Bay mir bistu sheyn [I Think You're Terrific (Yiddish)]

1997 SATB a cappella (PR)

Recording: Goldene Keyt Singers

(J. Jacobs/Sholom Secunda) The Yiddish Theater song, in a virtuosic arrangement that pays tribute to the Andrews Sisters, the group that made it part of American culture.

Sholom Secunda’s Bay mir bistu sheyn (I Think You’re Terrific), with Yiddish lyric by J. Jacobs, was transplanted from the Yiddish theater into mainstream American popular culture with an English lyric in a rendition by the Andrews Sisters. This arrangement pays homage to both.

(He:) If you were black as a Tartar, if you had eyes like a cat, and if you limped a little, had wooden legs, I tell you: It wouldn’t bother me. And if you had a silly smile, and if you had the wisdom of Vayezuso, if you were wild like an Indian – even if you were a Galitsyaner – I tell you it doesnt bother me. (She:) Tell me how do you explain all that? (He:) I’m about to tell you why: I think you’re terrific. In my eyes, you have charm. In the whole world, you’re the one for me. I think you’re good. To me, you have “it.” For me, you’re more dear than money. Many beautiful women wanted me. And of them all, I chose only you.