very well, would be better performed by Jimmy Nail and Sara Millican than Elton John and Kiki Dee. Of course, divvent gan brekkin' translates as don't go breaking. This song would be further assaulted with the lines:

 Woo hoo

 Neebody knaas it

(Neebody knaaa-aaas)

But when A was doon

A was ya cloon

In other news, the writer of this song is known as Elton Jern in Ashington.

06: Me Best Marra's Gorl

A translation of the above is My Best Friend's Girl, which was a hit for The Cars in 1978. The word marra refers to a friend or workmate, particularly if there is a close bond. It can also refer to one part of a pair. For example, if I could only find one sock, I might ask it where's your marra? Gorl is a regional pronunciation of girl.

05: Shove Ower, Hinny

Wa lips shouldn't touch

(Shove ower, hinny)

A like it ower much

(Shove ower, hinny)

The Geordiefication of the classic Doris Day hit Move Over, Darling gives us the same word, ower to mean over and too. The literal definition of hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey, but it is used as a term of affection in the north-east, which is a relief, as I imagine it would be some task to get a horse to shove along, and I bet it would hog the duvet.

04: Torn, Torn, Torn

This is not a triple repeat of the Natalie Imbruglia hit Torn, but the Byrds' classic Turn, Turn, Turn. In these parts, there is a propensity to turn an ur sound into an or one. For example, that's not lemon curd on toast, it's lemon cord. Grandpa doesn't have blurred vision, he has bloared vision. You may be wondering then, if this is so, wouldn't the aforementioned Byrds be referred to as the Bords? 

 Indeed.

03: Eyes Withoot a Pyet

This is a Northumbrian version of the Billy Idol hit, Eyes Without a Face. In withoot, we see another example of the ou/ow sound being converted to an oo one. Pyet, which rhymes with the Russian for no, niet, is a common term for the face in these parts, I can only assume as a corruption of pate, meaning the head. The word pyet is in use in Scotland, meaning a magpie or a water ousel. To get back to the definition I'm familiar with, there were few more terrifying sights to me as a child than my grandma wielding a wet flannel, and saying "Howay, I'll wesh ya pyet," (Come on, I'll wash your face).

02: Howay Eileen

Had Dexy's Midnight Runners come from Newcastle, rather than Birmingham, they might have produced this rather than their famous singalong stomper Come On Eileen, and averted a swathe of smutty innuendo to boot. Howay means quite simply come on. It can be used as a term of support, as in the saying howay the lads, which is used to spur on Newcastle United (Ha'way the lads is yelled similarly for Sunderland, but that's another story). I think Howay Eileen, too-loo-rye-aye has quite a ring to it.

01 (Everythin' A Dee) A Dee It Fo' Yee

In a Geordie version of the massive Bryan Adams hit, the word dee means do. It is pronounced exactly the same as when saying the letter D. So how do you dee is pronounced how do you D. The word yee is in common use, and it is simply ye (you) with an elongated e sound. This can come in handy if someone is in the habit of returning playful insults back to the sender. It is possible to catch them out with this.

You're a donkey.

Yee are.

See what I mean?

And, on that note we conclude this top ten Geordie song titles countdown, so till next time, all right pop-pickers?

Not 'arf.

(Originally published in Medium)