Do you realise this compilation has potential for being as long as a book (and that one or probably more compilations of Gebirtig's verse have already been published)?
Oy, nem, guter klezmer, dayn fidl in hant Un shpil mir dos lidl fun goldenem land. A mol flegt mayn mame mit harts un gefil, Dos lidl mir zingen. Oy shpil es mir, shpil! A mol flegt mayn mame mit harts un gefil, Dos lidl mir zingen. Oy shpil es mir, shpil!
Un her ikh dos lidl, dan shvebt far mir bald Mayn tayere mame, ir liblekh geshtalt; Ir tsertlekher blik — Zay vekn mir oyf mayn fargangenem glik. Ir tsertlekher blik — Zay vekn mir oyf mayn fargangenem glik.
Un her ikh dos lidl, derze ikh, ot shteyt Mayn mame, zi makht mir mayn vigele greyt. Un kh’fil af mayn shtern ir darinke hant— Zi zingt mir dos lidl fun goldenem land. Un kh’fil af mayn shtern ir darinke hant— Zi zingt mir dos lidl fun goldenem land.
A mol iz geven in a goldenem land A kluger benyokhid, a sheyner brilyant— Zi zingt un es tiktakt dem zeygers umru Un s’vigele hoydet zikh — Ay lyu lyu lyu. Zi zingt un es tiktakt dem zeygers umru Un s’vigele hoydet zikh — Ay lyu lyu lyu.
& repeat first verse
TRANSLATION
O, good klezmer, take your fiddle in hand, And play for me the song of the Golden Land…. Once upon a time, my mother used to sing me This song with great feeling. O, play it for me, play!
When I hear the song, it seems That my dear mother is hovering over me. Her lovely figure, her tender glance— They awaken my childhood happiness.
When I hear the song, I suddenly see My mother. She’s preparing my cradle for me And I feel on my forehead her slender hand— She sings me the song of the Golden Land.
“Once there was in a Golden Land A clever only son, a beautiful diamond,” She sings, and the clock’s pendulum ticks, And the cradle rocks - Ay lyu lyu lyu.