Our physical "Yiddish Silver Screen" CD comes in a beautiful six-panel illustrated gate-fold case, with cover art by Anya Ulinich and disc design by Lisa M. Kelsey. The eminently legible twenty-page booklet fits smoothly into notched tube insert, complete with detailed descriptions as well as full lyrics for all vocal tracks including original Yiddish plus both transliteration and complete English translations. Booklet and artwork layouts by Yiddish publications expert Yankl Salant, graphic designer for "Yiddish Silver Screen" (aka "zilberner kino" / זילבערנער קינאָ ). Illustrations include band photos as well as archival frame stills from numerous Yiddish cinematic works.
Includes unlimited streaming of Yiddish Silver Screen
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
This music is adapted from the 1937 soundtrack (some scholars say 1939) of New York-based feature "Der lebediker yosem" (The Lively Orphan) aka Mayn zundele—My Son/Sonny Boy. The uncredited piece was sung in the film by 2nd Avenue theater actor Jacob Zanger. He used Litvish (Lithuanian Yiddish) “sabesdike losn” dialect pronunciation for his comic/ earnest movie character, which we have kept in our version as well as in the transcrip- tion below. His onscreen listener for this number was a young streetwise nephew, played by child stage star Jerold Rosenberg (the future Jerry Ross of Broadway songwriting fame). The uncle’s words reflect left-wing idealism, a utopian message close to the Marxist credo: From each according to their abilities, to each according to their needs. Yet for most American Yiddish-speaking audiences at the time, these lyrics’ sound was cast as comical: we hear “solem” instead of “sholem” (as in shalom, for “peace”), and “meykhes / keykhes” rather than “moykhes / koykhes” for brains and brawn—so his earnest political vision for the united workers of the world was received in a humorous light. This ironic spin also highlights the uncle’s personality: He’s a slacker who uses lofty opposition to capitalism as his defense against taking an actual job, so his wife’s paycheck supports them both. Less than two decades after this movie’s release, the wunderkind who had played the “lively orphan” nephew won his first Tony Award in the composer/lyricist team of Adler & Ross for The Pajama Game, a musical comedy about labor/management relations. Based on the novel 7-1/2 Cents, the show’s plot featured some chronic work shirkers among the pajama factory’s union members. This recording was made for our video on a Brooklyn porch in the summer of 2022: Vocalist Mikhl Yashinsky also appears with us and a fully- illustrated set of explainer credits in this instant classic at <YouTube.com/evesicular>.
lyrics
Ven mentsn folgn nor mayn eytse
Makh ikh solem af der velt eyns un tsvey.
Men nemt dos gantse raykhtum tsuzamen,
Men tsumist es un men tut azey:
Men git a bisl, men nemt a bisl,
Me leygt tsuzamen in eyn sisl
Un men tsuteylt dernokh far yedn glaykh.
Men nemt di meykhes un di keykhes
Tsuzamen arbetn, gleyb ikh es,
Vet mer nit zayn keyn orem un keyn raykh.
Tsu vos zol der ments gor zorgn Far esn un dire-gelt,
Un hobn meyre far dem morgn? S’iz dokh do azey fil af der velt.
Az men git a bisl, men nemt a bisl,
Me leygt tsuzamen in eyn sisl
Vet zikher zayn a solem af der velt.
Ot der mosl azey: azey ze ikh di velt — her!
Men git a bisl un men nemt a bisl
Un me leygt tsuzamen in eyn sisl
Un dernokh — tsuteylt men far yedn glaykh!
Un yetst her!
Ir git ayere meykhes, un ir di keykhes,
Un tsuzamen — ye, tsuzamen arbetn!
Vet mer nit zayn keyn orem un keyn raykh.
Aderabe, zorg!
Far vos, tsu vos zol der ments gor zorgn
Far esn un dire-gelt
Un hobn meyre far dem morgn, gevald!
S’i’ dokh do azey fil af der velt!
Az men nemt a bisl, men git a bisl,
Me leygt tsuzamen in eyn sisl
Vet zikher zayn a solem af der velt...
TRANSLATION:
If people just took my advice,
I’d make peace in the world right away
Put all of the riches together,
Mix them all in just like so:
You give a little, you take a little,
You put it all into one bowl
“To each, according to their needs, divide!”
You take some brains, you take some brawn,
Then by working together, I believe,
There’d be no rich or poor anymore.
Why should people worry
About paying for food and rent?
Why be fearful of tomorrow
When there’s such abundance in the world?
So you give a little, take a little,
You put it all into one bowl.
Surely then there would be peace on earth.
{English translation by Eve Sicular}
credits
from Yiddish Silver Screen,
track released November 24, 2023
composer & lyricist unknown, arranged by Shoko Nagai
research & translation: Eve Sicular
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