Hava Nagila

"Hava Nagila" (הבה נגילה in Hebrew) 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 by Abraham Zevi (Zvi) Idelsohn in 1918 to celebrate the British victory in Palestine during World War I as well as the Balfour Declaration.

A transliteration, spelling of the title and lyrics varies.

Lyrics

Transliteration	Hebrew Text	English Translation
Hava nagila	הבה נגילה	Let's rejoice
Hava nagila	הבה נגילה	Let's rejoice
Hava nagila venis'mecha	הבה נגילה ונשמחה	Let's rejoice and be happy
	(repeat stanza once)
Hava neranenah	הבה נרננה	Let's sing
Hava neranenah	הבה נרננה	Let's sing
Hava neranenah venis'mecha	הבה נרננה ונשמחה	Let's 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	Awake brothers 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 the German ch (after a back vowel, as in Bach) or Spanish j [IPA: /x/].

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". Saturday Night Live had a Sweeney Sisters sketch using the same joke.

• On the comedy TV sketch show In Living Color, annoying soul singers Cephus and Reesie sing "Hava Nagila" at a bar mitzvah but with the lyrics, "Hava nagila/Have a tortilla".
• The Simpsons also parodied this song on two occasions.
  • In the episode "The Father, the Son, and the Holy Guest Star", Marge, Ned Flanders and Reverend Lovejoy were trying to convert Bart back from Catholicism, when he suggests that he should choose his own religion, upon which he suggests Judaism and sings

"Don't have / a cow, man / Don't have / a cow, man / Have a piece of fish. Oy!"

• • In the episode "Dude, Where's My Ranch?", Bart and Lisa were going door to door caroling. When they got to Krusty's house, they sang:

"Have a / nice christmas / Have a / nice christmas / Have a / nice christmas / Non-Christian friend"

• The OpenBSD 4.0 release song "Humppa Negala" performed and recorded by Ty Semaka and Jonathan Lewis.
• Hip Hop Hoodíos recorded a song called "Havana Nagila".
• Bob Dylan recorded a song called "Talkin' Hava Negeilah Blues".
• Allan Sherman recorded a song to the tune of "Hava Nagila" called "Harvey and Sheila".
• Comedian and folk singer Jasper Carrott used to sing "Hava Nagila" at his shows, intentionally mistranslating the lyrics as:

"My bicycle has been struck by lightning / The chief rabbi has eloped with a nun / The saddle has fallen off my bicycle / The policeman's donkey has molested my parrot"

Versions

• Was played in the 1934 Our Gang Comedy "Washee Ironee" on violin by Wally Albright at his mother's society party
• In 1957 Harry Belafonte recorded a version of "Hava Nagila" on his album An Evening with Belafonte.
• In 1959 Dalida recorded a french version, "Hava Naguila", on her album Le disque d'or de Dalida.
• In 1963, Dick Dale released a surf rock version of "Hava Nagila" on his King of the Surf Guitar album.
• In 1967, Julie Andrews sang "Hava Nagila" as Millie Dillmount in Thoroughly Modern Millie.
• In 1979, A bagpipe version was played in the background of the intro to the Monty Python soundtrack Life of Brian.
• In 1980 Neil Diamond as "Jess Robins/ Yussel Robinovich" Sings "Hava Nagila" in the 25th Anniversay party of his father the Cantor's service to his community in the film The Jazz Singer. Sir Laurence Olivier plays the cantor.
• In 1986, Adrenalin OD, recorded an instrumental surf rock version under the title "Surfin' Jew" on their album Humungousfungusamongus.
• In 1986, the Krewmen (British Psychobilly Band) performed the Song on their third album.
• In 1987, heavy metal band Anthrax used the melody as the main riff in "I'm the Man".
• In 1992, this song was sung in the PBS series Barney & Friends episode "A World of Music".
• In 1996, Party Animals released a single called "Hava Naquila" from their debut album Good Vibrations.
• In 1996, Scooter released a version called "Last Minute" on their album Our Happy Hardcore.
• In 2000, Kaliya released "Ritual Tibetan", containing elements associated with "Hava Nagila".
• In 2002, A $10,000 Winning Clip, "Look Ma, No Hands!" on the popular ABC series America's Funniest Home Videos.
• In 2003, Phil sang the song in Daddy Day Care.
• In 2004, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes performed the song on their album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah.
• In 2004, Franz Ferdinand used a portion of the song in their single "The Dark of the Matinée".
• In 2004, Infernal used the music in "Balagan (Hava Nagila)" on their album From Paris to Berlin.
• In 2005, Polish heavy metal band Rootwater recorded a hardcore version, half in original Hebrew, half in Polish.
• In 2006, Twisted Sister used the tune in "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" on their album A Twisted Christmas.
• In 2006, was featured on the smash Disney Channel series That's so Raven in the episode "Raven, Sydney, and The Man", in a scene at a Bar Mitzvah Party.
• In 2006, the song appeared in the BBC2 Christmas bumper edition of the show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.
• In the Nickelodeon Comedy Unfabulous, the song is played at Randy Klein's Barmitzvah.
• Bob Dylan's basement tapes includes an acoustic folk version of the song called Talkin' Hava Nagila Blues.

Caribbean based

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 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.

See also

• Hora
• Hasapiko

External links

• Hava Nagila's Long, Strange Trip
• Hora Music, How do you sing and dance Hava Nagila Lyrics and steps.
• Who wrote Havah Nagilah?
• The Sabras Band
• The Jews of Cuba
• HAVA NAGILA
• Free techno version of Hava Nagila
• The "Red Elvis" Dean Reed singing Hava nagila
• Discogs search for other remakes of Hava Nagila