Archive for New York City

¨Vi iz dus meydele?¨ Performed by Lifshe Schaechter Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 21, 2023 by yiddishsong

Vi iz dus meydele? / Where Is The Girl?
A Yiddish children’s game song from Bukovina. Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954.

A group of children play a game with their hands in front of a wood structure.

Image: YIVO Institute

Leybl Kahn (spoken): Vi heyst dos lid?

LSW(spoken) A kindershpil. Kinder hobn zikh arimgenemen in a rud. In m’ot eynem tsigebin’en di oygn; geveyntlekh a yingele hot men tsigebinen di oygn in er fleygt arimgeyn in zingen.

LSW: A children’s game. Children held each other in a circle and they blindfolded someone; usually a boy was blindfolded. And he went around singing this: 

LSW sings: 

Vi iz dus meydele vus ikh hob zi gevolt. 
Ikh vel ir geybn a shisele mit gold.
Efsher shteyt zi dort bay der tir.
Meydele, oy meydele, kim arayn tse mir.

Where is the girl that I wanted.
I will give her a golden plate. 
Maybe she is standing there at the door.
Girl, o, girl come inside to me.  

Vi i’dus meydele vus ikh hob zi gevolt?
Ikh vel ir geybn a ringele fin gold.
Kim shoyn meydele, kim arayn tsi mir.
Meydele, oy, sheyne, shtey nisht bay der tir.

Where is the girl that I wanted?
I will give her a golden ring.
Come already girl, come inside to me.
Girl, o, pretty one, don’t stand by the door. 

LSW (spoken) Azoy fleygt men arimloyfn biz m’ot gekhapt dos meydele un dernokh iz men gegangen mit an andern.

LSW: In this way they ran around till they caught a girl and then they chose another

?וווּ איז דאָס מיידעלע
קינדערליד און שפּיל פֿון דער בוקעווינע
געזונגען פֿון ליפֿשע שעכטער ־ווידמאַן
רעקאָרדירט פֿון לייבל כּהן, 1954, נ”י

?וווּ איז דאָס מיידעלע וואָס איך האָב זי געוואָלט
.איך וועל איר געבן אַ שיסעלע מיט גאָלד
.אפֿשר שטייט זי דאָרט בײַ דער טיר
.מיידעלע, אוי, מיידעלע קום אַרײַן צו מיר

?וווּ איז דאָס מיידעלע וואָס איך האָב זי געוואָלט
.איך וועל איר געבן אַ רינגעלע פֿון גאָלד
.קום שוין מיידעלע, קום אַרײַן צו מיר
.מיידעלע, אוי, שיינע, שטיי נישט בײַ דער טיר

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

This is a shtetl version of Blind Man’s Bluff or “Blinde ku”(Blind cow) sung by the boy. In the collection of Ginzburg and Marek Yiddish Folksongs in Russia, 1901, there is a one verse song that might be what the girl would sing when it is her turn (No. 208, page 168)

Vu iz dus bokherl vos hot mikh gevolt?
Vos hot mir tsugezogt a “fazeile” [fatsheyle] mit gold?
Dortn shteyt er unter der vant.
Halt di “fazeile” in der hant. 

Where is the boy who wanted me?
Who promised me a kerchief full of gold. 
There he is standing at the wall.
Holding the kerchief in his hand.

¨The Yiddish Mate Tea Song” Performed by Clara Bitman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2023 by yiddishsong

The Yiddish Mate Tea Song / דאָס ייִדישע מאַטע־טייליד
Sung by Clara Bitman, recorded by Itzik Gottesman 1980s.

Clara Bitman learned this song in the 1950s in the Zhitlovsky-shul in Buenos-Aires; a school that was part of the leftist Yidishe kultur-farband organization in Argentina.  She sang it at a Yugntruf “shraybkrayz” [writing circle] in NYC in the 1980s. Thanks this week to Janina Wurbs and Emily Socolov. 

The Yiddish Mate Tea Song

Mume Zlate trinkt a mate
un farbayst a kikhl.
Nokh a mate gist on Zlate
farn feter Mikhl.

Aunt Zlate drinks mate
and snacks on a cookie.
Another mate Zlate pours for 
her uncle Mikhl. 

