Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic

Subject: Lyr Add: INFLUENZA (Lomax collecttion)
From: Abby Sale
Date: 22 Dec 99 - 11:04 AM

At the LC Lomax collection, Lomax Home Page here there's a song called "Influenza" as follows: (If I format right, it's Joe Offer's fault.)


INFLUENZA

In nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, men an' women sure was dyin',
From de disease what de doctors called de flu.
People was dyin' ev'ywhere; death was creepin' th'ough de air,
For de groans of de sick sure was sad.

CHORUS: It was God's almighty hand; he was judgin' this old land;
North an' South; East an' West could be seen,
Yes, he killed de rich an' poor, an' he's goin' to kill more
If you don't turn away from your sins.

In Memphis, Tennessee, doctors said it soon would be,
In a few days influenza will [or "we'll"?] control.
But God showed that He was head, an' He put de doctor to bed,
And the nurse they broke down with de same. CHORUS

Influenza is a disease, makes you weak all in your knees;
'Tis a fever ev'ybody sure does dread;
Puts a pain in ev'y bone, a few days an' you are gone
To a place in de groun' called de grave. CHORUS
^^

Tune basically "Jesus Christ" ("Jesse James") and may be hearable by copying the link, pnm://lcweb.loc.gov/data/ammem/afcss39/3552b3.ra directly in the RealAudio Location line. (I don't think it will be clickable but here it is, if it is: Click here ) Sung by Ace Johnson, Clemens state farm, Brazoria, Texas, April 16, 1939.

So, a question. There was always death from flu, especially in the under health-cared South. But this song seems to speak of the great pandemic of 1919, not 1929. Far as I know, US flu death were at an extreme low about 1929.

Another one of those oddities. There's plenty of (blues) songs about TB but oddly rare on the flu. I mean the Spanish (ie, originating in China) Flu that killed some 22,000,000 people.

Have a nice day.

Subject: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From:
Date: 13 Jan 04 - 04:31 PM

Hi,

In the Mid-90's I visited the North Texas Irish Festival. I heard a song there that has recently come back to haunt me. Unfortunately I don't remember more than a few words of the choraus and the general melody and theme. What I do remember went something like:

The Great Flu Pandemic it swept the whole world wide
20 million of them got it and they died, died died
Whether standing in the trenches or lying in their beds
20 million of them got it and they're dead


Ok, whoever the band was would sing a verse then the chorus and then vamp a bit on a recognizable deathe-associated tune, like taps or the death march or whatever.

Does anyone have all the words for this song?

Dean...K...

Subject: Influenza ^^^
From: Rustic Rebel
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 04:11 PM

I have done a small search haven't come up with the right song I don't think but found this....

Influenza

Influenza

In nineteen hundred and twenty-nine, men an' women sure was dyin',
From de disease what de doctors called de flu.
People was dyin' ev'ywhere; death was creepin' th'ough de air,
For de groans of de sick sure was sad.

Cho:    It was God's almighty hand; he was judgin' this old land;

North an' South; East an' West could be seen,

Yes, he killed de rich an' poor, an' he's goin' to kill more

If you don't turn away from your sins.

In Memphis, Tennessee, doctors said it soon would be,
In a few days influenza will (we'LL?) control.
But God showed that He was head, an' He put de doctor to bed,
And the nurse they broke down with de same.

Influenza is a disease, makes you weak all in your knees;
'Tis a fever ev'ybody sure does dread;
Puts a pain in ev'y bone, a few days an' you are gone
To a place in de groun' called de grave.


Tune basically "Jesus Christ" ("Jesse James") and may be hearable by copying th
e link,
pnm://lcweb.loc.gov/data/ammem/afcss39/3552b3.ra directly in the RealAudio
Sung by Ace Johnson, Clemens state farm, Brazoria, Texas, April 16, 1939.

So, a question. There was always death from flu, especially in the under health-
cared
South. But this song seems to speak of the great pandemic of 1919, not 1929. Fa
r as
I know, US flu deaths were at an extreme low about 1929.

Another one of those oddities. There's plenty of (blues) songs about TB but oddl
y
rare on the flu. I mean the Spanish (ie, originating in China) Flu that killed s
ome
22,000,000 people.


