Lebn zol Kolumbus aka Leben sol Columbus: Long live Columbus!
This song has been recorded several times in recent years, and I wouldn't be bothering if it weren't for the second and third verse, found in the sheet music but not usually heard. They come from this version (right), published in 1915, available at the Library of Congress site under the title Leben sol Columbus. The lyrics are by Boris Thomashevsky, the music by Arnold Perlmutter and Herman WohlHere's my version:
As I wrote in my post about Vert a boarder, the parody based on this song, you can hear an absolutely wonderful 1916 recording by Abraham Rosenstein at FAU: Leben sol Columbus!
The song is from the musical comedy Der grine milyoner (The New Millionaire) script by Abraham Schomer, supposedly based on a true story. From an article about Lebn zol Kolumbus at the Milken archive:
The [second verse] was eliminated by the time the show opened. It refers to the infamous case of Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman in Atlanta, Georgia, who was framed and falsely convicted on trumped-up charges for the murder of a fourteen-year-old non-Jewish female employee, and who was then lynched by a mob after his death sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment by the outgoing governor. The lyrics, obviously penned before the lynching, assert: 'It will turn out alright: an innocent Jew will never be hanged in America.'So a few notes about this version.
Lebn zol kolumbus was updated periodically with [verses alluding] to such current issues as Henry Ford’s virulently anti-Semitic diatribes, anti-Semitism in Poland, an American bank failure, a Jewish candidate in a New York gubernatorial election ... Prohibition (joking that if a Jew ran the government, there would be plenty to drink), and papal silence on anti-Semitism.
First, about the delightful word trombe which appears in the chorus. Literally, it's an elephant's trunk, or a trumpet. As an insult it's more usually seen as trombenik: see a discussion of trombenik at LanguageHat -- the upshot being, it's somebody who blows his own horn, therefore: "lazy person, ne'er-do-well, boastful loudmouth, faker, bum"
Second: in the second verse, you'll see in the video a "censored" version of the text because I could not bring myself to sing what it actually said. Let the racism expressed by Jews of that time be blotted out.
Third: I didn't know who Burnett was so I googled "Burnett Bill 1915" and found this in the New York Times, January 26, 1915. It is quite pertinent to politics today!
Monster Protest on Literacy Test
Big Meeting at Cooper Union denounces Smith-Burnett Immigration Bill
Speakers assail measure as un-American and inhuman - 3,000 persons turned away.
This memorial was telegraphed to President Wilson by Leon Sanders:
The Smith-Burnett Immigration bill, which is now under consideration by his Excellency, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, seeks to exclude from admission to this country immigrants of a class which has in the past materially contributed to the prosperity of our nation by imposing unreal tests which furnish no means of determingint their character, ability, or fitness....
The illiterate immigrants who came here in the past from Eastern and Southern Europe, and against whom this measure is directed, have built up by their muscle and their brawn the desolate sections of our glorious contry. They have reclaimed our deserted farms; they have erected our buildings; they have constructed our far-reaching railroads; they have produced out of the bowels of the earth the coal, iron and copper which we require... they have built large and thriving cities out of small and dormant towns...
We who live in the City of New York and who have had an opportunity to observe the untiring efforts of those immigrants to obtain here that education which was denied to them in the countries of their birth... vigorously protest against the imposition of a literacy requirement...
Big Meeting at Cooper Union denounces Smith-Burnett Immigration Bill
Speakers assail measure as un-American and inhuman - 3,000 persons turned away.
This memorial was telegraphed to President Wilson by Leon Sanders:
The Smith-Burnett Immigration bill, which is now under consideration by his Excellency, Woodrow Wilson, President of the United States, seeks to exclude from admission to this country immigrants of a class which has in the past materially contributed to the prosperity of our nation by imposing unreal tests which furnish no means of determingint their character, ability, or fitness....
The illiterate immigrants who came here in the past from Eastern and Southern Europe, and against whom this measure is directed, have built up by their muscle and their brawn the desolate sections of our glorious contry. They have reclaimed our deserted farms; they have erected our buildings; they have constructed our far-reaching railroads; they have produced out of the bowels of the earth the coal, iron and copper which we require... they have built large and thriving cities out of small and dormant towns...
We who live in the City of New York and who have had an opportunity to observe the untiring efforts of those immigrants to obtain here that education which was denied to them in the countries of their birth... vigorously protest against the imposition of a literacy requirement...
Text and translation after the jump:
A shtetl iz Amerike, a mekhaye, kh'lebn
Es rut af ir di shkhinele, mir zoln azoy lebn
Milkhomes, biksn, mentshn blut, darfn mir af tsores
A gubernator darf men nit, a keyser af kapores
Ay, siz git, zingtshe ale mit:
Oy lebn zol Kolumbus, trinkt brider(lekh) lekhayim
Lebn zol Kolumbus, oy far dem land dem nayem
Zayt tsufridn, gleybt/gloybt nit in di trombes
Shraytzhe yidn: Lebn zol Kolumbus!