Feter Mikhl neyt a shikhl
mit der rekhter hant.
Mit der linker, mate trinkt er,
trinken zey banand.

Uncle Mikhl sews a shoe
with his right hand.
WIth his left he drinks mate.
So all three drink together. 

Kumt fun shul der kleyner Shmulik,
hungerik farbayst.
Gist im Zlate on a mate;
trinken ale dray.

Little Shmulik comes home from school
hungry, so he snacks. 
Zlate pours for him a mate,
So all three drink. 

Fun a tetsl nasht dos ketsl
milekh mitn hintl.
Do a lek, do a shmek
sara lib gezindl.

The kitten snacks from a saucer 
some milk with the puppy.
Here a lick, there a whiff – 
what a loving family. 

דאָס מאַטיי־טייליד
געזונגען פֿון קלאַראַ ביטמאַן

מומע־זלאַטע טרינקט אַ מאַטע
.און פֿאַבײַסט אַ קיכל
נאָך אַ מאַטע גיסט אָן זלאַטע
.פֿאַרן פֿעטער מיכל

פֿעטער מיכל נייט אַ שיכל
.מיט דער רעכטער האַנט
מיט דער לינקער, מאַטע טרינקט ער
.טרינקען זיי באַנאַנד

קומט פֿון שול דער קליינער שמואליק
.הונגעריק פֿאַרבײַסט
.גיסט אים זלאַטע אָן אַ מאַטע
.טרינקען אַלע דרײַ

פֿון אַ טעצל נאַשט דאָס קעצל
.מילעך מיטן הינטל
דאָ אַ לעק, דאָ אַ שמעק
.סאַראַ ליב געזינדל

“Ekh in mayn lyubitshke” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2023 by yiddishsong

Ekh in mayn lyubitshke/I and My Darling
Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], Recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954

Painting by Yosl Bergner (1920-2017) “The Wedding”

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman 

This song has the same melody as the folksong “Hot zikh mir di zip tsezipt” recorded by Ruth Rubin and can be heard as a field recording sung by her in the Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO.

The melody and text of “Hot zikh mir di zip tsezipt” is printed on p. 94, in the collection Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive. Scans of those pages are attached.

The melody also begins the “Rumshinsky Bulgar” recorded by a number of klezmer groups including Marilyn Lerner on her recording “Romanian Fantasy

LSW’s daughter Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman who heard the song from LSW many times, typed out the words in the 1970s and moved the first fragmented verse of LSW to the last verse. I suggest any singer of this song follow this change which makes sense logically: the couple are married at the end  

Thanks to Ruth Rubin Archive at YIVO, Christina Crowder, Josh Horowitz, Joel Rubin, Martin Schwartz and many others who pointed out similar variants.

Ekh in mayn lyubitshke/My Darling and I
[Ikh vel zayn dayn ]…tabele.      [This should be the last verse not the first] 
Gliklekh veln mir beyde zan. 
Az ekh vel zayn dayn vabele
un di vest zayn mayn tayerer man

[I will be your dear] dove.
How happy we will be,
When I am you dear wife
And you will be my dear husband.

Ikh un mayn lyubitshke; 
mayn mame in der mit.
Ikh vil mayn lyubitstshke.
Mayn mame vil zi nit.

I and my sweetheart;
my mother in the middle.
I want my sweetheart
My mother does not.

Her ikh nisht oys  
mayn mames reyd
Un nem mir mayn lyubitshke 
Vi’zoy zi shteyt un geyt.

I do not heed
what my mother says.
And I take my sweetheart
Just as she is.

Vayl gelt iz dokh kaylekhik
Un gelt geyt avek.
Nem ikh mir mayn lyubitshke
Un kh’fur mit ir avek.

Because money is round
And money rolls away.
So I take my sweetheart
And go away with her.

Ekh fur mit ir avek 
biz keyn odes.
Shtel mit ir a khipe 
s’gedoyert a mis-les

I go away with her
All the way to Odessa.
I stand under the khupe [wedding canopy] with her
in less than a day.