I have learned alot about the flu while searching for you!
Rustic

---

(exact copy of Digital Tradition entry.)
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 04:57 PM

If the line was:

In the year nineteen nineteen, men and women sure were dyin'

It'd near enough rhyme, as well as being factually true.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 06:30 PM

... you could force it to fit the tune "In the year 2525"... :-)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: mg
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 06:38 PM

Didn't Marion just write one? mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: Gorgeous Gary
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 07:52 PM

D'oh! This thread popped up a couple days too late...I was down at a filk con in Atlanta last weekend and there was a guy there who sings the song I think Dean's looking for. Tho' I think I have an e-mail lurking around, so I can still see if I can scrounge it up.

I remember the chorus as:

"It was the great pandemic and it swept the whole world wide
Caught soldiers and civilians and they died, died, died
Whether standing in the trenches or lying in their beds
20 million of them got it and they're dead, dead, dead"

-- Gary

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: Celtaddict
Date: 14 Jan 04 - 11:45 PM

The song, "Flu Pandemic" is sung and recorded by the Flying Fish Sailors, and is on their one CD. (They have several cassettes.) Probably written by Greg Henkel, a truly sick and hysterical songwriter who also plays fiddle as if he is taking hostages. I have the CD at home and will be glad to post information and words when I get there.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From:
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 02:07 PM

Celtaddict has it bang on! After seeing the name "The Flying Fish Sailors" I remembered that's who it was. I visited their web site and saw other tune titles I had forgotten about like, "Mow Johnny, mow" and others.

If you can send me the lyrics that would be great but now that I know who they are I'll pay them for an album.

Thanks,
Dean...K...

Subject: Lyr Add: FLUPANDEMIC (Flying Fish Sailors)
From: Celtaddict
Date: 15 Jan 04 - 10:18 PM

Check out Flying Fish Sailors' other stuff. They have some wild modern-day shanties. (The moving shanty: Haul, U-Haul, Haul. The morning shanty: Cuppa Joe, gimme cuppa Joe.) In concert I have heard them do Loch Ness Monster as it is recorded, then as rap, then as calypso. I tried to put in a clicky but the website is not currently responding; the address is

www.flyingfishsailors.com

They also list a phone # [phone].

FLUPANDEMIC
Greg Henkel
As recorded by Flying Fish Sailors on "Loch Ness Monster" (1999)

CHORUS: It was the flu pandemic and it swept the whole world wide.
It caught soldiers and civilians and they died, died, died!
Whether lying in the trenches or lying in their beds,
Twenty million of 'em got it and they're dead, dead, dead!

There was a soldier on the battleground in 1917.
He turned there to his buddy with his face a ghastly green.
He said: "We made it both through Passchendaele, the Somme and Flanders, too,
But now my number's up, my lad, for I've gone and caught the flu." CHORUS

Well, a nurse was in the hospital when Tommy was brought in.
When he sneezed she caught a face full that was flying in the wind.
She wrote a letter home to England to tell them of her plight,
But the letter never got there for the postman too had died. CHORUS

From the meadowlands of Somerset and o'er the bounding main,
To the shores of old Americay they sung the same refrain.
Mother, fathers, uncles and aunts as well as the odd nephew,
Brothers and sisters and bosses and lovers were all got by the flu. CHORUS

Well, a farmer out in China watched his family dropping down,
And a businessman in Cairo hit the street without a sound,
And an eager little Bolshevik in old Sevastapol
Couldn't keep up his grinnin' at Lenin as Comrade Virus took its toll. CHORUS

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: Mrs.Duck
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 11:38 AM

My Auntie Molly died of it in 1919.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: mg
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 11:56 AM

And my grandfather in 1918 I think in Tacoma, Washington. mg

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: Celtaddict
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 12:45 PM

I am sorry for the loss of your family members, among those many. It is a fascinating thing, that so many of the old nursery rhymes even are about hideous events in history. A modern day (relatively) Ring Around a Rosy. When something is too dreadful to think seriously about, what do we do? We give it to the children to play with.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Song about the Flu Pandemic of 1900's
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 16 Jan 04 - 07:01 PM

While maybe not the worst plague ever ... (?)

