A song for mothers ... "My Yiddishe Momme"
繼荷蘭歌唱家 Leo Fuld 之後; 1928年, Sophie Tucker 同以雙語歌詞錄製此曲, 唱片面世後更登上 "美國熱門歌曲 USA Hit" 第五位, 並風靡世界流行樂壇, 她的演譯成了此曲的範本。
後來, 德國在希特拉 Hitler 掌權下, Sophie Tucker 的唱片被下令燒毀和禁止銷售; 至第二次世界大戰爆發之後, 一位從德國流亡到英國倫敦的人士, 告知 Sophie Tucker 她的唱片甚至這曲 "My Yiddishe Momme" 在納粹德國仍然非常流行。
"My Yiddishe Momme" Sophie Tucker - English/Yiddish Version
Sophie Tucker (1886 - 1966)
一位俄羅斯 Russian 和烏克蘭 Ukrainian 裔的美國歌演藝明星, 亦是二十世紀初, 美國最受歡迎的舞台藝人之一, 更被譽為當代演藝界 "最後一位炙手可熱的媽媽 The Last of the Red Hot Mamas "。
後來在她的自傳, 一篇題為 "Some Of These Days To Yellen", 文中有一句特別是獻給作曲家 Jack Yellen, 以表謝意和尊崇:
"A grand song writer, and a grander friend"
"MY YIDDISHE MOMME"
繼而有不同語言和歌曲名字, 與及英語的翻唱版本陸續出現, 一些祗取原曲的副歌作演譯, 當中英語由各大歌手的演譯, 吸引不少樂迷之外, 而原唱的版本和較早期的歌手, 由於年份過久至不為後來的樂迷認識; 此曲的外語或英語版本甚多, 仍沒有正式的記錄, 我們較認識的有:
"My Yiddishe Mama" - Leo Fuld (English / Yiddish)
"A Yiddishe Mama" - Yosef Rosenblatt (Yiddish)
"On katseessa äidin" - Annikki Tähti ( Finnish)
"Egy őszhajú asszony" - Fényes Kató, Vámosi János (Hungarian)
"Mi Querida Mama" (My beloved Mama) : Nino Bravo (Spanish)
"Mutters Hände" - Ivan Rebroff (German)
"My Yiddishe Momme" - Ray Charles (English)
"My Yiddishe Momme" - Billie Holiday (English)
這是 Billie Holiday 1956年在友好作曲家 Williams Dufty 的家裡, 排練 "My Yiddishe Momme" 時, 一段罕有的錄音聲帶, 背後有 Dufty 的兒子 Bevan 說話聲同被錄下來, Billie Holiday 是這小孩的代母。Williams Dufty 除了以音樂作曲為業之外, 他亦熱衷於動員工運和組職工會, 為各工會撰寫不少具說服力的公開演詞。
"My Yiddishe Mama" - Peter Rozsa (Hungarian / English)
A Idishe mame,
Zi makht dokh zis di gantze velt,
A Idishe mame,
Oy vey, vi bitter, ven zi felt,
Ihr darft dokh danken Got,
Vus Ikh hot ihr nokh bay zikh.
Oy vey, vi troyerik zu sein.
Ven zi geyt avek tzu gikh
In vaser in fayer
Volt zi gelofn far ir kind.
Nisht hubn zi tayer,
Dus is gevis di greste zind.
Oy vi gliklekh un raykh
Iz der mentch, vus hot
Aza shayne metune geshenkt fin Got,
Nuch an altishke Idishe mame,
Mame Mame mayn!
Translation:
The Jewish mother makes the world sweet.
A Jewish mother, how bitter life is when she is not there.
you must thank God that she is still with you.
How sad to be when she passes away too soon.
She would run through fire and water for the sake of her child.
It is the worst of sins not holding her precious.
Happy and rich is the man who has got this beautiful gift of God,
to have still an old Jewish mother
Mother Mother of mine
"La Yiddishe Mama" - Charles Aznavour (French)
La Yiddishe mama
Tendre force de la nature
La Yiddishe mama
C'est de l'amour à l'état pur
Prête pour ses enfants
À faire bien des sacrifices
Veillant bon an, mal an
Sur leurs chagrins, sur leurs caprices
Aussi
Forte face aux drames
Mais très faibles avec ses petits
Dans l'eau ou les flammes
Pour eux elle jouerait sa vie
Ah mon Dieu qu'aurais-je fait de bien dis-moi
Sans la chaleur, sans la forte foi en moi
Sans l'amour de ma Yiddishe mama
Mama
La Yiddishe mama
Gardienne de la tradition
La Yiddishe mama
C'est le trésor de la maison
Dès notre premier cri
Elle organise, elle décide
Tout au long de sa vie
Elle nous couve mais nous guide
Aussi
Elle est la lumière
Qui luit quand on se sent perdu
Elle est la prière
Que l'on dit quand elle n'est plus
Moi je sais que jusqu'à la fin de mes jours
Je garderai gravé en moi pour toujours
Tout l'amour de ma Yiddishe mama
Mama
"My Yiddishe Momme" - Connie Francis (English)
Of things I should be thankful for I'd had a goodly share
And as I sit here in the comfort of my cosy chair
My fancy takes me to a humble eastside tenement
three flights up in the rear to where my childhood days were spent
It wasn't much like Paradise but amid the dirt and all
There sat the sweetest angel, one that I fondly call
My yiddishe momme I need her more than ever now
My yiddishe momme I'd love to kiss that wrinkled brow
I long to hold her hands once more as in days gone by
and ask her to forgive me for things I did that made her cry
How few were her pleasures, she never cared for fashion's styles
Her jewels and treasures, she found them in her baby's smiles
oh, I know that I owe what I am today
to that dear little lady so old and gray
to that wonderful yiddishe momme of mine
"Yiddishe Momme" - Neil Sedaka (English / Yiddish)
"My Yiddishe Momme" - The Barry Sisters (English)
My yiddishe momme I need her more than ever now
My yiddishe momme I'd love to kiss that wrinkled brow
I long to hold her hands once more as in days gone by
and ask her to forgive me for things I did that made her cry
How few were her pleasures, she never cared for fashion's styles
Her jewels and treasures, she found them in her baby's smiles
oh, I know that I owe what I am today
to that dear little lady so old and gray
to that wonderful yiddishe momme of mine