,[איך וועל זײַן דײַן] טײַבעלע
.גליקלעך וועלן מיר ביידע זײַן
אַז איך וועל זײַן דײַן ווײַבעלע
.און דו וועסט זײַן מײַן טײַערער מאַן

,איך און מײַן ליוביטשקע
.מײַן מאַמע אין דער מיט
.איך וויל מײַן ליוביטשקע
.מײַן מאַמע וויל זי ניט.

הער איך נישט אויס 
.מײַן מאַמעס רייד
און נעם מיר מײַן ליוביטשקע
.ווי’זוי זי שטייט און גייט

ווײַל געלט איז דאָך קײַלעכיק
.און געלט גייט אַוועק
נעם איך מיר מײַן ליוביטשקע
.און כ’פֿאָר מיט איר אַוועק

איך פֿאָר מיט איר אַוועק
.ביז קיין אָדעס
שטעל מיט איר אַ חופּה
.ס’געדויערט אַ מעת־לעת

From Yiddish Folksongs from the Ruth Rubin Archive (Wayne State University Press, 2007):

“S’hot mit indz geleybt a khaver” Performed by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 6, 2022 by yiddishsong

S’hot mit indz geleybt a khaver / A Comrade Lived Among Us.
A Soviet Yiddish song praising Stalin. Sung by Beyle Schaechter-Gottesman [BSG], recorded by Itzik Gottesman, Bronx. 1990s.

Image: A Jewish Kolhoz in Crimea

Commentary on the song is below after the lyrics and translation. 

BSG spoken: 

Dos hob ikh gehert tsum ershtn mul in Chernovitz in tsayt fun di rusn.
I heard this for the first time in the time of the Russians.  [The Soviet occupation of Chernovitz was June 1940 – July 1941]

S’hot mit indz geleybt a khaver.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
S’iz geveyn a yat a, braver.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

A comrade lived among us.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
He was a brave lad.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Er fleygt kikn af di shtern.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
A kolvirt vet bay undz vern.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

He used to look up to the stars
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay.
We should build a kolvirt [farming collective].
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Fun di velder ungekimen.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
Hot er indz tsunoyf genimen.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

From the fields we came.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
He gathered us together
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Lomir trinken a lekhayim
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
far dem leybn, far dem nayem.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

[BSG indicates this verse can be sung at the end]

Let us make a toast
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
for the new life.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Far der oktober-revolutsye
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
in far Stalins konsitutsye
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

For the October Revolution
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
And for Stalin’s constitution
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Far di kinder, [far] di zkeynem.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
In far alemen in eynem.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

For the children, for the old ones
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
And for all of us together.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Zol der ershter kos zikh khvalyen.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
far indzer libn khaver _______ 

(BSG spits and says “yemakh shmoy” then continues) …Stalin.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Let the first drink swirl
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
for our dear comrade ______
[BSG spits and curses him “May his name be erased” then continues]
…Stalin.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Far der Oktober-revolutsye
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
in far Stalins konsitutsye.
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

For the October Revolution
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay
And for Stalin’s constitutution
Ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

.ביילע רעדט: דאָס האָב איך געהערט צום ערשטן מאָל אין טשערנעוויץ אין צײַט פֿון די רוסן

ס’האָט מיט אונדז געלעבט אַ חבֿר
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
ס’איז געווען אַ יאַט אַ בראַווער
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

ער פֿלעגט קוקן אויף די שטערן
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
אַ קאָלווירט זאָל בײַ אונדז ווערן
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

פֿון די וועלדער אָנגעקומען 
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
.האָט ער אונדז צונויפֿגענומען
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

לאָמיר טרינקען אַ לחיים
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
.פֿאַר דעם לעבן, פֿאַר דעם נײַעם
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

פֿאַר דער אָקטאָבער־רעוואָלוציע
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
.און פֿאַר סטאַלינס קאָנסטיטוציע
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

פֿאַר די קינדער, [פֿאַר] די זקנים
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
.און פֿאַר אַלעמען אין איינעם
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

זאָל דער ערשטער כּוס זיך כוואַליען
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
פֿאַר אונדזער ליבן חבֿר ____
[ביילע שפּײַט אויס און זאָגט ‘מח־שמו’]
…סטאַלין
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

פֿאַר דער אָקטאָבער־רעוואָלוציע
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ
.און פֿאַר סטאַלינס קאָנסטיטוציע
אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ־אײַ

COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN

BSG was reading from a notebook of Yiddish songs that she wrote down in Vienna in the Displaced Persons camp (1947- 1950). You can hear my voice helping her read some of the lines. 

