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Shootin' with Ra​-​Ra​-​Rasputin

from Cradle Songs, Grave Songs by Brivele

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lyrics

A personal friend of the Czar was I
A personal friend of the great Nikolai
Why we practically shlept
in the same double bed
With him at the foot, and me at the head

But all that seems distant
and all that seems far
From those wonderful nights
At the palace of the Czar
Hey hey hey
I was shootin' with Rasputin
Ate farina with Czarina
Blintzes with the princes of the Czar
Hey hey hey
We were sharing tea and herring
Dipped banana in smetana
Borscht and vorscht around the samovar Hey hey!

A friend of the Czar
All his glorious life
I was also a friend of his
Pretty young wife
Why we practically shlept
in the same double bed
But the Czar kicked me out
and he shlept there instead

One bloody day a revolution broke out
So I packed up my bags
and I peaced the fuck out
My driver was ready, I hopped in the car
I counted my tips
and I threw out the jar

I have to admit, things seemed pretty bad
I had nothing but a bachelor’s degree
and a loan from my dad
But a position was open and I had a plan:
Say hello to Amerika’s
new right-hand man

Ra-Ra-Rasputin
Lover of the Russian queen
They didn’t quit, they wanted his head
Ra-Ra-Rasputin
Russia’s greatest love machine
And so they shot him until he was dead

credits

from Cradle Songs, Grave Songs, released May 1, 2021
Attributions:
This is a mash-up of “Rasputin” by Boney M. and a song that Hannah learned as “Shootin’ with Rasputin” at Camp Thoreau-in-Vermont circa 1997, from which we have kept the dubious proxy Yiddish, dropped the Brooklyn accent, and replaced the last two verses (which as far as we can tell had already been folk-processed so many times that we are unsure of their original state). The song is also known as “The Palace of the Czar,” and was probably written mid-twentieth century or earlier, judging by the HUAC reference in the final verse of at least one iteration of it. People on many an early-aughts internet forum have speculated as to the song’s writer, hypothesizing such greats as Danny Kaye, Sylvia Fine, Bruce Adler, Gene Raskin, and Mel Tolkin. Based on an attribution in the playbill for the Broadway musical review Those Were The Days in 1990, we are tentatively postulating that “The Palace of the Czar” was written by Mel Tolkin. We haven’t found a specific connection with Danny Kaye or Sylvia Fine, other than just doing similar work in the same era. The song was performed at the review by Bruce Adler, and the review’s closing number and eponymous song was originally a Russian song, translated to English by Gene Raskin. We think this probably explains the confusion about whether Bruce Adler or Gene Raskin possibly wrote “The Palace of the Czar.”

“Rasputin” by Boney M. (1978).

Lyrics for verses three and four by Brivele.

Dedicated to Greg Finger, z”l.

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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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