Track |
Time |
Play |
| Nu, zog mir shoyn ven |
04:11 |
|
Liner Notes
Nu, zog mir shoyn ven (So Just Tell Me When, Already), with lyrics by Jacob Jacobs, is a love duet between Misha, a young doctor completing his residency, and Tootsie, an orphaned young lady who operates a newsstand on New York’s immigrant-saturated Lower East Side and anonymously finances his advanced medical studies abroad. The song is from Olshanetsky’s operetta Vos meydlekh tuen (What Girls Do), with a book by William Siegel. The original production played in 1935 at David Kessler’s Second Avenue Theater, with Molly Picon and Muni Serebrov in those lead roles. Molly Picon’s husband, Jacob Kalich, produced the show and also collaborated with Olshanetsky on some of its music.
The plot revolves around a love triangle, in which Tootsie is in danger of losing Misha to the social-climbing Sylvia. And “if you can’t imagine the rest, it doesn’t matter,” commented the New York Times reviewer.
By: Neil W. Levin
Lyrics
Lyrics by Jacob Jacobs
MISHA
You can trust me,
I will build a future for you.
TOOTSIE
Tell me when, tell me when.
MISHA
You are my beloved, and you are precious to me.
I would walk through fire for you.
TOOTSIE
Tell me when, tell me when.
MISHA
There is no other woman in the world
who would interest me,
even if she should give me millions of dollars and diamonds.
If ever I should even come close to being
unfaithful to you, may I drop dead.
TOOTSIE
So tell me already, when will my heart will be quieted?
MISHA
So tell me already, when will my happiness be complete?
TOOTSIE
In the middle of the night I often abruptly awake.
MISHA
For hours I ponder what will become of me.
BOTH
So tell me already when; answer me already and say it.
Just tell me when the date will be set,
when I will live to see myself standing
under the wedding canopy with you.
So just tell me when, just tell me when, just say it.
Lyrics by Jacob Jacobs
MISHA:
du megst zikh af mir fartroyen,
kh’vel far dir a tsukunft boyen.
TOOTSIE:
zog mir ven, zog mir ven.
MISHA:
du bist bay mir lib un tayer,
ikh vel geyn far dir in fayer
TOOTSIE:
zog mir ven, zog mir ven.
MISHA:
nishto keyn froy mer af der velt
zol mikh interesirn,
ven zi zol mit milyonem gel
un daymonds mir batsirn.
oyb ikh zol a mol probirn
dir vern falsh, zol ikh mayn kop farlirn.
TOOTSIE:
nu, zog mir shoyn ven vet zayn mayn harts geshtilt.
MISHA:
nu, zog mir shoyn ven vet zayn mayn glik farfilt.
TOOTSIE:
in mitn nakht plutslem khap ikh zikh fil mol oyf.
MISHA:
shtunden ikh trakht vos vet zayn fun mir der sof
BEYDE:
nu, zog mir shoyn ven; entfer mir shoyn un zog.
nu, zog mir shoyn ven vet zayn bashtim der tog.
vel ikh derlebn mikh tsu zen
mit dir unter der khupe tsu shteyn.
nu, zog mir shoyn ven, zog mir shoyn ven, nu zog.
Credits
Composer:
Alexander Olshanetsky
Length: 04:11
Genre: Yiddish Theater
Performers:
Amy Goldstein, Soprano;
Elli Jaffe, Conductor;
Simon Spiro, Tenor;
Vienna Chamber Orchestra
Date Recorded: 10/01/2001
Venue: Baumgartner Casino (A), Vienna, Austria
Engineer: Hughes, Campbell
Assistant Engineer: Hamza, Andreas
Assistant Engineer: Weir, Simon
Project Manager: Schwendener, Paul
Additional Credits: Publisher: Music Sales/Metro Music
Arranger/Orchestrator: Ira Hearshen
Yiddish Translations/Transliterations: Eliyahu Mishulovin & Adam J. Levitin
Arrangement © Milken Family Foundation