It seems that this song started out as a Hasidic nign (כּיצד מרקדי   Ketzad merakdin); 

Here is an instrumental version of the Hasidic tune from the album “Chassidic Authentic Wedding Dances (Galton D-5935):

Then the melody was used for a Soviet Yiddish song praising Stalin in the 1930s and 1940s, probably made popular by the 1938 recording of the Soviet Yiddish singer Zinoviy Shulman (1904 – 1977) .

The text version praising Stalin as was printed in the collection Yidishe folks-lider, edited by Y. Dobrushn and A. Yuditsky, Moscow 1940, p. 425

Here is an image of that version:

       In the 1950s, after the death of Stalin (1953), the song made its way into the leftist 1956 American Yiddish songbook Lomir ale zingen / Let’s Sing (Jewish Music Alliance, NY)  but dropped any mention of Stalin, of his constitution and of the October revolution. It was called “S’hot mit undz gelebt a khaver”.

A rousing version of the song entited L’chayim Stalin and based on the Shulman recording was recently recorded by Dan Kahn and Psoy Korolenko, including the references to Stalin on their album The Third Unternationale (2020):

Special thanks this week to Benjamin Ginzburg, Arun Vishwanath, Psoy Korolenko and Dan Kahn. 

“Ikh hob ongehoybn shpiln a libe” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on November 2, 2022 by yiddishsong

Ikh hob ongehoybn shpiln a libe / I Began a Romance
Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW], recorded by Leybl Kahn, 1954, New York City

Lifshe Schaechter-Widman with her son, the linguist Mordkhe Schaechter.  1930s, Chernovitz, Romania.

COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN

Another lyrical love song from the repertoire of LSW. The wonderful rhyme “blote” (mud, mire) and “akhote” (desire, enthusiasm) is rare but can be found in I. L. Cahan’s collection (YIVO, 1957, page 183),  in a similar verse but different melody. Also noteworthy is the curse that the girl wishes upon her boyfriend – may he become a beggar and at every door, may they say “You were here already”.  In today’s slang we would say – “We gave at the office.”

Ikh hob ongehoybn shpiln a libe
Mit groys kheyshik in mit akhote.
Mit groys kheyshik in mit akhote.
Arupgefirt hot dus mekh fun deym glaykhn veyg.
Arayngefirt in a tifer blote.

I began a romance
with great desire and with enthusiasm.
With great desire and with enthusiasm.
It led me astray off the straight path.
And led me into a deep mire.
It led me astray off the straight path.
And led me into a deep mire.

Ikh vel dir koyfn, mayn tayer, zis leybn
a goldenem zeyger mit a vazer. [vayzer]
A goldenem zeyger mit a vazer.
Der vos hot undz beyde tsesheydt,
er zol geyn in di hayzer. 

I will buy you, my dear, sweet one,
a golden clock with a clock hand.
A golden clock with a clock hand.
He who split us apart
should go begging among the houses.

In di hayzer zol er geyn.
Bay yeyder tir zol er blaybn shteyn.
Bay yeyder tir zol er blaybn shteyn
Un yeyder zol im dus zugn:
“Ba mir bisti shoyn geveyn.”
Un yeyder zol im dus zugn:
“Ba mir bisti shoyn geveyn.”

May he go begging among the houses and
at every door should he stop.
At every door should he stop.
And everyone should say to him
“You have already been here.”
And everyone should say to him
“You have already been here.”

