Folksong collected by Michael Alpert from the Russian emigre Bronya Sakina (born in Olvanisk, southern Ukraine) and popularized at the Klezkamp Folk Arts Program in 1985. Certain lines have parallels in other folksongs, like Oy, Abram: “lkh on dir un du on mir, / Vi a klyamke on a tir” (I without you and you without me are like a doorknob without a door); and Zog nor du sheyn meydele: “Abi mit dir in eynem zayn” (As long as I can be together with you). The song was sung by Eleanor Reissa in the Broadway show Those Were the Days. It was made popular by Adrienne Cooper and Joanne Borts.
I’ll sell my favorite little boots
and ride on wagons
only to be together with you.
Oy, I without you and you without me
we are like a doorknob without a door,
my pet, my little bird.
Oy, I’ll go to the railroad stations
and sell shawls to strangers,
only to be together with you.
Oy, I without you and you without me
we are like a doorknob without a door,
my pet, my little bird.
Oy, I’ll eat without a table,
and sleep without a pillow
only to be together with you.
Oy, I without you and you without me
we are like a doorknob without a door,
my pet, my little bird.
Oy, sleep in the train stations
and wash strangers’ floors
only to be together with you.
Oy, I without you and you without me
we are like a doorknob without a door,
my pet, my little bird.
Farkoyfn di sapozhkelekh
Un forn oyf di droshkelekh,
Abi mit dir in eynem tsu zayn.
Oy, ikh on dir un du on mir
Vi a klyamke on a tir,
Ketsele, feygele mayn.
Oy, forn oyf di vokzalekhlekh
Un farkoyfn fremde shalekhlekh,
Abi mit dir in eynem tsu zayn.
Oy, ikh on dir un du on mir
Vi a klyamke on a tir.
Ketsele, feygele mayn.
Oy, esn on a tishele,
Un shlofn on a kishele,
Abi mit dir in eynem tsu zayn.
Oy, ikh on dir un du on mir
Vi a klyamke on a tir,
Ketsele, feygele mayn.
Oy, shlofn oyf di vokzalekhlekh
Un vashn fremde polekhlekh. . .
Abi mit dir in eynem tsu zayn.
Oy, ikh on dir un du on mir
Vi a klyamke on a tir,
Ketsele, feygele mayn.
פֿאַרקױפֿן די סאַפֿאָזשקעלעך,
און פֿאָרן אױף די דראָשקעלעך,
אבי מיט דיר אין אײנעם צו זײן.
אױ, איך אָן דיר און דו אָן מיר
װי אַ קליאַמקע אָן אַ טיר,
קעצעלע, פֿײגעלע מײַן.
אױ, פֿאָרן אױף די װאָקזאַלעכלעך
און פֿאַרקױפֿן פֿרעמדע שאַלעכלעך,
אבי מיט דיר אין אײנעס צו זײַן.
אױ, איך אָן דיר און דו אָן מיר
װי אַ קליאַמקע אָן אַ טיר,
קעצעלע, פֿײיגעלע מײַן.
אױ, עסן אָן א טישעלע,
און שלאָפֿן אָן אַ קישעלע,
אבי מיט דיר אין אײנעם צו זײַן,
אױ, איך אָן דיר און דו אָן מיר
װי אַ קליאַמקע אָן אַ טיר,
קעצעלע, פֿײיגעלע מײַן.
אױ, שלאָפֿן אױף די װאָקזאַלעכלעך
און װואַשן פֿרעמדע פּאָלעכלעך. . .
אַבי מיט דיר אין אײנעס צו זײן.
אױ, איך אָן דיר און דו אָן מיר
װי אַ קליאַמקע אָן אַ טיר,
קעצעלע, פֿײגעלע מײַן.
Song Title: Di Sapozhkelekh
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.”
