Zog, Maran is a poignant and beautiful song about Sephardic Jews secretly celebrating Pesach (Passover). It could, I think, be dedicated to any people who risk being persecuted for practicing their own religion. The song is told as a question and answer dialogue. Presumably the questioner is an Ashkenazy Jew, as the lyrics are in Yiddish.
ZOG, MARAN (Tell Me, Marrano) words: Avrom Reyzen (aka Abraham Reisen or Reisin) (1876-1953) melody: Shmuel Bugatch (aka Samuel Bugatch) (1898-1984)
TRANSLITERATION
Zog, maran, du bruder mayner, Vu iz greyt der seyder dayner? In tifer heyl, in a kheyder, ) Dort hob ikh gegreyt mayn seyder. ) 2x
Zog, maran, mir, vu, ba vemen Vestu vayse matses nemen? In der heyl, af gots barotn, ) Hot mayn vayb dem teyg geknotn. ) 2x
Zog, maran, vi vest zikh klign, A hagode vu tsu krign? In der heyl, in tife shpaltn, ) Hob ikh zi shoyn lang bahaltn. ) 2x
Zog, maran, vi vest zikh vern, Ven men vet dayn kol derhern? Ven der soyne vet mikh fangen, ) Vel ikh shtarbn mit gezangen. ) 2x
TRANSLATION
Tell me, Marrano, you brother of mine, Where is your seder prepared? In a deep cave, in a room, There’s where I prepared my seder.
Tell me, Marrano, where, from whom Will you acquire white matzos? In the cave, by God’s will, My wife kneaded the dough.
Tell me, Marrano, how will you be so smart As to acquire a Haggadah? In the cave, deep in the cracks, I have long since hidden it.
Tell me, how will you defend yourself When they hear your voice? When the enemy will capture me, I will die singing.
"Martha Schlamme, who fled from Nazi Germany to England, sings a moving Yiddish song about the Sephardim, the Spanish Jews forced to convert to Christianity by the Inquisition in 1492. Many continued to practice Judaism in secret. They were called Marranos, a derogatory word for pig, used to emphasize the expectation that they would now eat pork. The Seder is the feast of Passover and the Haggadah is the telling, at Passover, of the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt. Matzohs are the white unleavened flatbreads served at Passover." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF5fxWBXr0w