If I Were a Rich Man (song)
"If I Were a Rich Man" is a show tune from the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof. It was written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. The song is performed by Tevye, the main character in the musical, and reflects his aspirational dreams.[1]
The title is inspired by a 1902 monologue by
Analysis
The Oxford Companion to the American Musical wrote that the song includes passages of "cantor-like chanting", and is "the most revealing of the many character numbers".
Lyrics and style
Through the first two verses, Tevye dreams of the material comforts that wealth would bring him. He describes the enormous house he would buy and the needless luxuries he would fill it with, including a third staircase "leading nowhere, just for show," and then the poultry he would buy to fill his yard. In the third verse, Tevye switches his attention to the luxuries in which he would shower his wife, Golde.
In the bridge, Tevye contemplates the esteem that wealth would bring him, with important men seeking his advice. In the final verse, Tevye considers how wealth would allow him to spend less time working and more time praying and studying the Torah. He ends the song by asking God if it would "spoil some vast eternal plan" if he were wealthy.
A repeated phrase throughout the song, "all day long I'd bidi-bidi-bum," is often misunderstood to refer to Tevye's desire not to have to work. However, in an interview with Terry Gross, Sheldon Harnick said he basically made up syllables that he thought would give the effect of Chassidic chanting. The first person to play Tevye, Zero Mostel, then replaced the syllables Harnick had written with ones that Mostel thought would be more authentic.[8][9]
Covers and samples
- In September 1967 Bill and Boyd's version peaked at No. 24 on the Go-Set National Top 40 in Australia.[10]
- In 1967, UK Singles Chart on 20 April 1967 where it remained for 20 consecutive weeks peaking at nine.[11]
- In 1967, Roger Whittaker recorded a version.
- The reggae song "Rich Girl", released in 1993 by Louchie Lou & Michie One and covered in 2004 by Gwen Stefani, is an adaptation of "If I Were a Rich Man".[12]
- In 2001 the Australian
- In 2013, French baritone David Serero recorded a French version which he modernized on a videoclip.[14]
- In 2021, it was sampled on Flo Milli's song "Roaring 20s".[15]
- Voiceplay made a popcover of the song, together with Ashley Diane in 2021.
References
- ^ a b "Fiddler On The Roof - Tradition Lyrics". www.lyricsmania.com.
- ^ Tevye's Daughters, by Sholom Aleichem, translated by Frances Butwin (1949). "The Bubble Bursts" appears on pages 1–15, "If I Were Rothschild" on pages 16–19.
- ISBN 9780195335330.
- ISBN 9781461664079.
- )
- ISBN 9781429964401.
- ISBN 0822328003.
- ^ "tefilla - Meaning of "bidi-bidi-bum" - Mi Yodeya". stackexchange.com.
- ^ "'Fiddler' Composer Jerry Bock, 1928–2010". NPR.org. 5 November 2010.
- ^ Nimmervoll, Ed (6 September 1967). "National Top 40". Go-Set. Waverley Press. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
- ISBN 0-85112-429-1.
- ^ Vineyard, Jennifer (2004). "Gwen Stefani: Scared Solo". MTV. p. 3. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
- ^ Kamien, Adam (15 December 2009). "Yidcore's final countdown". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ David Serero - Ah! Si J'étais Riche. YouTube. 5 August 2014.[dead YouTube link]
- ^ Friedman, Gabe (16 January 2021). "Flo Milli samples 'If I Were a Rich Man' in new track". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
External links
- Ven ikh bin Rothschild (full text in Yiddish)
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