''My Yiddishe Momme'' () is a song written by

Jack Yellen Jack Selig Yellen (Jacek Jeleń; July 6, 1892 – April 17, 1991) was an American lyricist and screenwriter. He is best remembered for writing the lyrics to the songs "Happy Days Are Here Again", which was used by Franklin Roosevelt as the theme ...

(words and music) and

Lew Pollack Lew Pollack (June 16, 1895 – January 18, 1946) was an American song composer and musician active during the 1920s and the 1930s. Career Pollack was born in New York City, where he went to DeWitt Clinton High School and was active as a boy sopra ...

(music), first recorded by Willie Howard, and made famous in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

Belle Baker Belle Baker (born Bella Becker; December 25, 1893 in New York City – April 29, 1957, in Los Angeles) was a American Jews, Jewish American singer and actress. Popular throughout the 1910s and 1920s, Baker introduced a number of ragtime and ...

and by Sophie Tucker, and later by the Barry Sisters. Tucker began singing ''My Yiddishe Momme'' in 1925, after the death of her own mother. She later dedicated her autobiography ''Some of These Days'' to Yellen, "A grand song writer, and a grander friend". "Sophie Tucker made 'Mama' a top 5 U.S. hit in 1928, English on one side and Yiddish on the B-side. Leo Fuld combined both in one track and made it a hit in the rest of the world." It was the

signature song A signature (; from , "to sign") is a depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. Signatures are often, but not always, handwritten or styliz ...

of British comedian Issy Bonn.

Analysis

The song, in English and

Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...

, is sadder in the original Yiddish than in the English translation. The mother implicitly symbolizes a sense of nostalgia for the "old world", as well as guilt for having left it behind in assimilating into American society. [In Bazelon's brie
introduction
which does not appear in the archived version, she explains that the slideshow is based on the book ''You Never Call! You Never Write! A History of the Jewish Mother'' (2007), by historian Joyce Antler.]

Versions

There are several versions of the song, under different names: *"My Yiddishe Mama": by Yiddish star Leo Fuld (in English and Yiddish) *"On katseessa äidin": by Annikki Tähti (in Finnish) *"The Jewish Mother (A Yiddishe Mamme)": by classical violinist

Itzhak Perlman Itzhak Perlman (; born August 31, 1945) is an Israeli-American violinist. He has performed worldwide and throughout the United States, in venues that have included a state dinner for Elizabeth II at the White House in 2007, and at the First ina ...

*"My Yiddishe Momme": pop version by

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

/ bossa nova piano version by the Irving Fields Trio *"My Yiddishe Momme": by Ruth Maimon in the Mexican movie "Las Canciones Unidas" in 1960. *"A Yiddishe Mama (A Jewish Mama)":

klezmer Klezmer ( or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for listening; these wou ...

version by the Maxwell Street Klezmer Band * "My Yiddishe Momme (Egy őszhajú asszony)" instrumental version by Hungarian guitarist Faragó "Judy" István. Hungarian lyrics by G. ''Dénes'' György, sung by ''Fényes Kató'', ''Vámosi'' János and others. This version was prominently featured in the Hungarian film " Eldorado" (1988). * "My Yiddishe Mama" by Yossele Rosenblatt * "Mein Idishe Mame" by Marian Hemar, recorded by, among others,

Hanka Ordonówna Hanka Ordonówna or Ordonka (born Maria Anna Pietruszyńska; 4 August 1902 in Warsaw – 8 September 1950 in Beirut) was a Polish singer, dancer and actress. Life She began her career at the age of 16 in a Warsaw cabaret named Sfinks and then ...

and Hanna Skarżanka. Hemar's lyrics are not a translation of the original text, rather, they are a tragic story of a Jewish mother in Poland and her son who immigrated to America. * "My Yidishe Mame" by Renata Drössler. * "Židovská máma (My Yiddishe Momme)" in Czech and German versions by Hana Hegerová.

Recordings

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer who was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a master showman and one of th ...

recorded a version of "My Yiddishe Momme" on ''You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet'', a tribute album to

Al Jolson Al Jolson (born Asa Yoelson, ; May 26, 1886 – October 23, 1950) was a Lithuanian-born American singer, comedian, actor, and vaudevillian. Self-billed as "The World's Greatest Entertainer," Jolson was one of the United States' most famous and ...

, with Chorus and Orchestra directed by Dick Jacobs, released on the Brunswick Label in 1961. The song was included in the 1965 Horst Jankowski album " The Genius of Jankowski!"

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

covered the song in English and Yiddish in 1966. A Spanish version of the song, titled "A mi madre querida" (To my beloved mother) and containing some of the Yiddish text, was recorded as a

bolero Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It h ...

in the late 1950s by La Sonora Matancera with (who was an Argentinean Jew) singing. Another Spanish version was made in the early 1970s called "Mi Querida Mama (My beloved Mama)"; it was sung by singer

Nino Bravo Luis Manuel Ferri Llopis ( Aielo de Malferit, 3 August 1944 – Villarrubio, Cuenca, 16 April 1973), better known by his stage name Nino Bravo, was a Spanish baroque pop and ballad singer. Early life Ferri Llopis was born in Aielo de Malfer ...

. Tom Jones performed a live version on his 1967 album ''Tom Jones Live! at the Talk of the Town''. He reprised this as a duet with

John Farnham John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

first on the Australian television show ''

Hey Hey It's Saturday ''Hey Hey It's Saturday'' is a long-running variety television program on Australian television. It initially ran for 28 years on the Nine Network from 9 October 1971 to 20 November 1999, with a recess in 1978. Its host throughout its entire ...

'' in 1990, and then on the 2005 CD/DVD album '' Together in Concert''. French singer

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

recorded a French version on 16 March 2003, on his album ''Plus bleu''.

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

performed a short cover version of the song in a fifth-season episode of ''

The Nanny ''The Nanny'' is an American sitcom that originally aired on CBS from November 3, 1993, to June 23, 1999, starring Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, a Jewish wikt:fashionista, fashionista from Flushing, Queens, who becomes the nanny of three children ...

'', wherein he plays the fiancé of Fran Fine's Jewish grandmother, Yetta. Ivan Rebroff sang a German version (''Mutters Hände'') in 1981. Alexander Goldscheider sang a Czech version ''Můj židovský táta'' in which he converted his lyrics to ''My Yiddishe Tate'' in 2021.

References

{{authority control 1925 songs Songs written by Jack Yellen Songs in Yiddish Songs written by Lew Pollack Jewish songs Belle Baker songs Tom Jones (singer) songs John Farnham songs Sophie Tucker songs