From R.S. Bray, Armies of Pesitlence, Barnes & Noble Books, 1996, ISBN 0-7607-1915-2:

The pandemic of influenza which struck the world in 1918-19:

… an attack rate of about 40-50% of the population and a death rate of between 0.5 and 1.2% of cases
… killed about 22,000,000 people world-wide.
… the USA suffered a mortality of about 0.5% of its population, that is about 500,000.
… the UK lost about 200,000
…Samoa, wihtout previous experience of the disease, lost 25% of its population
… Influenza wiped out whole Esquimo (sic) villages.
… India … lost 12,000,000
In confined communities such as aboard ship passenger liners bound for Australia from the UK there was an attack rate of anything from 4% ro 43%. Attack rates could also be higher for the younger age groups as they were unprotected by previous experience of the disease.

Then there's plague, malaria, yellow fever, smallpox, typhus, cholera, ... polio ... and aids. No shortage of song material, but the "bugs" seem to be holding their own. With the exception of smallpox(??) they all still cause far too many deaths.

John

Subject: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 Nov 09 - 08:44 PM

It just occurred to me that I have never heard of any song about the 1919 flu pandemic. Or for that matter any novel, poem or painting. It killed more people than the preceding war and seems to have left no cultural trace at all. (Whereas the cholera epidemic of the 1830s left quite a few songs).

Anybody know of anything, from anywhere in any language?

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Joe Offer
Date: 23 Nov 09 - 09:04 PM

Hope you don't mind my moving you over here, Jack. This thread needed refreshing, and I think there should be more songs than the ones we've found already.
-Joe-

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: MartinRyan
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 03:27 AM

Somewhat off-thread, I know, but each outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in cattle in 20th C. Ireland produced at least one song on the topic.

Regards

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: GUEST,OldNicKilby
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:09 AM

It wasnt just the people who died who suffered there were many that survived who had awful lives.
When I bought my house in 1966 from an old chap I thought he was a batchelor.
. In 1970 he told me that it was his Golden Wedding Aniversary and that his wife had had Spanish flu 6 weeks after they had married in 1920.The flu had affected her brain and that she had been in the local mental hospital ever since. Annie was still there in 1984.
Just a small matter of 64 years on a Ward.

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Dead Horse
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 07:21 AM

Hows about "Badamoosel frob Arbadeers"
Think about it :-)

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Marion
Date: 24 Nov 09 - 11:03 AM

Hi Jack.

As MG mentioned above, I have a Spanish Flu song based on a woman's memoirs. The lyrics and MP3 are on my website here: Cecilia Delory

Cheers, Marion

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: GUEST,bradleygarder
Date: 24 Jun 11 - 06:30 AM

I seem to be a bit late to the conversation, but I feel I should note that Blind Willie Johnson's song about the 1919 flu is rather incredible. Called "Jesus Coming Soon"

Subject: Lyr Add: CECILIA DELORY (Marion Parsons)
From: Marion
Date: 19 Apr 20 - 02:21 PM

The link I posted in 2009 is broken now; here is the current link to my Spanish Flu song:


CECILIA DELORY

My name is Cil Delory, though a Cullen I was born
Here on Prince Edward Island, where the waters meet the morn
I’ll tell you of my girlhood days in simple words and true
And of the deadly fever that we called the Spanish Flu.

The year was nineteen eighteen, and my age was seventeen
I had two older sisters, there were nine more after me
And had our mother lived to see the springing of the year
There would have been another babe to christen and to rear.

Now as the war across the sea drew to its bitter end
There rose an epidemic that claimed as many men
The ships that brought our valiant boys back home again from war
They also brought the new disease onto our peaceful shore.

The place where I was teaching school shut down to slow the spread
My brother Tom was freed from class, he went to work instead
Down at the docks of Charlottetown, while loading up the freight
He caught the fever and the chills and felt the grip of fate.

Eugene and Art and Gertie too took sick within the week
Brave cousin Maggie came to help although our hopes were bleak
Our mother spent her restless days by her poor children’s side
Alas the day she joined them in a sickbed cool and wide.

The tenth day of November, I was tending the young ones
The doctor said the end was near, I went to her at once
My father held her weakening hand, she laboured for her air
The last rays of the setting sun spun gold into her hair.