איך האָב אָנגעהויבן שפּילן אַ ליבע
.מיט גרויס חשק און מיט אַכאָטע
.מיט גרויס חשק און מיט אַכאָטע
.אַראָפּגעפֿירט האָט דאָס מיך פֿון דעם גלײַכן וועג
.אַרײַנגעפֿירט אין אַ טיפֿער בלאָטע

.איך וועל דיר קויפֿן, מײַן טײַער זיס לעבן
.אַ גאָלדענעם זייגער מיט אַ ווײַזער
.אַ גאָלדענעם זייגער מיט אַ ווײַזער
,דער וואָס האָט אונדז ביידע צעשיידט
.ער זאָל גיין אין די הײַזער

.אין די הײַזער זאָל ער גיין
.בײַ יעדער טיר זאָל ער בלײַבן שטיין
.בײַ יעדער טיר זאָל ער בלײַבן שטיין
 :און יעדער זאָל אים דאָס זאָגן
„.בײַ מיר ביסטו שוין געווען”
:און יעדער זאָל אים דאָס זאָגן
„.בײַ מיר ביסטו שוין געווען”

“Di shteytishe meydelekh” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 9, 2022 by yiddishsong

Di shteytishe meydelekh [kh’bin geboyrn a dorfsmoyd]
The City Girls (I Was Born a Country Girl)

Sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman. Recorded by Leybl Kahn, 1954 NYC

Jewish girl from village outside of Zagreb, courtesy of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Di shteytishe meydalekh geyen shpatsirn
Zey geyen geuremt mit sheyne kavelirn.
In der puder aleyn
Er makht zey di bekelekh sheyn.

The city girls go for a walk.
They’re arm in arm with handsome suitors.
And just the powder
makes their cheeks pretty.

Ikh veyn in klug. Ikh ver nisht mid.
Keyner hert mayn veynen nit.
Of mir iz nebekh a noyt.
Kh’bin geboyrn a dorfsmoyd.

I cry and lament. I don’t get tired.
No one hears my weeping.
I have, alas, a fault:
I was born a country [village] girl.

Di shteytishe meydelekh trugn zikh net.
Zey libn nisht keyn yidn; nor ales kadet.
Nor af mir, iz nebekh aza noyt.
Kh’bin geboyrn a dorfsmoyd.

The city girls are so elegant.
They don’t love Jews, only cadets.
But alas, I have a fault –
I was born a country girl.

Ikh veyn in klug, Ikh ver nisht mid.
Keyner hert mayn veynen nit.
Oyf mir iz aza noyt.
Ikh bin geboyrn a dorfsmoyd.

I cry and lament. I do not tire.
No one hears my weeping.
I have, alas, this fault –
I was born a country girl.

COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN

I could not find this song in any collection and it is not found in the play “Dos dorfs meydl” by Perlmutter and Wohl. It is probably from an old Yiddish musical play but whether the singer Lifshe Schaechter-Widman learned it growing up in Bukovina, or in NYC when she was living there from 1908 to 1914 is not clear (she went back to Europe in 1914, and did not return to live in the US until 1951).

די שטעטישע מיידלעך
איך בין געבוירן אַ דאָרפֿמויד

געזונגען פֿון ליפֿשע שעכטער־ווידמאַן

.די שטעטישע מיידעלעך גייען שפּאַצירן
.זיי גייען געאָרעמט מיט שיינע קאַוואַלירן
,און דער פּודער אַליין
.ער מאַכט זיי די בעקעלעך שיי

.איך וויין און קלאָג; איך ווער נישט מיד
.קיינער הערט מײַן וויינען ניט
.אויף מיר איז נעבעך אַ נויט
.כ’בין געבוירן אַ דאָרפֿסמויד

.די שטעטישע מיידעלעך טראָגן זיך נעט
.זיי ליבן נישט קיין ייִדן, נאַר אַלעס קאַדעט
.נאָר אויף מיר איז נעבעך אַזאַ נויט
.כ’בין געבוירן אַ דאָרפֿסמו

.איך וויין און קלאָג, אן ווער נישט מיד
.קיינער הערט מײַן וויינען ניט
.אויף מיר איז נעבעך אַ נויט
.כ’בין געבוירן אַ דאָרפֿסמוי

.איך וויין און קלאָג, איך ווער נישט מיד
.קיינער הערט מײַן וויינען ניט
.אויף מיר איז אַזאַ נויט
.איך בין געבוירן אַ דאָרפֿסמויד

“Za górami, za lasami/Inter di berglekh” Performed by Sara Rosen

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 25, 2022 by yiddishsong

Za górami, za lasami / Inter di berglekh
A Macaronic Polish Yiddish dance song sung by Sara Rosen. Recorded by Itzik Gottesman, 1989. NYC photo.

