{"id":523,"date":"2015-04-28T09:44:00","date_gmt":"2015-04-28T14:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/yiddish-stage\/?p=523"},"modified":"2023-04-12T11:03:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-12T16:03:56","slug":"matzah-and-melodrama-nahum-stutchkoffs-yiddish-song-lyrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/yiddish-stage\/matzah-and-melodrama-nahum-stutchkoffs-yiddish-song-lyrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Matzah and Melodrama: Nahum Stutchkoff\u2019s Yiddish Song Lyrics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nahun Stutchkoff<\/a> (1893-1965) was a beloved Yiddish radio <\/a>personality, playwright, lyricist and linguist who created dramas and commercials for WEVD radio<\/a> and compiled a Yiddish rhyming dictionary<\/a> and thesaurus<\/a>. Once a household name among New York Yiddish speakers, he even appeared in ads for Beech-Nut Gum<\/a>, Seagram\u2019s Whiskey<\/a>, and Planter\u2019s High Hat Peanut Oil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before his radio days, Stutchkoff worked as a translator, actor, playwright and lyricist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He began by translating plays in various European languages into Yiddish, and later wrote his own. More than 20 of his (unpublished) plays were performed in America, including titles like \u201cOy, Amerike!\u201d (Oy, America!), \u201cDi ganevte\u201d (The Lady Thief) and \u201cVen Blinde Libn\u201d (When Blind People Love). Many of these playscripts survive in his extensive archives in the Dorot Jewish Division<\/a>, New York Public Library<\/a>, and in the Library of Congress<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most absurd lyrics?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the late 1920\u2019s and early 1930\u2019s, Stutchkoff\u2019s lyrics were published in sheet music<\/a> composed by Sholom Secunda<\/a>, Joseph Rumshinsky<\/a>, Abe Ellstein<\/a>, and Phillip Laskowsky<\/a>. The lyrics appeared in transliteration in the music, with a separate Yiddish text of the original. A far cry from today\u2019s standard Yiddish<\/a>, the transliterations were, like many of their day, frequently riddled with typos and inconsistencies. These texts provide a fascinating look at Yiddish dialect and pronunciation, the use of English in Yiddish, and creative rhymes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of his biggest hits was \u201cIn mayne oygen biztu shehn<\/a>\u201d (In my eyes you are beautiful), with lyrics co-written by Molly Picon<\/a> and music by Joseph Rumshinsky<\/a>. Picon (as \u201cSadie\u201d) and Leon Gold (as \u201cMichail\u201d) sang this duet in \u201cGaneyvishe libe\u201d, (\u201cThe Love Thief\u201d), Rumshinsky<\/a> and Jacob Kalich<\/a>\u2019s \u201cunderground operetta\u201d by Benjamin Ressler<\/a>, performed at Molly Picon\u2019s Folks Theater, 12th Street and 2nd Avenue in 1931.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times reviewed the show on January 19, 1931, noting that the \u201csprightly\u201d Picon \u201cwould blithely sing with the utmost seriousness the most absurd lyrics.\u201d The chorus included phrases like:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In mayne oygn bistu sheyn, sheyn vi di velt
Ikh ze in dir nit keyn khesorn, ales mir gefelt
Meg farrisn zayn bay dir dos ne[y]zele
Megstu hobn seykhl vi an eyzele
In mayne oygn bistu sheyn, sheyn vi di velt<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In my eyes you are as beautiful as the world
I see no flaw in you, I like everything
You may have a dirty nose
You may have the sense of a donkey
In my eyes you are as beautiful as the world<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

The song\u2019s melody was later used for the WEVD radio theme song – you can hear a parody of it in this documentary<\/a> from the Yiddish Radio Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ludwig Satz Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library of the Performing Arts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Another popular song with lyrics by Stutchkoff and music by Abe Ellstein<\/a> came from Stutchkoff\u2019s 1929 operetta with the same name, \u201cAz der rebe vil<\/a>\u201d (If the rabbi wants to). Ludwig Satz<\/a>, a well-known Yiddish actor, recorded this comical song on \u201cLudwig Satz at the Yiddish Theatre, Volume 2<\/a>,\u201d describing a wonder rabbi who performs ridiculous miracles, such as turning a duck into a tomcat. NYPL has the original play script<\/a> for \u201cAz der rebe vil\u201d (without music) and Jane Peppler recently published sheet music<\/a> and recorded the song<\/a> based on her research with the Itzik Zhelonek collection<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBrivelekh\u201d (Letters) was another song featuring Stutchkoff\u2019s lyrics, with music by Sholom Secunda<\/a>, from the play \u201cShtief Shvester\u201d (Stepsisters) by Louis Freiman<\/a>, performed at the Rolland Theatre in Brooklyn in 1931. Here, Yiddish tragedienne Jennie Goldstein<\/a> sang of a heartbroken, abandoned lover who finds comfort in her old love letters. Stutchkoff honed his talent for melodrama with programs like \u201cBay tate-mames tish\u201d (\u201cAround the family table\u201d), a stage play and long-running radio show sponsored by the B. Manischewitz Matzo Co. NYPL\u2019s Performing Arts Library<\/a> even has a few surviving recordings<\/a> of the show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking of Manischewitz, who could forget Stutchkoff\u2019s famous Manischewitz Matzo jingle, where the matzah is \u201calways fresh and always crunchy and snaps on your teeth\u201d? This popular song was composed by Sholom Secunda<\/a>, Stutchkoff\u2019s predecessor on the Jewish Children\u2019s Hour, and sung by the talented young participants on WLTH radio. According to Henry Sapoznik<\/a> of the Yiddish Radio Project<\/a>, Stutchkoff was famous for his amazingly descriptive commercials for matzo, among other products, and you can find some on their website<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>In recent years, Stutchkoff\u2019s work has found a new audience through the award-winning Yiddish Radio Project<\/a>, and through adaptations presented at The New York Public Library<\/a>, National Yiddish Theatre-Folksbiene<\/a> and the New Yiddish Rep Theater<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2014, the Forward Association<\/a> (former owner of WEVD radio) published a collection of linguistic radio episodes, \u201cMame-Loshn<\/a>\u201d (mother tongue) edited by Leyzer Burko<\/a>, based on NYPL\u2019s Stutchkoff archives<\/a>. It quickly became a Yiddish bestseller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further Reading:<\/p>\n\n\n\n