'let us go unto Palestine/So that we can escape horrors'
February 11, 2024 3:45 PM Subscribe
The Yamma Ensemble -- Sien Drahmas Al Dia (I Make 100 Drachmas a Day)
The fact that Sien Drahmas Al Dia was composed in 1935 only adds to its poignancy.
Library of Congress: Ladino Songs snd the Sephardic Diaspora
The Sephardic Diaspora after 1492
The Yamma Ensemble -- Psalm 104 (Sung in Ancient Hebrew)
The Yamma Ensemble -- Song of Solomon/Song of Songs
The Yamma Ensemble -- Instrumental Live Flavors
The fact that Sien Drahmas Al Dia was composed in 1935 only adds to its poignancy.
Library of Congress: Ladino Songs snd the Sephardic Diaspora
The Sephardic Diaspora after 1492
The Yamma Ensemble -- Psalm 104 (Sung in Ancient Hebrew)
The Yamma Ensemble -- Song of Solomon/Song of Songs
The Yamma Ensemble -- Instrumental Live Flavors
Wouldn't the translation of the song title be "100 drachmas a day
D'oh! As it says right in the subtitles. I should have read them again before adding that parenthetical comment. Off to the Contact Form.
posted by y2karl at 5:23 PM on February 11
D'oh! As it says right in the subtitles. I should have read them again before adding that parenthetical comment. Off to the Contact Form.
posted by y2karl at 5:23 PM on February 11
WHAT is the guy on the right playing, the reed instrument? It's awesome.
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 8:41 PM on February 11
posted by Rich Smorgasbord at 8:41 PM on February 11
I believe it is a dubuk, a double reeded Armenian instrument commonly made of apricot wood. Also known as a balaban in Azerbaijan and mey in Turkiye.
posted by y2karl at 10:24 PM on February 11
posted by y2karl at 10:24 PM on February 11
Lyricstranslate.com Sien Drahmas Al Dia -- English Translation
I make one hundred drachmas a day,
so I can provide for you,
I don't want to hear from your mother
for goodness sake!
that I can't support both of us.
We will run from the pain
because I know how to make a living, oh!
let's go to Palestine,
for goodness sake!
lest we come to ruin, ah!
Go run to your mother,
make her a proposition,
I only want a single bed,
for goodness sake!
this is my consolation, ah!
Also, via the Yamma Ensemble:
Originally Sien Drahmas was a popular Greek song that was adopted by the Sephardic community of Thessaloniki. The two performers who created it were Sadik and Gazoz, who worked together in the thirties of the last century. They set Ladino lyrics to Greek songs. At a time when the Jewish community in Greece thrived and flourished, they published their Ladino songs in local magazines.
This love song, which was published in 1935, matched the atmosphere of that time in which thousands of Jews emigrated to Palestine (“Let’s run away to Palestine, and escape the horror”). However, the lyrics are a chilling prophecy of the tragic fate of the great Jewish community that would be destroyed almost completely during World War II.
The existing arrangements for this beautiful song (originally named “Mansevo Dobro”) are influenced by the Greek style of music. Aviv Bahar’s arrangement manages to evoke the story behind the song, the tragic story of its creators, two young artists in Thessaloniki in the 1930s (1930-1940), who were transported to their deaths simply because they were Jews.
posted by y2karl at 1:44 PM on February 12
I make one hundred drachmas a day,
so I can provide for you,
I don't want to hear from your mother
for goodness sake!
that I can't support both of us.
We will run from the pain
because I know how to make a living, oh!
let's go to Palestine,
for goodness sake!
lest we come to ruin, ah!
Go run to your mother,
make her a proposition,
I only want a single bed,
for goodness sake!
this is my consolation, ah!
Also, via the Yamma Ensemble:
Originally Sien Drahmas was a popular Greek song that was adopted by the Sephardic community of Thessaloniki. The two performers who created it were Sadik and Gazoz, who worked together in the thirties of the last century. They set Ladino lyrics to Greek songs. At a time when the Jewish community in Greece thrived and flourished, they published their Ladino songs in local magazines.
This love song, which was published in 1935, matched the atmosphere of that time in which thousands of Jews emigrated to Palestine (“Let’s run away to Palestine, and escape the horror”). However, the lyrics are a chilling prophecy of the tragic fate of the great Jewish community that would be destroyed almost completely during World War II.
The existing arrangements for this beautiful song (originally named “Mansevo Dobro”) are influenced by the Greek style of music. Aviv Bahar’s arrangement manages to evoke the story behind the song, the tragic story of its creators, two young artists in Thessaloniki in the 1930s (1930-1940), who were transported to their deaths simply because they were Jews.
posted by y2karl at 1:44 PM on February 12
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posted by Dip Flash at 4:45 PM on February 11