Lyrics
Celotno besedilo pesmi »Čin, čin, čin, Drežnica« z angleškim prevodom.
Čin, čin, čin Drežnica, kje so kozice? Gori na skalici, kjer ni vodice. Ho-ja, ho-ja ho-ja-ja-ja, ho-ja, ho-ja, ho-ja-ja-ja.
#Sončece sije, dežek nam gre, mlinar pa melje brez vsake vode. Ho-ja…
#Dekle je šivala kar brez šivanke, fantič brez noge je skakal čez planke. Ho-ja…
#Mati je kuhala kozji rep, oče kliče vseh devet, preden pride vseh devet, mati sne ves kozji rep. Ho-ja…
#English translation
Ding, ding, ding, Drežnica, where are the little goats? Up on the rock, where there's no water. Ho-ja, ho-ja, ho-ja-ja-ja, ho-ja, ho-ja, ho-ja-ja-ja. The sun is shining, the rain comes down on us, and the miller grinds away without any water at all. Ho-ja… A girl was sewing quite without a needle, a boy with no leg leapt over the fences. Ho-ja… Mother was cooking a goat's tail, father calls all nine, before all nine arrive, mother eats up the whole goat's tail. Ho-ja…
#Čin, čin, čin, Drežnica at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia
- Sung in
- Slovenian
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- Slovenian folk song; author unknown
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- playful, traditional
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
Meaning and origin
This cheerful folk song belongs to an old and widespread family: the “world upside-down” song, in which everything is comically impossible. Named for Drežnica, a village on a mountain terrace below Krn in the municipality of Kobarid, in western Slovenia, it piles absurdity on absurdity — the goats are up on a rock where there is no water, the sun shines while it rains, the miller grinds his grain with no water at all, a girl sews without a needle, a boy with only one leg goes leaping over the fences, and mother, having cooked a goat’s tail, eats the whole thing before father can call all nine to table — all carried along by a happy ho-ja refrain that everyone can join.
The nonsense is the whole delight. Children love a song that gleefully insists on things that cannot be, and this “topsy-turvy” form has amused them across Europe for centuries; this is Slovenia’s own version, tied to a real place. It is a folk song with no known author — the archive that carries it records none — and its impossibilities are exactly the kind of upside-down logic a child finds irresistibly funny.
Common questions
- What is "Čin, čin, čin, Drežnica" about?
- It is a "world-upside-down" song — a string of cheerful impossibilities. It asks where the little goats are (up on the rock where there's no water), then piles on absurdities: the sun shines while it rains, the miller grinds with no water at all, a girl sews without a needle, a boy with no leg leaps over the fences, and mother eats the whole goat's tail before father can call the family to table. Everyone joins the "ho-ja" refrain.
- Where is Drežnica?
- Drežnica is a village in the municipality of Kobarid in western Slovenia, about six kilometres from the town, on a mountain terrace below Krn above the Soča valley. Naming it roots this piece of nonsense in a real place, as folk songs often do.
- Why is everything impossible?
- That's the genre. "Topsy-turvy" or "world-upside-down" songs, found in folk traditions across Europe, delight children by describing a world where nothing works as it should — grinding without water, sewing without a needle — purely for the fun of the nonsense.
