Words by Z. Smolyanski; music by S. Polanski (born 1910). Published in the composer’s collection, 1931. The song was popular in the U. S. in the 1930s-1940s.
Machines drone like bees,
the walls shake.
I stand here by the machines
with glowing hands.
Here they make
thousands of pairs of shoes.
Gears and belts
run so fast!
Droning at dawn,
droning at the evening whistle.
Be quieter, machines,
rest up a bit!
Machines drone like bees,
the walls shake.
I stand here by the machines
with glowing hands.
Mashinen hudyen binen,
S’tsitern di vent,
Kh’shtey do bay mashinen
Mit tseglite hent.
Vern do geshafn
Toyznter por shikh,
Redelekh un pasn
Loyfn azoy gikh.
Hudyet der baginen,
Hudyet der hudok,
Shtiler zayt, mashinen,
Rut a bisl op.
Mashinen hudyen binen,
S’tsitern di vent,
Kh’shtey do bay mashinen.
Mit tseglite hent.
מאַשינען הודיען בינען,
ס׳ציטערן די װענט,
כ׳שטײ דאָ בײַ מאַשינען
מיט צעגליטע הענט.
װערן דאָ געשאַפֿן
טױזנטער פּאָר שיך,
רעדעלעך און פּאַסן
לױפֿן אַזױ גיך.
הודיעט דער באַגינען,
הודיעט דער הודאָק,
שטילער זײַט, מאַשינען,
רוט אַ ביסל אָפּ.
מאַשינען הודיען בינען,
ס׳ציטערן די װענט,
כ׳שטײ דאָ בײַ מאַשינען
מיט צעגליטע הענט.
Song Title: Mashinen Hudyen Binen
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.”
