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| - Bei Mir Bistu Shein (Yiddish: בייַ מיר ביסטו שיין, "To Me You're Beautiful") is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs (lyricist) and Sholom Secunda (composer) for a Yiddish musical, I Would if I Could (in Yiddish, Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, "you could live, but they won't let you") in 1932 that closed after one season. Secunda sold the publishing rights to the song for a mere US$30. The original Yiddish version of the song (in C minor) is a dialogue between two lovers who share lines of the song. A common soramimi of the title is "My Dear Mister Shane".
- The song was written in 1932 for a Yiddish-language stage musical called I Would if I Could (or Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nish in Yiddish). It was composed by Sholom Secunda with lyrics by Jacob Jacobs. The original Yiddish-language version of the song takes the form of a duet, with a man and a woman singing alternate lines. The Andrews Sisters recoreded the English-language version of the song on November 24, 1937. They earned a Gold Record for the song, becoming the first female vocal group to do so.
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| abstract
| - The song was written in 1932 for a Yiddish-language stage musical called I Would if I Could (or Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nish in Yiddish). It was composed by Sholom Secunda with lyrics by Jacob Jacobs. The original Yiddish-language version of the song takes the form of a duet, with a man and a woman singing alternate lines. When I Would if I Could closed after one season, Sholom Secunda sold the rights to the song for thirty dollars. In 1937, the rights to the song were acquired by the lyricist and songwriter Sammy Cahn. Together with composer and musical director Saul Chaplin, Cahn wrote English language lyrics to the song, although the title remained in Yiddish, and adjusted the rhythm to make it more typical of 1930s swing music. The Andrews Sisters recoreded the English-language version of the song on November 24, 1937. They earned a Gold Record for the song, becoming the first female vocal group to do so.
- Bei Mir Bistu Shein (Yiddish: בייַ מיר ביסטו שיין, "To Me You're Beautiful") is a popular Yiddish song composed by Jacob Jacobs (lyricist) and Sholom Secunda (composer) for a Yiddish musical, I Would if I Could (in Yiddish, Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, "you could live, but they won't let you") in 1932 that closed after one season. Secunda sold the publishing rights to the song for a mere US$30. The original Yiddish version of the song (in C minor) is a dialogue between two lovers who share lines of the song. The song became famous with English lyrics but retaining the Yiddish title, Bei Mir Bistu Shein. However, it also appeared with the quasi-German title Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (in German: Für mich bist Du schön). In 1937, Sammy Cahn heard a performance of the song, sung in Yiddish by African American performers Johnnie and George at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. On seeing the response, Cahn got his employer to buy the rights so he (together with Saul Chaplin) could rewrite the song with English language lyrics and rhythms more typical of swing music. He then convinced the still unknown Andrews Sisters to perform the song (recorded November 24, 1937). It became their first major hit, earning them a Gold Record, the first ever to a female vocal group. A parody of this song, "The Bear Missed the Train", was written by the Smith Street Society Jazz Band in 1964 and became a favorite on Jean Shepherd's radio narratives. A common soramimi of the title is "My Dear Mister Shane".
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