Alfie and Yiddish Songs
My father always sang out loud when we were kids. He used to sing the song, Alfie (from the movie of 1966) so much, that we shusshed him in public. He may have sung Alfie when we were in our kind-of unaware ages of 4 to 5 but we did not shush him then. Or did we?
On the other hand, we may have been embarrassed then too, as our realization of certain things compared to other children were turned-on a slight bit earlier as opposed to the age of 8 to 12. We thought other fathers did not sing loudly and embarass their children – other fathers were perfect!
Anyhow, today I needed some CDs to listen to in the car. I was tired of playing the same old iTunes back ups so I grabbed a few things off the 3-D rack in my home. I picked Mamaloshen by Mandy Patinkin. Mamaloshen means mother tounge in Yiddish. The CD came about when Joseph Papp asked Mandy to sing some Yiddish songs for a benefit at the YIVO Institute in NYC.
There are a few songs that Dad used to sing all of the time as he said his mother sang them to him. My grapndmother, Annie Garfinkel was from the old country. She was born on a shtetl in Divin (Diwin, Dzvin), just south of Kobryn, Belarus. I dont know if she knew these songs from childhood or learned them as she got older. I dont know how old the songs really are.
I heard Dad sing a variety of these off and on my entire life. So when the album came out in the 1990s I was super curious and bought it. Of course the lyrics he sang are different - I suppose there are many versions and I never knew the correct lyrics. I do love many of these songs and my favorite is Raisins and Almonds as the meaning is heart wrenching and beautiful. I encourage the purchase of the CD Mamaloshen if you are interested in some of these old world songs.
RAISINS AND ALMONDS
In the corner of the Temple the widowed daughter of Zion sits,
rocking her only son Yidele to sleep. She sings a tender lullaby:
"Under Yidele's cradle stands a snow-white kid.
The kid has been to market. That will be your calling:
trading raisins with almonds; so sleep now, Yidele, sleep.
There will come a time when trains will cover the earth;
you'll travel on iron roads and earn great wealth.
But even when you become rich, Yidele, remember this lullaby:
Raisins with almonds; that will be your calling!
You will trade everything, so sleep now, Yidele sleep."
On the other hand, we may have been embarrassed then too, as our realization of certain things compared to other children were turned-on a slight bit earlier as opposed to the age of 8 to 12. We thought other fathers did not sing loudly and embarass their children – other fathers were perfect!
Anyhow, today I needed some CDs to listen to in the car. I was tired of playing the same old iTunes back ups so I grabbed a few things off the 3-D rack in my home. I picked Mamaloshen by Mandy Patinkin. Mamaloshen means mother tounge in Yiddish. The CD came about when Joseph Papp asked Mandy to sing some Yiddish songs for a benefit at the YIVO Institute in NYC.
There are a few songs that Dad used to sing all of the time as he said his mother sang them to him. My grapndmother, Annie Garfinkel was from the old country. She was born on a shtetl in Divin (Diwin, Dzvin), just south of Kobryn, Belarus. I dont know if she knew these songs from childhood or learned them as she got older. I dont know how old the songs really are.
I heard Dad sing a variety of these off and on my entire life. So when the album came out in the 1990s I was super curious and bought it. Of course the lyrics he sang are different - I suppose there are many versions and I never knew the correct lyrics. I do love many of these songs and my favorite is Raisins and Almonds as the meaning is heart wrenching and beautiful. I encourage the purchase of the CD Mamaloshen if you are interested in some of these old world songs.
RAISINS AND ALMONDS
In the corner of the Temple the widowed daughter of Zion sits,
rocking her only son Yidele to sleep. She sings a tender lullaby:
"Under Yidele's cradle stands a snow-white kid.
The kid has been to market. That will be your calling:
trading raisins with almonds; so sleep now, Yidele, sleep.
There will come a time when trains will cover the earth;
you'll travel on iron roads and earn great wealth.
But even when you become rich, Yidele, remember this lullaby:
Raisins with almonds; that will be your calling!
You will trade everything, so sleep now, Yidele sleep."
Abraham Goldfaden (1840-1906), Henry Lefkowitch, and Stanley Lionel orch. Don Sebesky
posted by Katchkie's Daughter at 9:10 PM
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