Ro, ro, te min lille venn
Key: D major~68 BPMGuitar & Piano chordsTraditional · Norway
Ro, ro, te min lille venn Lyrics. A Norwegian lullaby whose title means “row, row, to my little friend,” evoking the gentle movement of a boat or a cradle. It remains a bedtime classic in Norway. Here you will find the lyrics, translation, and chords.
Sing & play
Lyrics & chords
The original Norwegian words, with guitar & piano chords above each line.
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Traditional verse
D G A
Ro, ro, te min lille venn,
D A D
snart skal du sove hen.
G D A
Stjernene lyser i natten blå,
G A D
sove du må, sove du må.
In English
What the words mean
“Row, row, to my little friend, soon you will fall asleep. The stars shine in the blue of night — sleep you must, sleep you must.”
Play it
Chords — guitar & piano
D
Guitar
Piano
G
Guitar
Piano
A
Guitar
Piano
Good to know
What “Ro, ro, te min lille venn” Means
A tender Norwegian rocking song built on the gentle image of rowing a boat. The slow, repeated pull of the oars mirrors the rocking of a cradle, while the stars keep watch over the blue night. It belongs to the large family of Nordic “boat” lullabies, where the rhythm of the water carries a child softly toward sleep.
More songs to sing & play
Back to all our nursery rhymes and lullabies — each one with a different friend.
← All nursery rhymesSources & rights
- A traditional song. It comes from oral tradition and has no single known author. We credit the tradition and its country.
- Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
- Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
- Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.
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