Re: lyrics "shiker is a goy"

[Robert A. Rothstein <rar...>]

Here is the text (converted to YIVO standard) as published in _Yiddish
Folk Songs: 50 Songs for Voice and Piano_, collected by Sarah Pitkowsky
Schack with piano arrangement by Ethel Silberman Cohen (New York: Bloch
Publishing Company, 1924), 50-51:

Geyt a goy in shenkl arayn,
in shenkl arayn, in shenkl arayn,
trinkt er dort a gut glezl vayn,
a gut glezl vayn, a gut glezl vayn.
Oy, shiker iz a goy, shiker iz a goy,
shiker iz er, trinken muz er,*
vayl er iz a goy.

Geyt a yid in bes-medresh arayn,
in bes-medresh arayn, in bes-medresh arayn,
khapt er dort a kedushele arayn,
a kedushele arayn, a kedushele arayn.
Oy, nikhter iz a yid, nikhter iz a yid,
nikhter iz er, davnen muz er,
vayl er iz a yid.

Geyt a goy fun shenkl aroys,
fun shenkl aroys, fun shenkl aroys,
brekht er dort a por shaybelekh oys,
a por shaybelekh oys, a por shaybelekh oys.
Oy, shiker iz a goy, shiker iz a goy,
shiker iz er, brekhen muz er,
vayl er iz a goy.

Geyt a yid fun bes-medresh aroys,
fun bes-medresh aroys, fun bes-medresh aroys,
kusht er dort a por mezuzelekh oys,
a por mezuzelekh oys, a por mezuzelekh oys.
Oy, nikhter iz a yid, nikhter iz a yid,
nikhter iz er, kushn muz er,
vayl er iz a yid.

    *probably sung (in Polish or Ukrainian Yiddish) "miz er," which
gives an internal rhyme

Those interested in this song may also be interested in the texts
included in my paper "'Geyt a yid in shenkl arayn': Yiddish Songs of
Drunkenness," _The Field of Yiddish: Studies in Language, Folklore, and
Literature_, Fifth Collection, ed. David Goldberg (Evanston, IL:
Northwestern University Press and YIVO, 1993), 243-62.

            Bob Rothstein

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