The undertakers in those times were working night and day
So Doctor Leadwell laid her out for just one night of wake
And though no neighbour dared to cross our fever-stricken door
Papa brought us one by one to see her face once more.

Morning on the way to church, word spread to everyone
The peace was signed in Europe and the victory was won
We heard the pipes and trumpets at their gayest and their best
As we laid our mother in the quiet grave to rest.

The worst was over for the boys, and Gertie’s hair grew back
Aunt Laura came and stayed awhile to help make up our lack
The neighbours they pitched in to reap the praties and the grain
By these good folk and grace of God we turned to life again.



Cecelia Delory's memoirs are published in "Close to the Folks" by Reginald Pendergast, a book of PEI oral history.

The melody is "The Garden Where the Praties Grow", or you may recognize it as the tune Pat Cooksey used for "The Sick Note". I sing it unaccompanied. Praties are potatoes.

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 19 Apr 20 - 02:55 PM

Powerful song, Marion.

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: GUEST,mayomick
Date: 20 Apr 20 - 05:18 AM

re Bradley Parker's comment from 2011
A pity some Trump supporters wouldn’t heed Blind Willie Johnson's last verse's warning !
‘Well, the nobles said to the people, "You better close your public schools."
"Until the events of death has ending, you better close your churches too."’


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G9NwsOtO7U&fbclid=IwAR3ai3_pRsT-JL30m3CfKj_i_RKwRnh78Th-vwKC-3AV03jIynJF9qhE2mY

Subject: Lyr Add: THAT EPIDEMIC RAG (Foran/Williams, 1911)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Jul 20 - 11:06 AM

This is actually from 7 years before the 1918-19 pandemic, but interesting nonetheless.

There are several instrumental recordings on YouTube of this ragtime tune, such as this one by the Paragon Ragtime Orchestra, and this one, which seems to be a midi made directly from the sheet music. The only vocal performance I could find was this one—for one voice and ukulele.

Lyrics below are from the sheet music at University of Oregon:


THAT EPIDEMIC RAG
Words by Billy Foran, music by Edna Williams, ©1911.

1. Have you heard about the new disease
That's spreadin' 'round the universe?
It's nothing like the influenza sneeze.
It's not the eppizudy* but it's twice as worse.
Folks are stricken with it ev'rywhere.
The germ is in the atmosphere.
You can fumigate, camphorate, vaccinate, emigrate,
But it's bound to overtake and sting you in the ear.

CHORUS: It's that epidemic rag,
That contagious melody,
That delirious drag,
That makes you dance, makes you prance, in a feverish trance.
It's raging, that raving ragtime.
Oh! Doctor, joyous convulsions of melodious pain,
Oh, spasms of ecstasy, come get me again!
I'm passing away; let me swoon to the tune of that strain. (Oh! Lawdy, come and get me!)
Oh, that epidemic rag!

2. When the symptom of that chronic craze
Once fondles and embraces you,
You're quarantined with joy for sixty days.
No matter where you go, this microbe chases you,
And your eyes begin to shake and roll.
Your heart longs for your turtledove.
It goes pumpin' and bumpin' and thumpin' and jumpin'
And Lawdy, Lawdy, how it makes you spoon and love!

- - -
* Eppizudy = epizootic

Subject: Lyr Add: INFLUENZA BLUES (Smith/Franklin, 1919)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Jul 20 - 12:34 PM

From the sheet music at UCLA:

There is a piano-only performance at YouTube.


INFLUENZA BLUES
From the musical "A Lonely Romeo," book by Harry B. Smith and Lew Fields.
Words by Robert B. Smith, music by Malvin M. Franklin, ©1919.

What a night! What a night!
Not a star seen in sight.
How it rains! How it pours!
How I envy the people indoors!
Lordy! It's a beaut!
Wish I had my bathing suit.

While in the swell cabaret,
The folks are merry and gay.
I'm on the outside feeling blue.
While they're a-dancing the fox,
I'm getting soaked to the socks
And feeling friendly with the "flu."
While ev'rybody gets champagne,
I'm getting nothing here but rain;
And while they got all the booze
That anybody could use,
I got the Influenza Blues.

