Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)

Subject: Lyr Req: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 09 Oct 07 - 08:25 PM

I heard a midi version of this song today. Does anyone have the lyrics that they can post here for me?

                                                SOL

Subject: Lyr Add: YIDDISHA EYES (Irving Berlin)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 06:44 PM

The Indiana University Sheet Music Collections has the sheet music, viewable online.

YIDDISHA EYES
(Irving Berlin)
New York: Ted Snyder, Co., © 1910

1. Benny Bloom went to a swell affair,
Given by a real millionaire;
Jenny Golden Dollars was there.
Now comes the bus'ness end:
Benny to a friend,
Said, "Introduce me to Miss Jenny, do!"
Soon he whispered, "Pleased to meet you too!"
Then young Benny winked at Jenny
With his Yiddisha eyes.

CHORUS 1:
Oy, oy, oy, those Yiddisha eyes!
Benny had those Yiddisha eyes,
That shone so bright, with an Israel light;
Eyes that could tell a diamond in the night.
Oy, oy, oy, those Yiddisha eyes!
Benny had those Yiddisha eyes!
He took a look in her bankbook,
With his Yiddisha eyes.

2. Ben looked at her finger with his eyes,
Next day bought a ring the proper size.
Jenny's bus'ness father got wise!
Now comes the finish part:
Benny, from his heart,
Began to shout, "I love your daughter fine!"
Jenny's pa cried, "That's how I got mine!"
Benny, bending, saw the ending,
With his Yiddisha eyes.

CHORUS 2:
Oy, oy, oy, those Yiddisha eyes!
Benny had those Yiddisha eyes,
That shone so bright, with an Israel light;
Eyes that could tell a diamond in the night.
Oy, oy, oy, those Yiddisha eyes!
Benny had those Yiddisha eyes!
He said, "Farewell." The teardrops fell
From his Yiddisha eyes.

---

Verified with the lyrics in The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, edited by Robert Kimball and Linda Emmet, Knopf, 2001.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 10 Oct 07 - 10:15 PM

Thank you very much Jim for the lyrics. Until last week I never even knew that this song existed.
                                                 SOL

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: Dave'sWife
Date: 11 Oct 07 - 09:14 PM

wow - what a massively offensive song. Was this popular> i realize that at the time it was composed such phrases weren't offensive to gentiles but man - look at it! I suppose we are to assume the reason the romance broke up was because he was Jewish and she was not?

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 12 Oct 07 - 01:11 AM

The reason the romance broke up was because he was after her only for the money and her old man realized it because he had done the same. I assume both were Jewish because the author, Irving Berlin, also was of the same faith. Nowhere in the lyrics can I see anything that implies that she was a gentile.

                                                 SOL

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: robomatic
Date: 12 Oct 07 - 01:28 AM

I agree with Rabbi Sol's interpretation. I also think that it is offensive by the standards of today. If I didn't know the background of the song and I heard it cold I'd be tempted to punch out the singer.

Times have changed, thank goodness.

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: Rabbi-Sol
Date: 12 Oct 07 - 02:13 PM

As a matter or record, Irving Berlin himself married a gentile woman.

                                                       SOL

Subject: RE: Req/ADD: 'Yiddisha Eyes' by Irving Berlin 1910
From: Bill Hahn//\\
Date: 12 Oct 07 - 03:53 PM

You have to wonder about Irving Berlin---he wrote many Yiddish songs (some of which are on a wonderful album put out by Legacy) and then left that area entirely and we were regaled with White Christmas and much pop music in the mainstream American vein.

If you like the early Berlin (and others in that genre)I highly recommend the album "From Avenue A to THe Great White Way". I have played much of it on my Sunday Simcha program on WFDU (Sundays 10 AM ET). It is a 2 CD set with CD #2 reflecting the Great White Way and how the Yiddish stage music evolved into Broadway. It features the likes of Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, etc;

If you go to my website and when there click on the Playlists portion you can get an idea of some of the material played--historic and new.

Bill Hahn

http://billhahnprogramnotes.blogspot.com

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 10:40 AM

My granduncle WAS Benny Bloom,a friend of Irving Berlin(and George Gershwin's for that matter).Uncle Benny became Berlin's press secretary and helped him marry Ellin McCay,the "shiksa", which was quite the scandal in the 20's.I recently discovered this song myself as nobody in the family discussed it. I don't know if the story is true or Berlin just liked his name,Benny Bloom,who was 17 years old at the time. He died in 1973.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)
From: GUEST,Michael Feldman
Date: 04 Aug 13 - 09:12 PM

I'm "Guest" from the previous posting,Benny Bloom grand-nephew.I forgot to put my name in the "from" box. BTW, Uncle Benny owned his own music publishing company in the Brill Building. We used to say that he could have been Irving Berlin and George Gershwin's publisher because he was there on the ground floor. He got Gershwin his first job in the music business as a song plugger at Harms Music.. Michael Feldman

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 05 Aug 13 - 06:19 AM

I haven't been able to find a recording of this song. Anybody know of one, either online or on MP3 or CD??

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)
From: GUEST,Michael Feldman
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 10:02 AM

Joe, you gave me an idea. I downloaded the music(it's availible on musicnotes.com) and I may record it myself.I happen to be a singer/musician myself. I'm in the process of moving to Florida so it may take some time.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)
From: Thomas Stern
Date: 08 Aug 13 - 10:05 AM

I see no listing for the given title at three major Jewish Sound Archives (Freedman-U Penn, YIVO, Florida Atlantic Univ.), nor
has anyone on the 78 list.
If anyone discovers a recording, possibly under an alternate title,
please let us know.
For those interested in Jewish stereotypes in music of that era, there is the CD listed here:
   http://idelsohnsociety.com/music/jewface/

tracks:
1. Pittsburgh, PA.
2. My Yiddisha Mammy
3. Cohen Owes Me 97 Dollars
4. My Friends, Morris And Max
5. Marry A Yiddisher Boy
6. I'm A Yiddish Cowboy
7. Under The Matzos Tree
8. When Mose With His Nose Leads The Band
9. No Hot Water Way Up In The Bronx
10. Becky Is Back In Ballet
11. That's Yiddish Love
12. Nat'an
13. The Original Cohans
14. Becky The Spanish Dancer
15. The Yiddisha Professor
16. Then I'd Be Satisfied With Life

Best wishes, Thomas.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yiddisha Eyes (Irving Berlin)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Sep 13 - 03:18 PM

Another grand nephew of Benny Bloom here...

Mark Gilston