Words by Moishe Broderson (1890-1956); music by David Beigelman (1887-1944). The song was published as an anonymous song with a slightly different text by Albert Bitter in 1940. The late Avram Kahn submitted a text by Hal Colter that was sung by the Jewish People’s Philharmonic Chorus, which begins: “A gut-morgn dir, Hersh-David, / A gut-morgn, Frume, / Kh’hob gehert du host dos veyts / Un hey aropgenumen. (Good morning, Hersh David, good morning, Frume, I heard you gathered the wheat and hay).
In his compilation The Yiddish Song Book, Jerry Silverman includes a humorous parody of the song entitled “To gey zikh lernen tantsn.” The first stanza is:-A gut-morgn, dir, Rel; Berl; /-A gut-morgn, Sammy, /-lkh hob gehert az geyst mil mazl / Blaybn in Miami. / Trogst oyf zikh koym zibn tsendlik / Yorelekh in gantsn; / Heybstu on a tsveyte yugnt, I To gey zikh lernen tantsn” (-Good morning Berl,-Good morning, Sammy,-I heard that you’re going to stay in Miami. You’re barely 70, you’re starting your second youth. So go learn to dance).
Hello, HIrsh-Dovid!
Hello, Borekh!
I’ve heard you were fortunate
and sold out of pot cheese!
Not just the pot cheese,
but all the dairy goods,
I sold out the whole lot.
And, since there is money in my purse,
let’s go dancing!
Ay-di didl-di, ay-ra, ay-ra, ay ra
Oh, Hirsh-Dovid, how is your wife,
that is, your Sore-Khaye?
That mare? She has cut her hair
in the newest style.
She has thrown off her wig,
her Yiddishkayt altogether–
on the chimneys, on the roofs,
demons are going dancing.
I have a daughter, a virtuous young thing,
You have a son, Ephraim,
Let’s buy them a little store
and engage them to be married.
Ha-ha-ha, two thousand in silver
I will give it all to them,
All across the woods and fields
people will be dancing.
— A gut-morgn dir, Hirsh-Dovid!
— A gut-morgn, Borekh!
Kh’hob gehert, du host mit mazl
Oysfarkoyft dem tsvorekh.
— Nisht dem tsvorekh,
Nor dos milkhiks,
Oysfarkoyft in gantsn,
Abi dos gelt iz do in baytl,
Vilt zikh take tantsn
Ay-di didi-di, ay-ra, ay-ra, ay-ra . . .
— O Hirsh-Dovid, vos makht dayn vaybl,
Kh’meyn dayn Sore-Khaye?
— Ot di kobile zi shert zikh
Loyt di modes naye.
Oysgeton fun zikh dos shaytl,
Yidishkeyt in gantsn –
lber koymens, iber dekher
Geyen sheydim tantsn.
— Kh’hob a moyd, a kosher kelbl,
Du a zun, Efroyim,
M’vet zey makhn a gevelbl,
Lomir shraybn tnoyim.
— Kha-kha-kha, tsvey meyes zilber
Gib ikh zey in gantsn,
lber felder, iber velder
Vein yidn tantsn.
— אַ גוט-מאָרגן דיר, הירש-דוד!
— אַ גוט-מאָרגן, ברוך!:
כיהאָב געהערט, דו האָסט מיט מזל
אױספֿאַרקױפֿט דעס צװאָרעך.
— נישט דעס צװאָרעך,
נאָר דאָס מילכיקס,
אױספֿאַרקױפֿט אין גאַנצן,
אבי דאָס געלט איז דאָ אין בײַטל,
װילט זיך טאַקע טאַנצן!
אײ-די דידל-די, אײ-ראַ, אײ-ראַ, אײ-ראַ. . .
— אָ, הירש-דוד, װאָס מאַכט דײַן װײַבל,
כ׳מײן דײן שׂרה-חיה?
— אָט די קאַבילע זי שערט זיך
לױט די מאָדעס נײַע.
אױיסגעטאַן פֿון זיך דאָס שײַטל
ייִדושקײט אין גאַנצן –
איבער קױמענס, איבער דעכער
גײען שדיס טאַנצן.
— כיהאָב אַ מױד, אַ כּשר קעלבל,
דו אַ זון, אפֿרים,
מיװעט זײ מאַכן אַ געװעלבל,
לאָמיר שרײַבן תּנאים.
— כאַ-כאַ-כאַ, צװײ מאות זילבער
גיב איך זײ אין גאַנצן,
איבער פֿעלדער, איבער װעלדער
װעלן ייִדן טאַנצן.
Song Title: Hirsh Dovid
The Songs of Generations: New Pearls of Yiddish Song anthology comprises songs that were either never printed before or appeared in rare and inaccessible publications — sometimes in different versions and without proper sources. Most of the songs in this book were submitted by readers of Chana and Yosl’s column “Perl fun der yidisher poezye” (Pearls of Yiddish Poetry) in the Yiddish newspaper Der Forverts (The Forward), initiated in October, 1970. Over 25 years, thousands of songs were collected in correspondence and on cassettes from readers throughout the world, and they represent a veritable national Yiddish song archive. Chana Mlotek, in her introduction, writes, “In the course of years the inquiries, contributions and enthusiasm of these readers have kept our own interest unflagging and have reinforced our dedication to this effort. And in recent years our participants have also been augmented by new readers from the former Soviet Russia, who receive our newspaper there or from newly-arrived immigrants in this country and Israel.”
