chanson juives en Francais - Margaritkelech

Subject: chanson juives EN FRANCAIS
From: GUEST,abraham diner
Date: 03 Oct 04 - 10:58 AM

I found the following yiddish song MARGARITKELECH
sung in french by israeli singer Esther OFARIM ( Remember
Esther and Abi OFARIM) sung under the title LA ROSE ET LA
VIOLETTE. You can download it from www.Esther-Ofarim.de
a very good web site with yiddish, hebrew, french, yiddish,
german songs etc. by Esther Ofarim.
Another good one MY YIDDISH MAME sung in french by the
great CHARLES AZNAVOUR. Look for it under google.com
Merci beaucoup.

Subject: RE: chanson juives EN FRANCAIS
From: GUEST,Kinder Yorn
Date: 07 Apr 08 - 03:10 AM

Subject: ADD: Margaritkelech (Yiddish)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Mar 14 - 01:35 AM

I love the song "Margaritkelech," and my friend Mrs. Lev send me a link to a terrific performance (second song on the video) made me laugh out loud. The song works so well as a him-her duet.

I got to know the song on the recording by Chava Alberstein. Here's a link to her recording:
https://myspace.com/chamsa82/music/song/margaritkelech-40507002-43006832
If you move your mouse over the "01" in front of the song name, you'll see it change into a "play" button.

"Margaritkelech" means "daisies." In English, "Marguerites" are a variety of daisies:
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-dictionary/annual/marguerite-daisy/

Here's another recording of the song you might like:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAtuDB0ndN8

Margaritkelech - Daisies

MARGARITKELECH (Zalman Shneur, 1887-1959) 1. In veldl baym taykhl, dort zaynen gevaksn Margaritkelekh, elent un kleyn, Vi kleyninke zunen mit vaysinke shtralen Mit vaysinke tra-la-la-la 2. Gegangen is Khavele shtil un farholemt, Tzelozn di gold-blonde tzep- Dos heldzl antbloyzt un gemurmelt gezungen, A lidele : tra-la-la-la 3. Do kumt ir antkegn a bokher a shvartzer Mit lokn mit shvartze, vi pekh, Er flamt mit di oygen un entfert ir lustik, Un entfert ir: tra-la-la-la 4. -Vos zukhstu do, meydl, vos hostu farloren? Vos vilstu gefinen in groz? -Ikh zukh margaritkes, - farroytlt zikh Khave, Farroytlt zikh, tra-la-la-la 5. -Du zukhst nokh? Un ikh hob shoyn take gefunen Di shenste margaritke in vald, A margaritke mit tzep un mit oygn safiren, Mit eygelekh, tra-lalala 6. -Ikh hob shoyn margaritkes, ikh hob nor fargesn Ikh zukh, do, nisht vayt, iz a kval. -Der kval iz farshlyoshet, on mir blaybstu durshtik Baym kvelkhele, tra-la-la-la 7. -Ikh vil gornisht trinken, ikh zukh zikh a shotns, Di zun bakt arayn azoy heys... -Mayne hor zaynen shvartser un kiler vi shotns In veldele, tra-la-la-la 8. -O loz mikh, me tor nisht, di mame zogt, m'tor nisht, Mayn mame iz alt un iz beyz Vu mame? Vos mame? Do zaynen nor beymer, Nor beymelekh, tra-la-la-la 9. -Men zet - keyner zet nisht, - men hert - keyner hert nisht. Dos veldl iz blind un gedikht, Umarem mikh, zise, du zest,ikh bin ruyik, Ikh kush dikh nor - tra-la-la-la 10. -Du libst mikh? -Ikh lib dikh. -Du shemst zikh? -Ikh shem zikh. To lib mikh, un shem zikh, un shvayg. Un ze vi es mishn zikh pekh-shvartse kroyzn, Mit goldene tra-la-la-la 11. Di zun is fargangen, der bokher farshvunden, Un Khavele zitzt nokh in vald. Zi kukt in dervaytens un murmelt farkholemt Dos lidele: tra la la la

DAISIES 1. Deep in the woods there grow Daisies small and hidden, With stems so pale and petals white, So white...tra la la la. 2. Little Chava wanders about as in a dream, Her golden blond braids undone, She moves about, seeking, and murmurs in thought A little song...tra la la la. 3. A young man comes upon her, slim and handsome, His eyes are black as coal, There is a twinkle in his eye and gaily he answers Her little song...tra la la la. 4. "What are you seeking my maiden, what have you lost, What might you find in these woods?" "I'm looking for daisies," Chavale blushes, She blushes so...tra la la la. 5. "You are still seeking, my maiden, and yet I have found The most beauteous daisy of all-- A daisy with braids and jewels for eyes, Such eyes"...tra la la la.         "O tell me my maiden if one may stroke you, If you will go hand in hand, Perhaps one may kiss you or maybe embrace you, Or perhaps even...tra la la la."         8. "Let me go, I must not, my mother says I must not, She is angry, my mother, and old," "What mother, where mother, there's nothing but trees here And young ones"...tra la la la.           10. "You love me?" "I love you." "You are shy?" "I am shy." "Love me then shyly and hush--" And look how the golden locks mix with the dark ones-- With pitch black ones...tra la la la. 11. The sun has long gone and the young man gone too, Still the girl sits alone in the woods, Her look dreams afar and she murmurs in thought A little song...tra la la la.

Source: http://zemerl.com/cgi-bin//show.pl?title=Margaritkelekh

Subject: RE: chanson juives en Francais - Margaritkelech
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 07 Mar 14 - 06:21 AM

The author of the lyrics should also be mentioned: Zalman Shneur, 1887-1959. The genre is "more folkish than real folk". The translation above is strangely inaccurate.

"A bokher a shvartzer mit lokn mit shvartze, vi pekh" means "A black (-haired and -dressed?) student (of a religious school) with very black locks, like pitch" - evoking a costume and hairdressing worn by Jews in the former kingdom of Poland, later associated with conservative Jews.

Subject: RE: chanson juives en Francais - Margaritkelech
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Mar 14 - 04:26 PM

Thanks, Grishka - I got distracted and forgot to look up and add the songwriter name. Most of the well-known Yiddish songs have known songwriters, so I suppose they're not truly traditional. But hey, I like them.
I think the translation is pretty good, particularly because it's fairly singable. But you're right - it's strange that the translation talks of eyes like coal instead of hair that's black as pitch. Maybe the translation is from a different Yiddish text - you'll not that not all the verses match up, and one verse in the English doesn't correspond with the Yiddish text at all. I have another text to post later if I can get my OCR to work on it.
This is a particularly colorful song, and I really like it.

-Joe-