Subject: Lyr Add: TAKE YOUR GIRLIE TO THE MOVIES (1919)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Jul 20 - 01:37 PM

Here's a popular song from the time that mentions influenza, from the sheet music at Indiana University:

The Internet Archive has early recordings by Billy Murray and by Irving Kaufman. They both take some liberties with the printed lyrics.


TAKE YOUR GIRLIE TO THE MOVIES
(IF YOU CAN'T MAKE LOVE AT HOME)
Words by Edgar Leslie and Bert Kalmar, music by Pete Wendling, ©1919.

1. Beatrice Fairfax gives advice to anyone in love.
That's why Johnny Gray
Wrote to her one day:
"When I call to love my girl, her folks are always there.
That's why I'm blue.
What shall I do?"
And Beatrice said: "Never despair—

CHORUS: Take your girlie to the movies if you can't make love at home.
There's no little brother there who always squeals.
You can say an awful lot in seven reels.
Take your lessons at the movies and have love scenes of your own.
When the picture's over and it's time to leave,
Don't forget to brush the powder off your sleeve.
Take your girlie to the movies if you can't make love at home.

2. Sweethearts always used to spoon in a big Morris chair.
Young folks of today
Have a diff'rent way.
Far away from a cranky dad and mother's eagle eye,
It's lots of fun.
Here's how it's done,
So come on and give it a try:

CHORUS: Take your girlie to the movies if you can't make love at home.
Pick a cozy corner where it's nice and dark.
Don't catch influenza kissing in the park.
Take your lessons at the movies and have love scenes of your own.
Though she's just a simple little ribbon clerk,
Close your eyes and think you're kissing Billie Burke.
Take your girlie to the movies if you can't make love at home.

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Felipa
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 08:26 PM

Di Shpanishe Kholere / The Spanish Contagion
Lyrics by Harry Boens (Bennett), Music by Nathan Hollandar.

sheet music can be viewed at the Library of Congress - digital images at
https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200196342 and at https://yiddishsong.wordpress.com/2020/11/15/harry-boens-amp-nathan-hollanders-song-di-shpanishe-kholere-performed-by-cantor-sam-weiss/, where there is also a sound recording.

also sung by Esti Nissim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPSFkrQXwts&feature=emb_logo

TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION by Cantor Sam Weiss

1. Ikh gey mir arim in strit fartrakht
Say bay tug in say bay nakht.
In mayn hartzn kokht dus blit,
Ze’endik vi mentshn faln in strit.

REFRAIN:

Vayl di gantse velt iz yetst in trobl,
In yeder eyner zikht dem knobl.

I walk the streets deep in thought,
Be it day, be it night.
The blood is seething in my heart
As I watch people collapsing in the street.

REFRAIN:

Because the whole world is now in trouble,
And everyone is searching for garlic.

2. Mentshn zitsn in hoyz mit der neveyre,
Zey hobn moyre far der Shpanisher kholere.
Nemt mayn edvays in seyft zikh fin dem trobl,
Trinkt a glezl vayn in est dem knobl.

REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…

Everyone is stuck at home with this plague,
They’re all afraid of the Spanish flu.
Take my advice and save yourself from trouble,
Drink a glass of wine and eat some garlic.

REFRAIN: Because the whole world…

3. Der Daytsh iz oykh a groyser diplomat!
Er hot gevolt farnikhtn di velt vi a rats;
Wilson hot ober genimen zikh di ere
In geshikt dem Daytsh di Shpanishe kholere.

REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…

The Germans are some diplomats…
Seeking to destroy the world as if it were a rat;
But Wilson stepped right up
And sent the Germans the Spanish flu!

REFRAIN: Because the whole world…

4. Sobveys, kars, gepakt oykh fil mit mentshn;
Ikh bet bay dir, oy Got, di zolst indz bentshn!
Nem fin indz oykh di neveyre
In hit indz up fin der Shpanisher kholere.

REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…

Subways, cars, all packed with people;
I beg you, God, please bless us!
Remove the plague from us too,
And shield us from the Spanish flu.

REFRAIN: Because the whole world…

5. Barbers loyfn arim azoy vi di nyankes;
Fin hoyz tsi hoyz shteln zey ayedn bankes.
Zey aleyn trugn arim di neveyre;
Zey danken Got es halt on di kholere!

REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…

Barbers scurry about as if they were nurses,
From house to house, with cupping glass treatments;
They themselves are carriers of the plague,
Thanking God that the contagion perseveres!

REFRAIN: Because the whole world…

6. Mikh tsi hern zingen is nisht kayn vinder;
Mentshn, past nor oyf of ayere kinder.
Di froyen in Eyrope zenen geblibn vi ofn yakor,
In di mener in Amerike brenen vi a flaker

REFRAIN: Vayl di gantse velt…

Don’t act surprised to hear me singing;
Folks, just watch over your children.
The wives are all marooned in Europe
While their husbands are ablaze in America

REFRAIN: Because the whole world…

German translation and Yiddish transliteration from https://www.tangoyim.de/lieder/di-shpanishe-kholere.html

Die spanische Grippe

Notenblatt shpanishe kholereWenn ich nachdenklich durch die Straßen gehe
Ob bei Tag oder bei Nacht
Dort in meinem Herzen kocht das Blut
Wenn ich sehe, wie die Menschen auf der Straße zusammenbrechen
Oj oj oj denn die ganze Welt halt jetzt Probleme
Oj oj oj und jeder sucht den Knoblauch

Und ich sitze zu Hause mit der Seuche
Habe Angst vor der spanischen Grippe
Nehmt den Rat und seift euch ein
Trinkt noch ein Glas Wein und eßt den Knoblauch auf

Der Deutsche hält sich für einen großen Diplomaten
Die Welt wollte er wie eine Ratte vernichten
Doch Wilson hat sich die Ehre gegeben
Und dem Deutschen die spanische Grippe geschickt

U-Bahnen, Autos, gepackt und voll mit Menschen
Ich bete zu dir, Gott, segne uns
Nimm von uns diese Plage
Und behüte uns vor der spanischen Grippe

Barbiere laufen herum genau wie Krankenschwestern
Von Haus zu Haus, um jedem Schröpfköpfe zu setzen
Genau sie verbreiten die Seuche
Und sie danken Gott, dass die spanische Grippe andauert

==================
Di shpanishe kholere
?? ??????? ??????


Gey ikh mir arum in street fartrakht
Gey ikh say bay tog un say bay nakht
Oy oy oy dort in hartsn maynen kokht dos blit
Oy ven ikh ze di mentshn faln in de street
Oy oy oy vayl di gantse velt is jetzt in trouble
Oy oy oy oy un yeder eyner zukht dem knobl

Ay ay da da da da day
Ay ay da da da da day
Ay ay da da da da day
Da da da da da da day

Un ikh zits in hoys mit der naveyre
Hob moyre far der shpanishe kholere
Oy oy oy nemt dem advice un zayft zikh fun dem trouble
Trinkt nokh a gleyzele vayn un est shoyn op dem knobl
Oy oy oy vayl di gantse velt is jetzt in trouble
Un yeder eyner yeder eyner zukht dem knobl

Der daytshe zet a groser diplomat
Di velt er volt farnikhtn vi a rat
Oy oy nor Wilson hot genumen zikh di ere
Oy un geshikt dem daytsh di shpanishe kholere
Oy oy oy oy un di gantse velt is jetzt in trouble
Oy oy oy oy un yeder eyner zukht dem knobl

Subways, cars, gepakt un ful mit mentshn
Ikh bet bay dir akh got du zolst unds bentshn
Nem avek fun unds oykh di naveyre
Un hit unds op fun der shpanisher kholere
Oy oy oy vayl di gantse velt is jetzt in trouble
Oy oy oy oy un yeder eyner zukht dem knobl

Barbers loyfn arum punkt vi di nyankes
Fun hoyz tsu hoyz tsu shteln yedn pankes
Oy oy oy zey aleyn trogn arum naveyre
Oy un zey dankn got es holt on di kholere
Oy oy oy oy un di gantse velt is jetzt in trouble
Oy oy oy oy un yeder eyner zukht dem knobl

--
Commentary by Cantor Sam Weiss

Around 15 years ago my friend Michael Bennett discovered his grandfather’s name (see Michael Bennett’s post about his grandfather, Harry Boens / Bennett) listed as lyricist on a piece of Yiddish sheet music about the 1918 Spanish flu. As there were no extant recordings or performances of the song, in 2010 he emailed me to see if I could arrange to get it recorded. I glanced at the lyrics and was quickly captivated by their colloquial directness and interesting vocabulary. In short order I printed out the file, placed the sheets on my electronic keyboard, ran through the song, and emailed the mp3 to Michael.

