Yosl un Sore-Dvoshe: a tale of a lover's spat which culminates in a noisy trip to the theater
UPDATE to add video from our May 2022 concert at the Shadowbox. We just did the first two verses and went out with a bass solo.
This is Kasriel Broydo's send-up of Fanny Gordon's tango Milosc cie zgubila.That's Fanny in the picture. She was the only female composer I know of working successfully in the Polish cabarets and nightclubs between the World Wars.
I love how the loving couple displays behavior that must have been so aggravating to the singers: they sneak into the theater for free, they snap and crunch sunflower seeds and cookies in the front row and they even eat fruit compote and nudge around with their pal Velvl.
You can listen to or buy the cut from our album here: Yosl un Sore-Dvoshe on Cabaret Warsaw: Yiddish & Polish Hits of the 1920s - 1930s by Mappamundi
Here's my translation from the Yiddish:
Oh my dear Sore-Dvoshe, why are you sitting in the street looking at the moon?
Oh, pardon me, I forgot: you’re still mad at me, my radiant madonna.
Tell me why you’re angry at me again? Let’s make peace already.
My darling, I love you, believe me.
Yosl, why are you singing me a serenade?
Why can’t you let a pretty girl sit in the street?
Better you should buy me a big piece of chocolate,
We’ll go walking and I won’t be angry any more.
Oh, a piece of chocolate, that’s foolishness, it only costs a zloty.
Better we should go to the Yiddish theater,
That’s free because the manager at the door is my uncle
He’ll let us in, he’s a good guy....
Yosl, we’ll sit in the first row
And we’ll josh around with Velvele, who eats compote.
You’ll buy me sunflower seeds to chew
And a couple cookies to munch wouldn’t hurt either...
Oh my love, how can I live through the minutes before I take you to the khupah?
You in your wedding dress, me in a tuxedo, with a white tie,
We’ll stroll into the hall, the in-laws all dressed up very pretty
Yosl, we’ll have a dozen children
And walk with them on the avenues.
A dozen herring, a bushel of potatoes to peel,
What a sweet life it will be, sugar and apple kvas.
Oh, pardon me, I forgot: you’re still mad at me, my radiant madonna.
Tell me why you’re angry at me again? Let’s make peace already.
My darling, I love you, believe me.
Yosl, why are you singing me a serenade?
Why can’t you let a pretty girl sit in the street?
Better you should buy me a big piece of chocolate,
We’ll go walking and I won’t be angry any more.
Oh, a piece of chocolate, that’s foolishness, it only costs a zloty.
Better we should go to the Yiddish theater,
That’s free because the manager at the door is my uncle
He’ll let us in, he’s a good guy....
Yosl, we’ll sit in the first row
And we’ll josh around with Velvele, who eats compote.
You’ll buy me sunflower seeds to chew
And a couple cookies to munch wouldn’t hurt either...
Oh my love, how can I live through the minutes before I take you to the khupah?
You in your wedding dress, me in a tuxedo, with a white tie,
We’ll stroll into the hall, the in-laws all dressed up very pretty
Yosl, we’ll have a dozen children
And walk with them on the avenues.
A dozen herring, a bushel of potatoes to peel,
What a sweet life it will be, sugar and apple kvas.
Labels: battle between the sexes, humor & satire, love, making a living (poverty), songs for sale
by melinama @ 11:45 AM
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