Hava Nagila
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Hava Nagilah is a Hebrew folk song, the title meaning "Let us rejoice." It is a song of celebration, especially popular amongst irreligious Jewish and Roma communities. In popular culture, it is used as a metonym for Judaism, and is a staple of band performers at Jewish festivals.
Though the melody is an ancient one of folk origin, the commonly used text was probably composed in 1918 to celebrate the British victory in Palestine during World War I as well as the Balfour Declaration.
In 1957 Harry Belafonte recorded a version of Hava Nagila on his An Evening with Belafonte album.
In 1963, Dick Dale released a surf rock version of Hava Nagila on his King of the Surf Guitar album.
The punk band Me First and the Gimme Gimmes performed the song on their album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah, and another punk band, Adrenalin OD, recorded an instrumental surf rock version under the title "Surfin' Jew" on their album Humungousfungusamongus.
Many Caribbean-based musical groups have used Hava Nagilah as an instrumental piece -either as a show opener or as a showcase song- with the melody adapted to local rhythms. Mon Rivera made a plena version, which he used as an icebreaker in his presentations. Hava Nagilah was also arranged as a merengue and was virtually a standard for various Dominican bands such as Johnny Ventura's Combo Show, Freddy Kenton's, and the Puerto Rico-based Conjunto Quisqueya. Sonata Arctica, a power metal band from Finland, play the melody of Hava Nagilah with lyrics about Vodka at the end of their live DVD For the Sake of Revenge.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
| Transliteration | Hebrew | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Havah nagilah | הבה נגילה | Let's rejoice |
| Havah nagilah | הבה נגילה | Let's rejoice |
| Havah nagilah venismechah | הבה נגילה ונשמחה | Rejoice and be happy |
| (repeat stanza once) | ||
| Havah neranenah | הבה נרננה | Let's sing |
| Havah neranenah | הבה נרננה | Let's sing |
| Havah neranenah venismechah | הבה נרננה ונשמחה | Sing and be happy |
| (repeat stanza once) | ||
| Uru, uru achim! | !עורו, עורו אחים | Awake, awake, brothers! |
| Uru achim b'lev sameach | עורו אחים בלב שמח | With a happy heart |
| (repeat line three times) | ||
| Uru achim, uru achim! | !עורו אחים, עורו אחים | Awake, brothers, awake, brothers! |
| B'lev sameach | בלב שמח | With a happy heart |
It should be noted that ch is pronounced like loch, not like k.
[edit] Parody
- On the comedy TV show Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, perfomer Jo Anne Worley sang a parody of the song with these lyrics:
- "Have a nagila / Have two nagilas / Have three nagilas / They're pretty small."
- The Simpsons also used a parody of this song; Bart was choosing between religions and suggested he'd become Jewish, then began singing:
- "Don't have / a cow, man / Don't have / a cow, man / Have a piece of fish."
- The OpenBSD 4.0 release song, Humppa Negala, performed and recorded by Ty Semaka and Jonathan Lewis. [1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Hava Nagila's Long, Strange Trip
- Who wrote Havah Nagilah?
- The Sabras Band
- The Jews of Cuba
- HAVA NAGILA
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