Dancing a Polka
Spelled in PolishEnglish translation
Za górami, za lasami, Tańcowała Małgorzatka z Góralami. Tańcowała Małgorzatka z Góralami.
Przyszedł ojciec, przyszła matka, Chodź do domu, chodź do domu, Małgorzatka! Chodź do domu, chodź do domu, Małgorzatka!
Ja nie pójdę. Idźcie sami! Ja tu będę tańcowała z Góralami. Ja tu będę tańcowała z Góralami.
I nie poszła.  I została.Tańcowała z Góralami. Aż do rana. Tańcowała z Góralami Aż do rana.
Over, beyond mountains and forests, Margaret danced with the Highlanders (click here info on Polish Highlanders).
Father came, and mother came. Come home, Margaret!
I won’t go. Go by yourselves! I’ll dance here with the Highlanders.
And she didn’t go. Instead she stayed. She danced until dawn with the Highlanders.

Yiddish words:
(H)Inter di berglekh, (H) inter di felde
hot getantsn Malke-Zlata mit di zelners.

[talks]

Behind the hills, behind the fields,
danced Malke-Zlata with the soldiers

Gekimen di mame, gekimen der tate
“Kim ahaym, kim ahaym Malke-Zlate”

Her mother came, her father came,
“Come home, come home, Malke-Zlate”

“Ikh vil nisht gayn, gayts aleyn.
Ikh vil du tantsn, ikh vil du hotsken mit Dragayn.”

“I don’t want to go, go by yourselves.
I want to dance, i want to with the Dragoons.”

Iz zi nisht geganen, iz es geblibn. 
Z’hot getantsn, z’hot gehotsket biz a zeyer zibn. 

So she didn’t go and it stayed the same.
She danced and shook till seven o’clock. 

הינטער די בערגלעך, הינטער די פֿעלדער
.האָט געטאַנצן מלכּה־זלאַטע מיט די זעלנערס
,געקומען די מאַמע, געקומען דער טאַטע
„.קום אַהיים, קום אַהיים מלכּה־זלאַטע”
„איך וויל נישט גיין, גייט אַליין”
“.איך וויל דאָ טאַנצן, איך וויל דאָ האָצקען מיט דראַגײַן”
.איז זי נישט געגאַנגען, איז עס געבליבן
.ז’האָט געטאַנצן, ז’האָט געהאָצקעט ביז אַ זייגער זיבן

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

The old Polish folksong “Małgorzatka” also known as ” Za górami” is well known. Less known is this macaronic version with Polish and Yiddish. Sara Rosen, born in Krakow, sings it in a polka rhythm. According to Polish music websites, the song in Polish has roots going back to the 16th century and might have started out as a beggar’s song. A Polish website with many versions in Polish can be found here, and additional information on the song is at this Polish website.

Gila Flam, director of the Music Department of the Jewish National and University Library, recorded a Lodz ghetto adaptation written in Polish by Miriam Harel. She discusses the song in her work Singing for Survival: Songs of the Lodz Ghetto 1940-1945, pages 121-22. Here is the recording:

Thanks to: Polish singer and researcher Mariza Nawrocka for information and the links to the Polish song; to Gila Flam for her recording; to Paula Teitelbaum who printed the words in Polish and the translation from the Polish. Also thanks to Karolina Koprowska. 

“Ikh bin a blekher” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 14, 2022 by yiddishsong

Ikh bin a blekher / I am a Roofer (Tinsmith)
A children’s song sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman, recorded by Leybl Kahn NY 1954

ikh bin a blekher                                        I am a roofer (tinsmith)
Ekh krikh af ale dekher                              I crawl on all the roofs.
A kestl blekh arifgetrugn,                          I carried up a box of tin.
ungeklopt in ungeshlugn.                Banged and hammered in.     
Ekh bin oysgefurn a velt.                 I’ve traveled around the world.
ikh hob nisht keyn groshn gelt.               I don’t have one penny.  

Spoken (by her son Mordkhe Schaechter):
S’iz a kinderlidl.
It’s a children’s song.

