is it "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" or "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" ?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Joshua277456, Dec 27, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    I see it spelled both ways.

    Wikipedia article say it's "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" translated from the Yiddish בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין

    But then I see things like this, a movie poster from 1937

    [​IMG]

    But here's another poster I found on the Wikipedia article (Original poster of the show, in Yiddish. New York, 1938)

    [​IMG]

    is it because it can Anglicized both ways? What's the deal? Which one is it?

    I even hear different artists pronounce it differently
     
    Laibach likes this.
  2. zen

    zen Senior Member

    [​IMG]
    Case closed. :winkgrin:
     
    Robert C likes this.
  3. J.A.W.

    J.A.W. Music Addict

    "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" is German and I guess "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" is Yiddish, spoken by Jews in Europe.
     
  4. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    The case is closed just because the Andrews Sisters recorded it in 1938 and chose to use that spelling?
     
  5. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    Sorry. What the **** are you talking about? I feel completely ignorant
     
  6. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    It's a song man.
     
    Izozeles likes this.
  7. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    Y
    Yes, but origin, beat, where does it come from? I've Heard it before, but couldnt find it
     
  8. Joshua277456

    Joshua277456 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    USA
    Wikipedia says it was first published in November 24, 1937. Written by Sholom Secunda with lyrics by Sammy Cahn & Saul Chaplin. First recorded by the Andrews sisters in 1938

    This is the most popular, recorded version:



    Is this what you wanted to know?
     
    Izozeles likes this.
  9. DmitriKaramazov

    DmitriKaramazov Senior Member

    Danke schoen
     
    John B Good likes this.
  10. Izozeles

    Izozeles Pushing my limits

    Tks a lot!!
     
  11. profholt82

    profholt82 Resident Blowhard

    Location:
    West Michigan
    It translates to "you are beautiful with me," but I believe it's an expression that would more closely equivocate to "we're perfect for each other." Of course, I haven't studied German since college.
     
  12. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    The one is transliterated into German spelling and the other into English spelling. Neither is correct or incorrect, they are both attempts to approximate the pronunciation of the Yiddish, which is written originally in Hebrew characters, with pronunciations, depending on accent, that derive from both Hebrew and German conventions.

    L.
     
  13. Anthology123

    Anthology123 Senior Member

    Before I knew they were singing in German, I thought the Andrew Sisters had sung: "My dear, Mr. Shane"
    Probably the oldest recording mondegreen in my experience.
     
    Robert C, Joshua277456 and JL6161 like this.
  14. ShockControl

    ShockControl Bon Vivant and Raconteur!

    Location:
    Lotus Land
    It's a rare early Beatles tune. They recorded it in Germany during the Tony Sheridan sessions, but aside from a rare 45 release at the time, it has not been reissued. Originals fetch big bucks on eBay.
     
  15. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    It's not German. It's Yiddish, and the lyric of the song was written by Jacob Jacobs who collaborated on the original Yiddish musical the song figured in with Shalom Secunda. Cahn and Chaplin were responsible for the English adaptation of the song which changed the lyric and to a small extent the music and musical feel of the original.

    L.
     
    TLMusic and Laibach like this.
  16. Helmut

    Helmut Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    It's german words but makes no sense. "At me you are pretty" would be the closest translation, that also makes no sense. In connection with the english lyrics explaining that it means "how grand you are" it makes even less sense.
     
    Laibach and Aris like this.
  17. Robert C

    Robert C Forum Resident

    Location:
    London, UK
    Makes for a blinding cover song

     
    RomanZ likes this.
  18. Beatlebug

    Beatlebug Another box set won't do any harm

    Location:
    Garswood, UK
    For years there was rumoured to be a Beatles outtake called "Buy Me A Beer, Mr Shane". Turns out it was just a misinterpretation of this song, and was not even recorded by the band anyway!
     
    John B Good and Robert C like this.
  19. Mychael

    Mychael Forum Resident

    As explained above, it's Jiddish, transcribed into German spelling. The expression "Bei mir bist du schön" is still quite common with German-speaking jews, meaning something like "I like to have you around".
     
    Laibach likes this.
  20. John B Good

    John B Good Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    NS, Canada
    I always think, according to me you are beautiful :)

    More abstractly, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

    Chacun son gout :)
     
  21. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    That's really interesting, because I used to wonder about the senselessness of this phrase as well. I always assumed it was some pseudo-German, translated from English and mistaking "bei" and "by" for the same word (as in "you're ok by me"). The Yiddish origin explains a lot.
     
    Aris likes this.
  22. Helmut

    Helmut Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germany
    That would be "Für mich bist du schön". "Bei mir" means "by my side".
    Anyway, it sounds funny for ages, no matter whether you are english or german speaking. So it served it's purpose.
     
    John B Good likes this.
  23. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    I always assumed it was a germanic idiomatic expression. All languages have them. They mean something to fluent speakers, but give fits to those trying to translate. This one has a close enough literal translation to be understandable, "schön" being the operative word - "beautiful, pretty, neato, peachy-keen."

    Harry
     
  24. lschwart

    lschwart Senior Member

    Location:
    Richmond, VA
    How many times does it have to be repeated that it's Yiddish, not German? Yiddish is a pidgin with a very complex history. A large part of its lexicon derives from German, but other elements of the language come from semitic sources (Hebrew and Aramaic) and Slavic ones as well. So it often sounds like German, but with the Hebrew and Slavic vocabulary intruding here and there (more or less of that depending on geography and the context of a given utterance) and a different syntax, grammar, and pronunciation. Hence the confusion for German speakers who hear it or see it transliterated.

    L.
     
    Maggie, IronWaffle, TLMusic and 2 others like this.
  25. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Sung in Yiddish, it sounds like this:

     
    John B Good, Robert C and DavidFell like this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine