Researching Yiddish penny songs (tenement song broadsides of theater and variety show songs, 1895-1925)
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I think of this song and the preceding one from the previous year, In a shtiler zumer nakht (Under The Bamboo Tree) as a pair.




Here's our recording of this one from our Yiddish Ragtime album. Again, Randy Kloko is singing and Glenn Mehrbach is playing keyboard.


Like the previous song, this one was commissioned by Marie Cahill for her programs of African-American-flavored popular music (written mostly but as we see here not always by white composers). Like the previous one, Congo Love song was written by Bob Cole and the Anderson Brothers, an African-American composing team.

Like the previous one, this one was parodied by Louis Gilrod. He was a year older now, and my guess is that his infatuation of the year before had fizzled, leaving him bitter. Not surprisingly, his beloved seems to have been an actress, as he accuses her of caring only about having people come to see her shows.

It's another interesting melody and another not-very-Jewish lyric. Transliteration from the Yiddish and translation after the jump.



When I See You Pass By

Each time my heart begins to throb
Every time my blood begins to cook
I feel like something was broken
And I remain completely bewildered
I think then, what can this all mean?
When I catch a glimpse of you from afar
Feelings come from the old days
When I fantasized about love.

When I see you pass by, I suffer endlessly
When I see you pass by, my heart is drawn to you
My breath gets short, it awakens old pain
You wound my heart when you pass by

Tell me, oh, let me know,
Do you know what it means to gush tears?
When hearts must be broken
The most beautiful paradise turns into hell.
Well, no! How could you know this
When you just live to enjoy yourself
And you want everybody to see your plays?
How can you tell me what this is?

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For sheet music and/or performances contact me: jane@mappamundi.com

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Labels: battle between the sexes, love, sarcasm, yiddish ragtime