May 10, 2009: Swedish children learn Yiddish folk songs
A couple of my friends here have told me that children here learn Yiddish folk songs. Specifically— though perhaps not exclusively— “Oyfn Pripetchik”, “Tumbalalaika”, and “Bei mir bistu shein”. The friends who learned these songs are not all Jewish and did not all grow up in urban metropols like Stockholm. So, though difficult for me to believe, some Swedish, Christian, country-dwelling children are learning Yiddish folk songs. And although “Tumbalalaika” and “Oyfn Pripetchik” are taught with their original lyrics, “Bei mir bistu shein” is taught in Swedish homophone version, “Bär ner mig till sjön”— carry me down to the lake. I found the lyrics
Swedish text:
Bär ner mig till sjön
Bär ner mig till sjön
Jag känner att jag måste i.
Och när du badat mig,
så ska du torka mig,
och när du torkat mig,
så vill jag i igen
Crazy right? No one I’ve spoken to about this (ok, only three friends) knew how it came to pass that these songs got (at least somewhat) incorporated into the Swedish children’s cannon. Do you?
