Speaking in Tongues => Show Tunes: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

Girls From Mars: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

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Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen is probably best known as the song that made stars of the Andrews Sisters in 1938. But not nearly as many people know that the song was originally written, entirely in Yiddish, for a Yiddish operetta called I Would If I Could in 1932. The original songwriters were Shalom Secunda and Abraham Bloom. The English lyrics heard here are by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin. Cahn and Chaplin bought the rights to the song for $30, and reaped all of the royalties until 1961. Cahn and Chaplin used a Germanic spelling for the song title, which I have also used for the title of post, because that is how Girls From Mars have it on their album. But the picture I have chosen shows a transliteration of the Yiddish. I was not able to find a version in the original Yiddish; if you have one, please let me know in the comments. The full story of the song is told here.

Update: My thanks go out to fellow Star Maker Bert, who sent me a version of Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen recorded with the original Yiddish lyrics. Here it is:

Budapest Klezmer Band: Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen

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