Neha Patil (Editor)

Tumbalalaika

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Tumbalalaika is a Russian Jewish folk and love song in the Yiddish language. Tum (טום) is the Yiddish word for noise and a balalaika (באַלאַלײַקע) is a stringed musical instrument of Russian origin.

Other

  • The song Over and Over by Nana Mouskouri uses this melody.
  • The song, "Tumbalalaika (The Riddle)" by Natalia Zukerman is a poetic adaptation of this to English, with the chorus remaining in Yiddish.
  • Benny Hill adapted the melody for one of his own compositions, Anna Marie, which he performed on his first special for Thames Television on November 19, 1969.
  • The song is used in the film Swing by Tony Gatlif.
  • The song is also used in the film The Soul Keeper.
  • The song is also used in the play Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes by Tony Kushner and the film based on this play. It is sung by the ghost of Ethel Rosenberg to Roy Cohn, dying of AIDS.
  • The song is used in the film Prendimi l'anima (2002) by Roberto Faenza.
  • The metal version of the song is included in the first Metal Yiddish album AlefBase by Gevolt, released on March 2011
  • A pastiche of the song is also used in the play The Hamlet of Stepney Green: A Sad Comedy with Some Songs by Bernard Kops.
  • It's included in the album "Homenatge a Xescu Boix", a tribute to Xescu Boix. He used to play in his concerts, to the children. Also included in "Cançons catalanes de Folk" in 1976 (Terra nostra.4)

    • References

    Tumbalalaika Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA