Tumbalalaika

"Tumbalalaika" or "Tum balalaika"(Yiddish: טום־באַלאַלײַקע) is an American Ashkenazi Jewish popular love song in the Yiddish language. The title refers to the balalaika, a 3-stringed musical instrument of Russian origin. The song was written by Abraham Ellstein for The Barry Sisters, and was published by him in 1940.^[1] Its text was loosely based on a traditional Ukrainian song "Letiv Ptashok".^[2]

‹See RfD› Trakht un trakht a gantse nakht

‹See RfD› Tumbala, Tumbala, Tumbalalaika

‹See RfD› Meydl, meydl, kh'vil bay dir fregn,

‹See RfD› Narisher bokher, vos darfstu fregn?

‹See RfD› Vos iz hekher fun a hoyz?

‹See RfD› A koymen iz hekher fun a hoyz.

While most versions use ‹See RfD› a shteyn ('a stone') as the answer to "what can grow without rain", some versions use ‹See RfD› farshteyn ('understanding').^[4]

• The song Over and Over by Nana Mouskouri uses this melody.^[5] It followed the singer's French version "Roule s'enroule" (lyrics by Michel Jourdan).
• The song, "Tumbalalaika (The Riddle)" by Natalia Zukerman ^[6] is a poetic adaptation of this to English, with the chorus remaining in Yiddish.
• The Barry Sisters version of the song appears in episode 5, season 2 ("Midnight At The Concord") of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
• 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.^{[citation needed ]}
• The film Khrustalyov, My Car! shows a young Jewish boy singing the song in Russian.
• The song is used in the film Swing by Tony Gatlif.
• The song is 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.^[7]
• The song is used in the film Prendimi l'anima/The Soul Keeper (2002) by Roberto Faenza.^[8]
• The metal version of the song^[9] is included in the first Metal Yiddish album AlefBase by Gevolt, released in March 2011
• A pastiche of the song is used in the play The Hamlet of Stepney Green: A Sad Comedy with Some Songs by Bernard Kops.
• The song is included in the album Homenatge a Xesco Boix, a tribute to Xesco Boix  [es]. The latter used to play in his concerts for children. Also included in Cançons catalanes de Folk in 1976 (Terra Nostra).
• The song appears in the novel The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros.^[10]
• A Vietnamese version "Tình Nồng Cháy" (Passioned love) with lyrics by Anh Bằng, based on the English lyrics of "Over and Over" uses this melody.^{[11] [12]}
• The Berlin-based electro swing duo, Masha Ray, covered the song in 2023.^[13]
• The song is used in the film Fanny's Journey during the closing credits, and is heard in the middle of the film sung by some of the cast. ^[14]

• Jewish folk songs
• Songs in Yiddish
• Year of song unknown

• Articles containing Yiddish-language text
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• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from April 2012