Oy, vi es tyokhket! Oh, how it throbs! Concerning love and the yeytser hore
UPDATE: Six years after I last posted this song, Arye Menachem has found a recording of Aaron Lebedeff singing Es Tyokhket (which was at the time transliterated by the record company as Oy Vie iz Tchurckit) and has posted it on youtube with the lyrics and a rhyming version in English: "Es tyokhket." Enjoy!
Six years ago I re-upped this post with a (now obsolete but funny) Instagram 60-second video excerpt:
Or click the album cover to hear and/or buy this track from our cd Nervez!The Yiddish word yeytser is sometimes translated mildly denotes lust or desire for - something and yeytser hore is the scolding terminology for wanting sex.
My transcription is from the singing of the "Betty Koenig / Kenig from her Syrena Grand Records 5286 Es tiochket. Obviously she sang the song from a woman's point of view and, as I am a woman, I chose her lyrics over Sapir's. My translation from the Yiddish:
Note that the grandmother is referred to as an "old maid." Sheva Zucker opined that if an old widow is back on the market, she can be described as a maid again - oys kale, vayter moyd - another possibility being that bobe is sort of an honorific here and the old maid is not really this singer's grandmother.
Ugh, have I got problems. My heart is sad
Girls, it's not worth it to fall in love
I try to sing and dance, to be endlessly happy
Because men have always held sway over my heart
Oh, how it throbs, it throbs and burns!
Oh how it throbs, I don't know what to do!
There's a pack of miseries here
It burns like a homentash at Purim
Oh how it throbs, it throbs and burns!
My heart is forged like an iron bolt
It's baked like a noodle pudding
My granny Sore-Khaye, an old maid 80 years old,
She's constantly crying, "I want to have a man!"
I ask her, "Dear granny, why on earth would you want this?"
I was amazed when she laid her hand on me:
Oh it throbs...
Although you see I'm old, I'm hot, not cold!
My grandchild, don't laugh at me, I'd like to see a bris yet!"
Men, oh you men, who can stand you?
You play with us women like a cat with a mouse
You know well the art of smiling and joking
It sets the Evil Inclination in motion in our hearts...
Oh it throbs...
You're stubborn, you're crazy, you cook us like mamalige (cornmeal porridge)
With you, we have mountains of troubles,
But without you, it's even worse.
Girls, it's not worth it to fall in love
I try to sing and dance, to be endlessly happy
Because men have always held sway over my heart
Oh, how it throbs, it throbs and burns!
Oh how it throbs, I don't know what to do!
There's a pack of miseries here
It burns like a homentash at Purim
Oh how it throbs, it throbs and burns!
My heart is forged like an iron bolt
It's baked like a noodle pudding
My granny Sore-Khaye, an old maid 80 years old,
She's constantly crying, "I want to have a man!"
I ask her, "Dear granny, why on earth would you want this?"
I was amazed when she laid her hand on me:
Oh it throbs...
Although you see I'm old, I'm hot, not cold!
My grandchild, don't laugh at me, I'd like to see a bris yet!"
Men, oh you men, who can stand you?
You play with us women like a cat with a mouse
You know well the art of smiling and joking
It sets the Evil Inclination in motion in our hearts...
Oh it throbs...
You're stubborn, you're crazy, you cook us like mamalige (cornmeal porridge)
With you, we have mountains of troubles,
But without you, it's even worse.
When I searched for a picture for this post, I tried "octagenerian bride" but - I should have known - I got pictures of octagenerian MEN with young brides.
For a nice article about mamelige, a traditional Romanian / Bessarabian food, see Tsvey folklor vetsheres. According to this article, mamelige was the local substitute for bread. When it is cold you can cut it with a thread. Like polenta, I guess.
Labels: battle between the sexes, fun, humor & satire, klezmer, love, modernity, nostalgia, songs for sale
by melinama @ 6:00 AM
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