Lyr Add: Tsen Brider

Subject: Tsen Brider ^^
From: Wolfgang
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 12:29 PM

A song I like a lot. The best of all counting down songs. It's music is a mixture of lament in the verses and dance music in the chorus. I think you'll find that the mixed in between translation from the original jiddish is readable after you get used to it. The spelling of the lyrics differs in the two versions I have. I did my best in the translation but there might be mistakes left.

TSEN BRIDER

Tsen Brider senen mir gewesn
Ten brother we have been
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Lajn,
we did trade with linnen
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
one of us has died
senen mir geblibn najn.
and then we were nine
Najn Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Fracht (goods).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn acht.

Chorus: Oj, Schmerl mit dem Fidele,
Oj, Schmerl, with the fiddle
Tewje mitn Bas,
Tewje with the bass
schpil'sche mir a Lidele
do you play me a song
ojftn mitn Gass!
in the middle of the lane
oj oj oj oj oj
oj oj oj oj oj
schpil'sche mir a lidele
do you play me a song
ojftn mitn gas!
in the middle of the lane

Acht Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Ribn (beets).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn sibn.
Sibn Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Gebeks (cookies).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn seks.

Seks Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Schtrimpf (stockings).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn finef.
Finef Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Bir (beer).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn fir.

Fir Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Hej (hay).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn draj.
Draj Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Blay (lead).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn tswej.

Tswej Brider senen mir gewesn
Hobn mir gehandelt mit Bejner (bones).
Ejner ist von uns gestorbn
senen mir geblibn ejner.
Ejn Bruder bin ich mir gewesn
One brother I remained
Hob ich gehandelt mit Licht
did trade with light
Schterbn tu ich jeden Tog
I am dying day by day
Weil tsu esn hob ich nit.
for I've nothing to eat

It is a traditional song, however it got a new last verse in a German concentration camp (Sachsenhausen). The similarity of the two jiddish (German) words 'Gass' (Gasse) and 'Gaz' (Gas) (lane/gas) was too close to be overlooked. So here's an alternative more recent ending:

Eyn bruder nor bin ikh geblibn,
One brother I remain
Mit vem zol ikh veynen?
whom shall I cry with?
Di andere hot men derharget -
The others have been murdered
tsi gedenkt ir zeyere nemen?
Who shall remember their names?
Yidl mitn fidl;
Yidl with the fiddle
Moyshe mitn bas,
Moyshe with the bass
Her mayn letst lidl,
hear my last song
men firt mikh oykh tsum gaz.
I am led to the gas.

Can you read this last verse without crying? I can't.

Wolfgang ^^

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Jacob B
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 02:51 PM

Thanks for putting this in, Wolfgang. Where did you find it?

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Rollo
Date: 24 Aug 00 - 06:11 PM

Thank you for this last verse from the kz, wolfgang. A friend of mine uses to sing this song a lot, but he makes quite a mummery out of it, whining and groaning... suddenly it is no more fun to me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Wolfgang
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 04:29 AM

Jacob,
I only found tiny bits on the web, so I had to type it from a (mostly) German songbook, Der neue Zupfgeigenhansel. But it is also in several other (German) songbooks.
Rollo,
one can sing it cheerfully for that's its original intention I think. But with the shoah in mind this song really gets a new dimension. The new last verse is from here. This site has much more information but it's in German.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Joe Offer
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 06:00 AM

Hi, Wolfgang - you might like to take a look at Zemerl, the Jewish Song Database. I found the "Tsen Brider" in a songbook, so I'll send a MIDI to Mudcat MIDIs. Here's a prose translation of the song:

We were ten brothers and we traded in flax. One died, and nine were left...
Oy, Shmerl with the fiddle, Tevye with the bass, play a little song for me in the middle of the street.

We were nine brothers and we traded in cargo. One died and eight were left...
We were eight brothers and we traded in candles...
We were seven brothers and we traded in baked goods...
We were six brothers and we traded in stockings...
We were five brothers and we traded in beer...
We were four brothers and we traded in lead...
We were three brothers and we traded in hay...
We were two brothers and we traded in bones...
I was one brother and I traded in candles. I die every day because I have nothing to eat.

What a powerful song.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Wolfgang
Date: 25 Aug 00 - 06:09 AM

Great, Joe, thanks for the link, the midi, and the much better to read translation.
Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Alan of Australia
Date: 16 Nov 00 - 11:41 AM

G'day,
Thanks to Joe the tune for "Tsen Brider" can be found here at the Mudcat MIDI site.

Cheers,
Alan

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: GeorgeH
Date: 23 Nov 00 - 02:18 PM

There is a version of this song on the CD "We died in Hell - they called it Paschendaele" which I just recommended in a thread entitled "Lest we forget . ." It's reduced to three and a half verses, and the notes on it say:

Martin Rosenberg was a Polish Jewish musician who wrote this version of an old Jewish nursery rhyme during his imprisonment in Sachsenhausen concentration camp. Before the war he conducted a working men's choir in Neukoeln, near Berlin. In 1939 he was arrested for being a Socialist and sent to Sachsenhausen. As soon as he had recovered from being tortured there he set up a clandestine choir of some 25 Jewish inmates who together performed in secret. When it became known that the Jews of Sachsenhausen were being transported to Auschwitz, Rosenberg wrote this grim evocation of the gas chambers.

