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August 31, 2010

Libertino - Datblygu


Helo Sut Dach Chi?

You don't have to understand Welsh to appreciate that main man David R. Edwards is a hip whiskey priest pulling no punches and skewering bullshiters, hypocrites, parochial middle class fascist chisellers and other miscellaneous scum. Mortality be damned as  this bastard love child of Serge Gainsbourg and Mark E. Smith  merrily turns his wine into water. Yes, Datblygu are that good.

Mae trac 4 ar gyfer pawb sy'n joio cywiro dysgwyr yr iaith Gymraeg  ac sy'n meddwl fod Hywel Gwynfryn yn cŵl:

Can I Gymry

Gradd da yn y Gymraeg
Ar y Volvo bathodyn Tafod y Ddraig,
Hoff o fynychu pwyllgorau blinedig
Am ddyfodol yr iaith yn enwedig,
Meistroli iaith lleiafrifol fel hobi
Platiau dwyiethog i helpu y gyrru
Agwedd cwbl addas
Ar gyfer cynllun cartre
Syth mas o set "Dinas".
Wastod yn mynd i Lydaw
Byth yn mynd i Ffrainc,
Wastod yn mynd i Wlad y Basg
Byth yn mynd i Sbaen.
Fin nos yn mynychu bwytai
Wedi dydd ar y prosesydd geiriau,
Mewn swydd sy'n talu'r morgais
I'ch gwyneb person cwbl cwrtais,
O'r ysgol feithrin i Brifysgol Cymru
Tocyn oes ar y tren grefi,
Byddai'n well da fi fod yn jynci
Na bod mor wyrdd a phoster Plaid Cymru.
Darnau gosod yr Wyl Gerdd Dant
A holl broblemau'r ddau o blant,
Gwersi telyn Llinos Wyn,
A phroblem acne Llywarch Glyn,
Heb anghofio codi stwr
Am straen angeuol job y gwr -
Mae'n gorfod gweithio un tan tri
Yn gynhyrchydd BBC,
Llosgwch eich tafodau
Ar eich panedau piwritanaidd,
Collwch eich dynoliaeth
Mewn economeg academaidd.
Enwch cyfeillion sy'n enwogion
Gyd o'r Seiri Rhyddion,
Trafodwch tapiau corau meibion
A'r eitemau sydd ar "Hel Straeon"
Rhifau cynulleidfa'r oedfa
A pha liw i lenni'r lolfa,
Tiwtoriaid preifat i helpu'r plant
Neuadd Dewi Sant,
Digon o wyliau i gynnal lliw haul
Digon wrth Brydeinig i swnio fel Sieg Heil
Meistroli iaith lleiafrifol fel hobi
Dweud fod Cymru'n cael ei orthrymu,
Er fod eich ceir a sticyrs Tafod y Ddraig
Cawsoch radd da yn y Gymraeg.

Ardderchog Mistar Edwards, ardderchog.

Yr eiddoch yn gywir
tocyn iaith yn dy rhefr

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Diolch, ond fel dysgwr Cymraeg dw i'm yn siwr sut i gymryd "Can i Gymru". Wrth gwrs dydywn ddim yn hoff yr fath o berson mae o'n ganu amdanyn, ond ella rydwy i yr fath o berson,a mae o'n ganu amdana i!
Esgusodwch fi am yr gamdriegliadau a gamgymeriadau syllafu
Beth bynnag, mae'r blog 'ma yn gwych!

Anonymous said...

fyc, dw i'n gweld be wnes i yn anghwyir rwan, ond dw i'n rhy blinedig i gywrio fy hun,

Y Brawd said...

Diolch, diolch am eich comments.

Y brawd offers some lines by R S Thomas:

You cannot live in the present
At least not in Wales.
There is the language for instance
The soft consonants
Strange to the ear.

There is no present in Wales
And no future,
There is only the past
Brittle with relics
Wind bitten towers and castles
With sham ghosts,
Mouldering quarries and mines,

An impotent people
Sick with inbreeding
Worrying the carcass of an old song

Pastaman Vibration (ye-ah!) said...

Never knew with ol' R S whether he was a biting realist and incisive commentator or an Englishman's Uncle Dai (though not as much as Wynford Vaughan Thomas it must be said). Cracking bit of verse though, an' no mistake. I may give Datblygu a bit of a listen tonight

Anonymous said...

Wel, dwi'm yn gwybod os dw i'n teimlo yn well neu yn waeth ar ol darllen R.S. ond fel yr Pastaman yn deud, "cracking bit of verse." A diolch i'r Brawd am mwy o adolygiad na'r hen stori "the welsh Fall." Welsoch chi David R Edwards ar yr rhaglen "o flaen dy lygaid?"

Anonymous said...

R.S. was nobody's Uncle Tom, if that's what you meant (Dic Siôn Dafydd, we'd say round here), but he didn't fit into any tidy boxes either. He was full of contradictions, and that's what made him interesting.

So, yeah, a bit like David Edwards.

Datblygu were the first Welsh language band I got into, probably because of their Peel-friendly sound in the first place, but also because, once I was able to start deciphering David's lyrics, I found they were coming from a more interesting place, politically, than most of the other Welsh bands around at the time. The song Y Brawd quotes is a good example of their iconoclasm: "I'd rather be a junky than be as green as a Plaid Cymru poster", "Burn your tongues on your puritanical teacups, and lose your humanity in an academic economy".

I love the fact that they never followed a party line, that they didn't just peddle the easy imagery of a "Free Wales", but wanted freedom for "every village, and every individual". There's more food for thought in the typical Datblygu song, than in the entire careers of some bands.

The tragedy of Datblygu (and I'm not using that word lightly) is that by the time they reached the point that their PA could compete with the barside chatter, David had succumbed to alcoholism and mental illness. Recent appearances (the S4C program mentioned above, and the launch of his autobiography) have had a faint aura of exploitation around them. Imagine if Syd Barrett had been coaxed out of his Cambridge retirement, to shamble through a few tv and radio shows and half-write his memoirs of half-remembered good times. That's what the Welsh media have done, albeit with the best will in the world, to the best artist of his generation.

And I haven't even got the balls to sign this rant.

Y Brawd said...

Diolch yn fawr. Strangely enough, y brawd is staying in Cambridge tonight and passed The Anchor pub which has a plaque dedicated to the inaugural gig of one Pink Floyd.

Didn't appreciate the Datblygu back story. Was thinking of buying the Dai Dat autobiography but now having second thoughts.

Music brill nevertheless.

Y Brawd said...

Have since read David's hunanatgofiant. Simple, complex, sad, valedictory. Great read.