Researching Yiddish penny songs (tenement song broadsides of theater and variety show songs, 1895-1925)
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Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Di naye velt (The New World) - 1898 Yiddish parody of "My Sweetheart's the Man in the Moon"

The New World
created by Louis Koppelman
To sing with the melody from the English song
My Sweet Heart Is The Man In The Moon

First time through the issues of Lider magazin I rejected this one because the tune seemed dull. I liked it better when I revisited it a couple days ago and it has the advantage of being easy enough to play that I could do it live.

The original song, words and music by James Thornton, was published in 1892. It says "Written for and Sung by Bonnie Thornton at Tony Pastor's theatre." I found a recording of it by Manuel Romain, a Massachusetts tenor born in 1872. The verse has a bit of a strathspey lilt.

Here's the chorus:

My sweetheart's the man in the moon
I'm going to marry him soon
'Twould fill me with bliss just to give him one kiss
But I know that a dozen I never would miss
I'll go up in a great big balloon
And see my sweetheart in the moon
Then behind some dark cloud, where no one is allowed,
I'll make love to the man in the moon.

Koppelman's contrafactum is on the well-worn trope of the crooked world, especially, the crooked NEW world. We've seen many songs with this theme. Here's my recording of the first three verses, from this morning:

Transliteration from the Yiddish and translation after the jump


In Amerika tsu makhn biznes iz nit shver
Men darf nor kenen in ale fakhn shvindlen un nit mer
Men darf nor kenen lign zogar un loybn zikh aleyn
Dan vet men dikh af di hent trogn,
Du megst zayn vi gemeyn, vayl,

Mit shvindlen makht men do alsding
Mit khutspe kumt ales on gring
Men darf do nit kern un keynem nit hern
Nor imer tuen vos zikh nor gefelt
Arbetn shver darf men nit,
Men darf do nor zayn gut genit
Az lebn erlekh iz dokh nor shverlekh
Do in der nayer velt

Tsu a banker bin ikh arayn
Tsu shikn aheym epes gelt
Mir hobn ales opgeredt gants fayn
Dokh hob ikh im a frage geshtelt
Mister bankir, ikh bin do nokh grin
Darum vil ikh bet aykh
Zogt mir vos darf men do tuen
Az men vil vern raykh [prose]

Bay a doktor bin ikh geven
Ikh hob mir opgebrit di hent
Ober vi ikh hob im nor derzen
Hob ikh im bald derkent
Tsu hoyze iz er geven a shuster
Un hot nit gehat keyn broyt
Un do iz er a profesor a bavuster
Un veyst nit fun keyn noyt [prose]

Chorus ends:
[Az far a por flesher rom krigt men bald a diplom]

Ikh hob amol gekent a dame
Zi var yung un sheyn
Nu farshteyt zikh minhastam
Fleg ikh tsu ir arufgeyn
Gekleydet var zi vi a printsesn
Gespendet zeyer fil gelt
Ven ikh bin dort amol gezesn
Hob ikh ir a frage geshtelt:


It isn’t hard to do business in America
You just need how to swindle in any trade
You just need to know how to lie and praise yourself
Then you’ll be taken by the hand,
no matter how vulgar you are, because

Here, you can achieve anything by swindling.
If you’ve got nerve, everything is easy!
You don’t need to belong, or listen to anybody,
Always do just what pleases you.
You don't have to work hard,
You just need to be experienced.
Because living honestly is hard
Here in the new world

I went to a banker to send some money back home.
We had a great chat, naturally I asked him a question:
"Mister Banker, I'm new here, so I want to ask you a question.
Tell me what you have to do around here to get rich?" He said:

I went to a doctor, I'd burned my hand.
But when I caught sight of him, I quickly recognized him.
Back home he was a shoemaker, he didn't even have bread!
Here, he's a well-known professor and knows no hardship

You can trade a couple flasks of rum for a diploma

Here in the new world
I once knew a woman, young and pretty,
But of course, naturally, I used to go see her
She was dressed like a princess, she spent lots of money
Once when I was there I asked her...

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

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