Rumenye iz Amerike

from What Joy is Yours by Brivele

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about

“Roumania Roumania” by Aaron Lebedeff (1941)
“Lebn zol Kolombus” by Louis Gilrod (1918)
“Di Grine Kuzine” by J. Leiserowitz (1922)
“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes (1935)

lyrics

Ekh! Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye...
Geven a mol a land a zise, a sheyne.
Ekh! Rumenye, Rumenye, Rumenye...
Geven a mol a land a zise, a fayne.

Dort tsu voynen iz a fargenign;
Vos dos harts glust dort kenstu krign:
A mamaligele, a pastramele, a karnatsele,
Un a glezele vayn!

Ay, in Rumenye iz dokh gut
Fun keyn dayges veyst men nit
Vayn trinkt men iberal-
M’farbayst mit kashtaval.

Hay, digadi dam...

Oy, gevald, ikh ver meshige!
Ikh lib nor brinze, mamalige;
(Ikh) tants un frey zikh biz der steyle
Ven ikh es a patlazhele

Zets, ay yidl di tam…
Ay, s’iz a mekhaye, beser ken nit zayn!
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Romeynish vayn.

Ekh! Amerike, Amerike, Amerike...
Geven a mol a land a zise, a sheyne.
Ekh! Amerike, Amerike, Amerike...
Geven a mol a land a zise, a fayne.

A shtetl iz amerike
A mekhaye, khlebn;
Es rut oyf ir di shkhinele,
Mir zoln azoy lebn
Mir zoln azoy lebn-
Un a glezele vayn!

Milkhomes, mentshin-blut
Darfn mir oyf tsores,
A gubernator darf men nit,
A keyser oyf kapores

Hay digadi dam...

Es iz tsu mir gekumen a kuzine
Sheyn vi gold iz zi geven, di grine,
Di bekelekh vi royte pomerantsn
Fiselekh vos betn zikh tsum tantsn.

Zets, ay yidl di tam…
Ay, s’iz a mekhaye, beser ken nit zayn!
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Californish vayn.

So this is the part where your
Green Cousin is fresh off the boat
She's cute! Her cheeks are rosey,
she's ready to dance...she's expecting
streets paved with gold. But soon
she's not doing so hot...she's starving
paycheck to paycheck, 'cuz what has she found?
But settler colonialism & capitalism!

Zets, ay yidl di tam… Zim-bam! ta tittle di tam…
Ay, s’iz a mekhaye, beser ken nit zayn!
Ay, a fargenign iz nor Californish vayn.

O, America, America, America...
America never was America
O, America, America, America...
Who said this was the “homeland of the free”?

The millions on relief today?
Millions shot down when we strike?
Millions with nothing-for our pay?
The dream that’s almost dead today.

Hay digadi dam...

O, let America, America, America be America
The land that never yet has been
O, let America, America, America be America
A land where everyone is free.

credits

from What Joy is Yours, released May 29, 2022

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Brivele Seattle, Washington

A discontented punky-klezy trio of Yiddishists.

Brivele is:

Stefanie Brendler (accordion, vox, glockenspiel, slide whistle)
Maia Brown (banjo, vox)
Hannah Hamavid (violin, ukulele, vox)
... more

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