The song remained our private little adventure until COVID-19 reared its head and Michael reached out to me again: “…Maybe it’s an appropriate time to release to the public your rendition of my grandfather’s lament.” I hesitated, not really thinking of that quick take as a “performance, “and his idea remained dormant. Right before the High Holidays, however, it occurred to me that the Yiddish Song of the Week website would be an appropriate vehicle for sharing this gem, and Itzik Gottesman agreed to host it along with Michael’s back story on his grandfather.

As the song is equal parts humor and pathos, I adopted a theatrical singing style along with the “stage Yiddish” dialect suggested by the printed notation. The initial sound in the Yiddish word for “Spanish” is clearly intended to be pronounced “S” rather than “Sh,” being spelled here with a samekh in place of the standard shin, and that is how I sang it.

In the case of the word for “heart” I vacillated between the standard pronunciation harts and the printed word hertz. In these two cases the transcription reflects standard Yiddish spellings rather than the pronunciations heard on the recording; the remaining words are transcribed as sung. Although the notation indicates a repeat of the final phrase in the verses, these repeats were skipped in verses 3-6.

I was struck by an interesting word that occurs three times, neveyre, which I have translated as “plague.” Strictly speaking neveyre is simply the colloquial version of aveyre, meaning “sin” (the “n” resulting from conflating the two words an aveyre), but in this context neveyre implies a divine punishment that may have come about as a result of our sins. Although I have yet to find this particular meaning in any Yiddish dictionary or thesaurus, the usage is amply supported by Jewish lore from the Ten Plagues onwards. The song itself, moreover, expresses a plea for God’s compassion (to reverse the punishment, as it were) as well as the darkly comical idea of the Spanish flu as Woodrow Wilson’s vengeance for Germany’s role in World War I.

The title word kholere is especially noteworthy. Unlike the English word “cholera,” it has a much broader connotation than any specific type of illness. Indeed, the technical name of the disease appears only on the Yiddish lyrics back cover page as the title—but nowhere in the song—as Di Shpanishe influentsiye. In verse 5 kholere appears unmodified by Shpanishe; I therefore translate it as “contagion.” Kholere is found in a great number of Yiddish curses where the speaker is not particularly concerned with which krenk befalls the victim, as long as it is grueling and punishing. Indeed “punishing” is the word’s operative intention, as in the case of neveyre. Note the antiquated spelling of the word on the title page with a khes instead of the standard khof. This older Yiddish orthography hints at a presumed Hebrew origin, as if kholere were a retributive disease related to kadokhes (biblical kodokhas), which is always spelled with a khes.

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Felipa
Date: 01 Mar 21 - 08:37 PM

re the above post, the Esti Nissim video is also good visually

Subject: Lyr add: Menschen-Fresser (epidemic song, Yiddish)
From: Felipa
Date: 05 Oct 21 - 07:45 PM

This song dates to 1916, and appears to be about tuberculosis, but the lyrics suit the theme - although bacillus is mentioned and not virus

https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/yiddish-plague-songs cites Menschen-Fresser by Shlomo Shmulevitz (Solomon Small)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaYmQNgCtnQ Sveta Kundish & Daniel Kahn
(Click CC or Options to turn on English, German, or Yiddish subtitles)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/you-poison-our-innards-revamped-1916-yiddish-pandemic-song-is-new-youtube-hit/

Downloadable sheet music pdf https://fau.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fau%3A1699

Lyrics and translation as given at http://www.yiddishpennysongs.com/2017/05/mentshn-freser-what-tuberculosis-polio.html

MENTSHN-FRESER (transliteration)

In di lungen tif bagrobn voynt di blase pest
Di batsiln, di mikrobn boyen zeyer nest
Fresn undzer layb un lebn frukhpern zikh pek
Un mir muzn zelbst farshvebn far der tsayt avek
Un mir filn vi mir geyen shtil un langzam oys
Un di shmertsn un di veyen zaynen shreklekh groys
Un di finstere makhshoves gresern dem shmerts
Yorn ligt der malekh hamoves tif bay undz in herts.

Mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir? Zogt vemes shlikhes derfilt ir?
Ir frest di korbones gor on a rakhmones, in bliyende lebn nor tsilt ir!
Ir bodt zikh in trern fun veyner ir tsit oys di markh fun di beyner
Ir samt di gederem ir krikhende verim, mikrobn batsiln vos vilt ir?

Nokh a shreklikhe mageyfe geyt fun land tsu land
Mit di shnelkeyt fun a sreyfe fun a fayer-brand!
Kleyne kinder nemt es samen, eyfelekh fun brust
Roybt avek fun tatn-mamen zeyer lebens-lust
Makhtloz iz dem mentshns zinen, s'blaybt di khokhme shtil
S'iz keyn mitl tsu gefinen gegn a batsil!
Vos paralizirt di kinder, undzer lebns-shayn
Mir dervartn gotes vunder, s'zol dos mer nit zayn!

Kep gekroynte, diplomatn, um tsu hobn zig,
Tsvingen undz tsu zayn soldatn, traybn undz in krig!
Yunge mentshn in milionen tsoln zeyer prayz
Un es vert far di kanonen zeyer fleysh a shpayz!
Un tsukripelte, un toyte, faln do un dort
naye lebns ongegreyte filn oys dem ort
Un in groyse tife kvorim pakt men laykhes fil
Un di hersher, di keysorim, shpiln shakhmat shpil

The pale pestilence lives deeply buried in the lungs
The bacilli, the microbes build their nest
They gobble us up, body and soul, and multiply a lot
And we must ourselves dwindle/fade away before our time
And we feel how we're expiring quietly and slowly,
and the suffering and crying are terribly great.
And the dark thoughts increase the pain.
For years the Angel of Death lies deep in our hearts.

Macrobes, bacilli, what do you want? Whose mission are you carrying out?
You gobble the victims mercilessly, you aim only at blooming lives
You bathe yourselves in the tears of those who weep, you suck the marrow from the bones
You poison the entrails, you crawling worms. Microbes, bacilli, what do you want?

Another terrible epidemic goes from land to land
With the speed of a blazing fire from a piece of burning wood.
It poisons little children, infants at the breast,
It robs fathers and mothers of their hearts' cheer.
Man's mind is powerless, wisdom is silenced.
Nothing can be found to stop a bacillus.
It paralyzes children, the light of our lives,
We await God's miracle that this should never come again.

Crowned heads and diplomats, in order to be victorious, force us to be soldiers,
They drive us into battle.
Young people by the millions pay their price and their flesh becomes cannon fodder.
And the crippled and dead fall here and there; new lives are prepared to take their place.
And in great deep graves many bodies are packed.
And the rulers, the kings, play chess.

also from that Yiddish Penny Songs page, they lyrics in Yiddish (Hebrew lettering)
https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-npeLmJN2__E/WR6CymUvolI/AAAAAAAAXfE/XPRBDA5XqTIM0kTTX-6fcQx5mKkJK0mcQCLcB/s1600/mentshn-freser-words.jpg

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: rich-joy
Date: 05 Oct 21 - 08:33 PM

Back on 23Nov09, Jack observed that he'd not heard of even a novel, poem, or painting, covering this Influenza pandemic.

I recently read a 2007 novel by Reina James titled "This Time of Dying":

https://granta.com/this-time-of-dying/

and she writes here comparing our response to Covid-19 to the reaction to the Spanish Flu in 1918 :

https://granta.com/from-the-spanish-flu-to-covid-19/



Cheers, R-J

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 06 Oct 21 - 08:32 AM

Geoff Lawes who is a Catter wrote a great song that references the Spanish Flu. It is mainly about the wreck of an airship over the Humber in the early 1920s, song called 'My Sky Sailor' recorded by Hissyfit. Geoff, can you post the lyrics please?

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: GeoffLawes
Date: 07 Oct 21 - 06:53 PM

They are up on your Yorkshire Garland site here Steve,http://www.yorkshirefolksong.net/song.cfm?songID=132

Subject: RE: Songs of the 1919 Flu Pandemic
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 08 Oct 21 - 10:08 AM

Ta Geoff.