Talk:Tumbalalaika

the correct translation for 'tacht' is thinks or comtemplates - not longs. There is another word for that in Yiddish.

1. Shteyt a bokher, un er trakht Trakht un trakht a gantze nakht Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen Vemen tzu nemen un nisht farshemen

2. Meydl, meydl, kh'vil bay dir fregn, Vos ken vaksn, vaksn on regn Vos ken brenen un nit oyfhern Vos ken benken, veynen on trern

3. Narisher bokher, vos darfstu fregn A shteyn ken vaksn, vaksn on regn A libe ken brenen un nisht oyfhern A hartz ken benken, veynen on trern

Chorus: Tum-bala, tum-bala, tum-balalaika Tum-bala, tum-bala, tum-balalaika Tum-balalaika, shpil balalaika Tum-balalaika,freylekh zol zayn.

1. Up the boy, straining deight, Straining, straining a whole of the night. Naming for one, shaming for none, Naming for one, shaming for none.

2. Maiden, maiden tell me true What can grow, grow without dew? What can burn for years and years? What can cry without shedding tears?

3. Silly boy, I'll tell you true! A stone can grow without the dew. Love can burn for years and years, A heart can cry without shedding tears.

changes
removed the line saying it was performed by various artists. It's unencyclopediatric. Same goes for the line about the Barry Sisters - they are one of many although their sweet englsh accent is notable :).Thehairthatdidntgrow 21:59, 6 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Sweet English accent?!--91.148.159.4 (talk) 21:25, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

There's something wrong with those question- and proclamation marks in the original version - at the end of a verse, they appear in left-to-right direction. I would have changed it, but I don't know how... maybe someone has an idea? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.69.116.38 (talk) 22:10, 26 March 2009 (UTC)

Czumbalalajka
"There exists a claim that it is a Polish song written by Marek Sewen." That's really not accurate -- the Polish website cited credits Sewen and Zbigniew Stawecki as having written a (Polish language) lyric in 1966, to a gypsy melody. The Polish version of the song was popularized by Halina Kunicka. But while the melody may be the same, the Polish lyric is completely different from the Yiddish lyric, and the Yiddish lyric was around long before 1966. Hear the song as performed by Kunicka here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lpd_e9gAzmo -- same melody. See the Polish text here: http://teksty.org/halina-kunicka,czumbalalajka,tekst-piosenki -- run it through a decent machine translator such as Google Translate or Promt and you will see that it's totally different from the Yiddish lyric. Beldujour (talk) 14:22, 15 September 2011 (UTC)
 * I removed this dubiously formulated statement, based on faulty reading of the reference, until clarification Loew Galitz (talk) 00:03, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

It would be interesting to figure out how the song turned into a gypsy one by Sewen/Stawiecki/Kunicka (in addition to the full Polish title "Czumbalalajka - a Gypsy Melody" Polish lyrics also talks about gypsy things). By the way, in the same 1966, Anna Lutosławska released a single-actor show "Tumbalalajka" "based on Jewish folklore" :-) Aslo in was published in 1964 in an antology of the Polish Jewish poetry. 00:43, 20 September 2011 (UTC)

Disputed Lyrics
Surely it's not 'a stone can grow' - 'a shteyn' but 'farshteyn' - understanding can grow with out rain. Who the hell ever heard of a stone growing, let alone without rain? This is just a mishearing of the original lyrics.Coolazice (talk) 06:26, 4 January 2011 (UTC)
 * This makes some sense as 1) you are right and 2) the other answers have something to do with a relationship. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.251.16.150 (talk) 07:48, 12 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Although it does make sense, the version with 'stone' is the one predominantly found (and not only in the English translation). It is also used on Hebrew and Yiddish websites. You could google on אַ שטיין קאַן וואַקסן, וואַקסן אָן רעגן Richard 10:14, 12 May 2014 (UTC)

Made a recording, is it worth adding to the article?
Isaacmayer9 (talk) 01:07, 9 June 2021 (UTC)


 * I think this would be a great addition to the article! MadameOctavian (talk) 06:16, 19 May 2022 (UTC)