.איך בין אַ בלעכער
.איך קריך אויף אַלע דעכער
,אַ קעסטל בלעך אַרויפֿגעטראָגן
.אָנגעקלאַפּט און אָנגעשלאָגן
.איך בין אויסגעפֿאָרן אַ וועלט
.איך האָב נישט קיין גראָשן געלט
(גערעדט פֿון מרדכי שעכטער)  „ס’איז אַ קינדערליד”

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

In the Yiddish dictionaries “blekher” is translated as “tinsmith”, but the singer Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (LSW) uses the word, and not just in this song, to also mean “roofer”, fixing roofs made of tin. Children’s songs that mock the poverty of the tradesman abound in Yiddish and LSW also sang a song about a cobbler with no shoes for himself (“Ikh bin a shisterl”).

“Dus beymele shteyt in vald” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on January 13, 2022 by yiddishsong

Dus beymele shteyt in vald / The tree stands in the woods
A folklorized version of the Goldfaden song, “Elnt fun ale beymer vayt” sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman. Recorded by Leybl Kahn, New York City, 1954.

COMMENTARY BY ITZIK GOTTESMAN
This is a folklorized version of the song “Elnt fun ale beymer vayt” from the Goldfaden operetta “Di kishifmakherin” also known as “Koldunye” (the witch), first performed in 1878.  It is sung by the young girl Mirele in the second act, first scene. A scan of the original Yiddish is attached from a New York edition of the play. 

The song presents an interesting case of folklorization, turning a theater song into a Yiddish orphan song, though with a hopeful ending which is atypical of Yiddish orphan songs. I have kept the false start and brief discussion afterwards with Leybl Kahn in which LSW says this song was learned in her hometown Zvinyetshke (now Ukraine).

Another folklorized version of this Goldfaden song was published in the second volume, Skuditski Folklor-lider, Moscow, 1936, p. 312, #52 (see screen shots attached below). There the song is extended with two new verses and keeps much more of the Goldfaden text than LSW’s.

Click here to listen to Frank Seiden singing a version of the original Goldfaden song, 1901, and click here to see the sheet music from the Library of Congress archive.

Dus beymele shteyt in vald
[False start]
Dus beymele shteyt in vald,
dus beymeledus beymele elnt, aleyn.
Azoy ikh nebekh yesoymele
In velt drey ekh mekh arim aleyn. 
Azoy ikh nebekh yesoymele
Drey zikh af der velt arim aleyn. 

The tree stands in the woods,
the tree, the tree all alone.
So I, alas, poor orphan,
Drift around this world alone

Dus beymele triknt ayn
in di bleter faln up.
 Zey faln gants arup. 
Azoy faln mayne trern. 
tse der naser erd arup, oy, arup. 
Azoy faln mayne trern. 
Tse der naser erd arup.

The tree dries up
and the leaves fall off.
They fall off completely.
So fall my tears to the wet ground.

Veyn nit in klug nit, yesoymele,
yesoymele, elnt, aleyn.
Es vet nokh blien dus beymele,
Dayn glikele vet nokh kimen tsi geyn.
Es vet nokh blien dus beymele,
Dayn glik vet nokh kimen tsu geyn.

Don’t cry and lament, dear orphan,
Orphan, alone and lonely.
The tree will once more blossom;
Your good fortune will return.


דאָס ביימעלע שטייט אין וואַלד,
דאָס ביימעלע, עלנט, אַליין
.אַזוי איך נעבעך יתומעלע
אין וועלט דריי איך מיך אַרום אַליין
.אַזוי איך נעבעל יתומעלע,
דריי זיך אויף דער וועלט אַרום אַליין.

דאָס ביימעלע טריקנט אײַן
און די בלעטער פֿאַלֹן אָפּ.
זיי פֿאַלן גאַנץ אַראָפּ.
אַזוי פֿאַלן מײַנע טרערן
צו דער נאַסער ערד אַראָפּ, אוי אַראָפּ.
אַזוי פֿאַלן מײַנע טרערןצו דער נאַסער ערד אַראָפּ.