Far meydlekh iz Ameritshke a glik nor a ganeydn
Vayl boyes iz do kekhol hayam, a tayneg, oy a lebn
Un keyn nadn darf men nit, shadkhonim af kapores
Un az a tronbonik vilt gelt, krigt er a moyd mit tsores
Ay, s'iz git, zingt zhe meydlekh mit:
from sheet music:
Ameritshke a medinele, a mekhaye, kh'lebn
Es rut af ir a shkhinele, mir zoln azoy lebn
Milkhomes, biksn, mentshn blut, darfn mir af tsores
A gubernator darf men nit, a keyser af kapores
Ay, siz git, zingtshe ale mit:
Oy lebn zol Kolumbus, trinkt brider(lekh) lekhayim
Lebn zol Kolumbus, oy far dem land dem nayem
Zayt tsufridn, gleybt/gloybt nit in di trombes
Shraytzhe yidn: Lebn zol Kolumbus!
A bilbul hot men oysgetrakht af unzern a yidl
A niger hot muzik gemakht un Homen sphilt dem fidl
Di "lawyers" ober shvaygn nit dem emes aroystsubrengen
Gloyb mir, Noakh, es vet zayn git, a yidl vet nit hengen!
Oy, s'iz git, zingtshe yidn mit mir mit
In Vashington iz gor nit shtil, Burnett zingt a lidl
Er vil makhn a nayem 'bill' eyn umglik farn yidl!
Ober Vilson vil dos nit! Makh, Burnet, keyn gerider
Yidlekh kumt, es vet zayn gut, ir zent gute brider!
Es rut af ir di shkhinele, mir zoln azoy lebn
Milkhomes, biksn, mentshn blut, darfn mir af tsores
A gubernator darf men nit, a keyser af kapores
Ay, siz git, zingtshe ale mit:
Oy lebn zol Kolumbus, trinkt brider(lekh) lekhayim
Lebn zol Kolumbus, oy far dem land dem nayem
Zayt tsufridn, gleybt/gloybt nit in di trombes
Shraytzhe yidn: Lebn zol Kolumbus!
Far meydlekh iz Ameritshke a glik nor a ganeydn
Vayl boyes iz do kekhol hayam, a tayneg, oy a lebn
Un keyn nadn darf men nit, shadkhonim af kapores
Un az a tronbonik vilt gelt, krigt er a moyd mit tsores
Ay, s'iz git, zingt zhe meydlekh mit:
from sheet music:
Ameritshke a medinele, a mekhaye, kh'lebn
Es rut af ir a shkhinele, mir zoln azoy lebn
Milkhomes, biksn, mentshn blut, darfn mir af tsores
A gubernator darf men nit, a keyser af kapores
Ay, siz git, zingtshe ale mit:
Oy lebn zol Kolumbus, trinkt brider(lekh) lekhayim
Lebn zol Kolumbus, oy far dem land dem nayem
Zayt tsufridn, gleybt/gloybt nit in di trombes
Shraytzhe yidn: Lebn zol Kolumbus!
A bilbul hot men oysgetrakht af unzern a yidl
A niger hot muzik gemakht un Homen sphilt dem fidl
Di "lawyers" ober shvaygn nit dem emes aroystsubrengen
Gloyb mir, Noakh, es vet zayn git, a yidl vet nit hengen!
Oy, s'iz git, zingtshe yidn mit mir mit
In Vashington iz gor nit shtil, Burnett zingt a lidl
Er vil makhn a nayem 'bill' eyn umglik farn yidl!
Ober Vilson vil dos nit! Makh, Burnet, keyn gerider
Yidlekh kumt, es vet zayn gut, ir zent gute brider!
You little America, you little land you,
you're a wonder, I swear
God's presence rests on you, we should live this way
Wars, guns, human blood, we don't need that misery.
A governor or a tsar? Completely unnecessary.
Oh, it's good! Everybody sing together:
Long life to Columbus! Drink a toast, brothers.
Long life to Columbus and to this new land.
Be happy, don't believe the blowhards.
Shout it out, Jews: Long live Columbus!
A slander's been cooked up against one of our Jews
A devil made music and Hamen played the fiddle
The lawyers, however, won't be silenced, they'll bring out the truth
Believe me, Noah, it will turn out well: they won't hang a Jew!
Oy, it's good! Jews, sing with me:
In Washington it isn't quiet, Burnett is singing a song
He wants to make a new bill, a misfortune for the Jews
But Wilson doesn't want it! Just shut up, Burnett!
Jews, come, it will be well, you'll be good brothers!
For sheet music and/or performances contact me: jane@mappamundi.com
Labels: anti-semitism, history, immigration, New York, politics
by melinama @ 3:54 PM
Yiddish Ragtime
Ikh bin busy
Opgenarte velt
Vos hot men tsu mir
Der East Side fun amol
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