So meschugge

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So meschugge is the German title of the American Foxtrot hit Crazy People by James V. Monaco , for which Edgar Leslie wrote the original English lyrics . It was published in 1932 by Leo Feist's music publishing house in New York. In Germany the song was published by Francis, Day & Hunter.

background

Charles Amberg wrote the German text. He used the loan word meschugge from Yiddish , which at that time had long since passed into everyday Berlin vocabulary and was also used unabashedly by non-Jews.

  • Refrain:

So meschugge,
so meschugge,
so meschugge like us one cannot be all alone.
Today we are all
so meschugge,
so meschugge,
so meschugge as we can only be a naked Hottentott.
We all already have a childlike
disposition,
Because we are in the mood today,
everyone sings along:
So meschugge,
So meschugge like us, someone cannot be all alone.

In Amberg's text, the comparison with the “naked Hottentott ” is also striking ; He uses a contemptuous term for an African people who, in this colonial era, were often tried in the hit world when it came to behaving "uncivilized" or otherwise deviating from European norms and therefore perceived as "meschugge" caricature.

Performers

The German vocal quartet “Die Fidelios”, formerly “ Harmony Boys ”, recorded the title in 1933 for “Grammophon” in Berlin.

In the USA, the Boswell siblings, famous for their close harmony singing, recorded the hit for Brunswick in the year it was composed. Clarinetist Andy Sannella played him with his orchestra on this label ; Cliff Edwards, known as “Ukulele Ike” sang the chorus .

Recently (2004) the vocal group “ Ensemble Six ” took up the title again.

Sound documents (examples)

  • Brunswick 6847 (mx. B12697-A) Crazy People (Monaco - Leslie) The Boswell Sisters, rec. Dec. 7, 1932.
  • Brunswick 6319, also 01314, A-9283 (mx. B11775-A) Crazy People (Monaco - Leslie) Cliff Edwards, voc. with Andy Sannella's orchestra. Up. May 4, 1932.
  • Gramophone 10 110-A (mx. 5621 ½ BD-VIII) So meschugge. Fox-trot (Monaco - Amberg) The Fidelios, aufgen. Berlin 1933

Note edition

  • Crazy People. Fox Trot Song. Words by Edgar Leslie. Music by James V. Monaco. Leo Feist Inc. New York 1932. 5 pages 9.25 x 12.25 inches. Advertising lettering Presented by Andy Sannella and his Orchestra with photo of the musician.
  • Leslie, E. and JV Monaco: So meschugge (Crazy people). Foxtr. [German v. Ch. Amberg], f. Ges. M. Pfte m. German-English Text M 1.80. Berlin, Francis, Day & Hunter.

literature

  • Christoph Gutknecht: Macke, Meise and Meschugge. If there is a lack of German understanding, Yiddish terms help. In: Jüdische Allgemeine of January 12, 2012.
  • Berthold Leimbach: audio documents of cabaret and their interpreters 1898-1945. Göttingen, self-published, 1991. Large octave hardcover - unpag., Num. Fig.
  • Andreas Nachama: Yiddish in Berlin jargon or Hebrew language elements in German vocabulary. Verlag Stapp, Berlin 1995. ISBN 978-3877764176 .
  • Leo Rosten: The Joys of Yiddish. Penguin Pocket Books 1968, 2nd edition 1991, ISBN 978-0671728137 .
  • Manfred Weihermüller, Heinz Büttner: German National Discography. Discography of German Cabaret, Volume 6 - Bonn 2002, page 1525.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Illustr. Title shown. at amazon.com (retrieved 6/26/18)
  2. ↑ cf. Hoffmeister's literary-musical monthly report, published by Friedrich Hofmeister, Leipzig, January 1933, p. 80
  3. ↑ Cf. Nachama, Chapter “3. Experiment: Yiddish in Berlin jargon from A to Z ”, p. 34f.
  4. ↑ The Dutch settlers took offense at the language of the Africans and therefore referred to them as “stutterers” (in the northern dialect of Afrikaans : hottentots): “They are mostly called Hottentots because of their strange language. form in the throats as it were; ”wrote Walter Schultzen in his“ East Indian Journey ”published in Amsterdam in 1647 on p. 247.
  5. ↑ z. B. in the Richard Fall hit "Yes with the Hottentots / You dance the Black Bottom" from 1928, the text of which was written by Dr. Fritz Löhner-Beda wrote; listen on youtube
  6. ↑ on the title of the sheet it was specially pointed out with a picture of the musician.
  7. ↑ Sextet founded in 1992 with five male voices and a piano; Recording from her album “Dress up again, we're going to bed” (2004), to be heard on youtube.com
  8. ↑ listen on youtube
  9. ↑ cf. Brian Rust, Malcolm Shaw: Jazz and Ragtime Records (1897-1942): AK - 2002 - page 510
  10. ↑ listen on youtube