וויין ניט און קלאָג ניט, יתומעלע,
יתומעלע, עלנט, אַליין
.עס וועט נאָך בליִען דאָס ביימעלע.
דײַן גליקעלע וועט נאָך קומען צו גיין.
עס וועט נאָך בליִען דאָס ביימעלע.
דײַן גליק וועט נאָך קומען צו גיין

From the New York edition of Goldfaden’s “Di kishifmakherin”:

Skuditski Folklor-lider, Moscow, 1936, p. 312, #52

Sheet music (from the Library of Congress, click here for LOC website):

“Ikh bin oysgefurn di gantse velt” Performed by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman

Posted in Main Collection with tags , , , , , , , , , , , , , on July 16, 2021 by yiddishsong

Ikh bin oysgefurn di gantse velt / I Traveled the Whole World Over
A love song from the 19th century sung by Lifshe Schaechter-Widman [LSW]
Recorded by Leybl Kahn, NYC 1954

TRANSLITERATION

LSW speaks: Fin mayn mamen a folkslid; dus iz shoyn…  Ekh hob ekh es gehert mit 60 yur.

Ikh bin oysgefurn a gantse velt.
Ikh ho’ gemeynt ikh vel eraykhn [erreichen]
dus greste glik.
Tse dir, tse dir mayn tayer zis leybm.
Tse dir hot mekh getsoygn tsurik.
Tse dir, tse dir mayn tayer zis leybm.
Tse dir hot mekh getsoygn tsurik.

Vi ‘zoy ken ikh dikh libn, vi ‘zoy ken ikh dikh ern.
Vi ‘zoy ken ikh dikh gants farshteyn?
Az di heyse libe, vus hot getin brenen,
Iz geloshn gevorn mit mayn geveyn.
Az di heyse libe vus hot getin brenen,
Iz geloshn gevorn mit mayn geveyn.

[alternate second verse as remembered by her daughter Beyle Schaechter Gottesman]]

Vi ken ikh dikh libn, vi ken ikh dikh shetshn
Vi ken ikh dekh den ern?
Az di heyse libe vus hot getin brenen,
Is ousgeloshn mit mayne trern]

TRANSLATION

LSW speaks: A folksong from my mother. I heard it 60 years ago.

I traveled the whole world over,
I thought I would attain the happiest joy.
To you, to you, my dear, sweet love [literally: life]
To you, I was drawn to return.
To you, to you, my dear, sweet love
To you, I was drawn to return.

How can I love you? How can I honor you,
How can I understand you completely,
when the passionate love that burned
was extinguished with my tears.

[alternate 2nd verse]

How can I love you, how can I appreciate you,
How can I honor you?
when the passionate love that burned
was extinguished with my tears.

Lifshe Schaechter-Widman with her grandchildren, Itzik and Hyam Gottesman

Commentary by Itzik Gottesman

I have not found any variants of this beautiful lovesong that LSW remembers from the 1890s. She says that her mother Tobe knew about 30 songs but once Tobe’s husband died young, she was not in the mood to sing. But when Lifshe heard her singing a tune to herself, she asked her to sing it to her.

.ליפֿשע רעדט:  אַ פֿאָלקסליד פֿון דער מאַמען. איך האָב עס געהערט מיט 69 יאָר

.איך בין אויסגעפֿאָרן אַ גאַנצע וועלט
.איך האָב געמיינט איך וועל ערײַכן דאָס גרויסע גליק
.צו דיר, צו דיר מײַן טײַער זיס לעבן
.צו דיר, האָט מיך געצויגן צוריק

?ווי קען איך דיך ליבן, ווי קען איך דיק ערן
?ווי קען איך דיך גאַנץ פֿאַרשטיין
אַז די הייסע ליבע וואָס האָט געטין ברענען
.איד געלאָשן געוואָרן מיט מײַן געוויין.

ליפֿשעס טאָכטער, ביילע שעכטער־גאָטעסמאַן האָט געדענקט אַן אַנדער צווייטע סטראָפֿע ־ 
?ווי קען איך דיך ליבן, ווי קען איך די שעצן
?ווי קען איך דיך דען ערן
,אַז די הייסע ליבע וואָס האָט געטין ברענען
.איז אויסגעלאָשן מיט מײַנע טרערן