In 1942 Rosenberg and his choir were, indeed, moved to Auschwitz where they all lost their lives in the course of the following year. Just before his transportation Rosenberg passed on his song to the Polish political prisoner Alex Kulsiewizc and asked him - if he survived - to tell the world, through this song, of the extermination camps. Kulsiewizc did survive and he kept on singing until his final days in 1982. A short while before his death he, in turn, passed the song on to Shoshana Kalisch.

Shoshana, herself a survivor of Auschwitz, is the performer of the song on the CD.

And if you want the words of this version (English, Flemish or - presumably - Yiddish) they're in the CD booklet, so you'll have to do yourself the favour of buying it - it's a purchase you won't regret!

G.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Jan 01 - 11:46 PM

I came across another transliteration of the lyrics, so I thought I'd add them.
-Joe Offer-

---

TSEN BRIDER

Tsen brider zaynen mir gevezn
Hobn mir gehandlt mit layn;
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn nayn.

Refrain:
Oy, Shmerl mit dem fidl,
Teyve mitn bas,
Shpilt zhe mir a lidl
Oyfn mitn gas!
Oy-oy-oy, oy-oy-oy,
Shpilt zhe mir a lidl
Oyfn mitn gas!

Nayn brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit frakht,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn akht.

Akht brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit ribn,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn zibn.

Zibn brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit gebeks,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn zeks.

Zeks brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit shtrimp,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn finf.

Finf brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit bir,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn fir.

Fir brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit blay,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn dray.

Dray brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit hey,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn tsvey.

Tsvey brider zaynen mir gevezn,
Hobn mir gehandlt mit beyner,
Eyner iz geshtorbn,
Iz geblibn eyner.

Eyn bruder bin ikh mir gevezn,
Hob ikh gehandlt mit likht,
Shtarbn tu ikh yedn tog,
Vayl esn hob ikh nisht.

Folksong. Textual variant printed in 1901 by S. Ginsburg and P. Marek; variant text and music entitled "Yosl mit dem fidl" (Yosl with the fiddle) published in Ost und West and by Z. Kisselgof in 1911.
A parody of the song appears in Kvutsat shirim: Of the ten brothers who traded in wine, one got drunk, another got into trouble, another was burned, another became entangled, etc. Finally, there were two brothers left who traded in stones. One turned into a gravestone. The one who remained was "the brother who fell in love with a pretty girl. I married the gentile girl and so no one was left." The refrain about Shmerl or Yosl with his fiddle was later adapted by Itsik Manger for his popular song "Yidl mitn fidl."

During the Holocaust, the song was transformed into a dirge about going to the gas chamber. In her collection, Shoshana Kalisch has the following adaptation which was written by Martin Rosenberg in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp:

Eyn bruder nor bin ikh geblibn,
Mit vem zol ikh veynen?
Di andere hot men derharget
Tsi gedenkt ir zeyere nemen?
Yidl mitn fidl; Moyshe mitn bas,
Her mayn letst lidl,
Men firt mikh oykh tsum gaz

(One brother only I remain. With whom shall I cry? The others were killed - do you remember their names? Yidl with the fiddle, Moyshe with the bass. Listen to my last song. They're taking me also to the gas).

Subject: Mir lebn ejbig
From: Mysha
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 08:58 PM

Hi,

I coudn't find this one before, as spelling differs and as I know it as "Mir lebn ejbig": We live forever.

I too noticed that the order of blaj and hej is not fixed. I guess, as with the other differences that this would be a matter of dialect - how to rhyme best with draj and tswej.

As I know it, the final verses have no chorus between them, but there are several chorusses at the end. Also, I'm use to singing "then I was one left", rather than "then we were one left".

Tswej brider senen mir gewesn,
hobn mir gehandlt mit bejner.
Ejner is fun unds geschtorbn,
bin ich mir geblibn (nur nog) ejner.
Ejn bruder bin ich mir gewesn,
hob ich mir gehandelt mit licht.
Schterbn tu ich jedenn tog,
wajl tsu esn hob ich nit.

Chorus
Chorus
Chorus

                                                                Mysha

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Joe Offer
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 02:52 AM

Hi, Mysha -
I think we're encountering different methods of transliteration. I never see Yiddish words transliterated that way here in the United States. When I see Yiddish transliterations from other contries, I have to do a brain shift so I can understand. I've found it helps to be familiar with the various methods of Yiddish transliteration - then I can Google for a phrase in various ways.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Tsen Brider
From: Mysha
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 02:11 AM

Hi Joe,

I guess the transliteration does play a part: Over here German and Dutch might have an influence on the way the words are written with Latin letters. But I'd say dialects do play as part as well, as e.g. "uns" and "unds" would not seem to represent the same sound.

                                                                   Mysha