Azoy vi dos naye, grine geveks un di blumen
Shprotsn un tsemern zikh
Nokh a vilder vald-sreyfe,
Azoy gefint di naye libe
Alemol a veg tsu bliyen,
Aroys funem ash
Fun di shverste, biterste umshtandn…
Ven du host oygn vi bay a kuter,
Ven du bist shvarts azoy vi a tuter,
Ven du bist vild vi indianer,
Bist afile a Galitsianer! -
Zog ikh dos art mikh nisht…
Ven du kumst fun tifster Afrike,
Ven du bist feygele, lezbianke oder a “trans”-e,
Ven du trogst a burke, a shmurke,
A yarmulke, a turbanke,
Zog ikh dos art mikh nisht…
MAZEL-TOV!
Sof-sof lozn zey undz ALEMEN
Oyfshteln a khupe oykh do, in Ek Velt!
Un yeder eyner hot di rekht oystsushrayen
Tsum balibtn, tsum bashertn:
BAY MIR BISTU SHEYN!
Like new green growth and flowers
Burst forth and proliferate
After a wild forest fire,
So new love finds,
Always, a way to bloom,
Out of the ashes
Of the harshest, bitterest circumstances…
(the first five lines below are a translation of the first verse of the original Yiddish song “Bai mir Bistu Sheyn” – “To Me You’re Beautiful” composed in 1932 by Sholom Secunda, with lyrics by Jacob Jacobs, for a Yiddish language comedy musical “I Would If I Could” (“Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lozt Nisht” – literally “You Could Live, But They Don’t Let You”)!
If you had eyes like a tomcat,
If you were as black as a Tartar,
If you were as wild as Indians,
Even if you were a *Galitsyaner! (*Galician Jews were notoriously difficult to put up with)
I say, I would not care…
If you came from deepest Africa,
If you were gay, lesbian or trans,
If you wore a burkah, a shmurkah,
A Jewish skullcap, a turban,
I say, I would not care….
CONGRATULATIONS, MAZEL-TOV!
At long last they’re allowing us ALL
To put up a wedding-canopy here as well,
At the End of the World!
And every one of us has the right to shout out
To our beloved, to our destined one:
TO ME YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL!
BAY MIR BISTU SHEYN!
This wild ensemble infuses traditional Yiddish tunes with new takes from across genres, including elements of EDM, Weimar
Republic Cabaret, Free Jazz, Indie-pop and Big Band influences.Add late ‘70s funk to drive the bus well over the edge.
Daring Unique Hipsters, grandparents, children, everyone in between; all people find something to dance, cry and laugh to during a YID! performance....more
supported by 8 fans who also own “C Natural Minor”
One of my favourite musical discoveries in a while. These musicians are seriously talented. I can’t help imagining that there would have been a whole significant subculture of Yiddish psych rock like this in a different, kinder universe. For now, this is a window into that world that might have been. And I love every second of it. Audrey
Originally sung by Holocaust survivors in Yiddish, Polish and French, this moving album is now available in a gorgeous LP package. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 11, 2022
Raw black metal that brooks no compromises, this has all the ferocious guitars, lo-fi aesthetics and infernal howling you crave. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 30, 2023