"If I Were a Rich Man" is a
show tune
A show tune is a song originally written as part of the score of a work of musical theatre or musical film, especially if the piece in question has become a standard, more or less detached in most people's minds from the original context.
T ...
from the 1964
musical ''
Fiddler on the Roof''. It was written by
Sheldon Harnick
Sheldon Mayer Harnick (born April 30, 1924) is an American lyricist and songwriter best known for his collaborations with composer Jerry Bock on musicals such as ''Fiorello!'' and '' Fiddler on the Roof''.
Early life
Sheldon Mayer Harnick was ...
and
Jerry Bock
Jerrold Lewis Bock (November 23, 1928November 3, 2010) was an American musical theater composer. He received the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama with Sheldon Harnick for their 1959 musical ''Fiorello!'' and the Tony ...
. The song is performed by
Tevye
Tevye the Dairyman, also translated as Tevye the Milkman ( yi, טבֿיה דער מילכיקער, ''Tevye der milkhiker'' ) is the fictional narrator and protagonist of a series of short stories by Sholem Aleichem, and various adaptations of th ...
, the main character in the musical, and reflects his dreams of glory.
The title is inspired by a 1902 monologue by
Sholem Aleichem
)
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Pereiaslav, Russian Empire
, death_date =
, death_place = New York City, U.S.
, occupation = Writer
, nationality =
, period =
, genre = Novels, sh ...
in
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
, ''Ven ikh bin Rothschild'' (
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
: װען איך בין ראָטשילד; lit. “If I were a Rothschild”),
a reference to the wealth of the
Rothschild family, although the content is quite different. The lyric is based in part on passages from Sholem Aleichem’s 1899 short story "The Bubble Bursts." Both stories appeared in English in the 1949 collection of stories ''Tevye's Daughters.''
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". ''The Broadway Musical: A Critical and Musical Survey'' explained that the song contains a greater number of Jewish "commonplaces" than any other number in the score, and added the song does twofold: it "offers such a strong dose of idiom early in the show
hich
Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
is good for the overall unity", and the "important dramatic function" of introducing the central character of Tevye through song. History of the Literary Cultures of East-Central Europe explains that the song is based on a monologue from the stories of Sholem Aleichem entitled "If I were Rothschild", in reference to the wealthy Jewish banking family. The Grammar Devotional likens the phrase "if I were a rich man" to the Cowardly Lion's "if I were king of the forest" in The Wizard of Oz; both songs involve a tongue-in-cheek comparison between the character's actual condition and the one they imagine. It has been suggested that song is inspired by a Hasidic folk song.
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
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the ...
. 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.
Covers and samples
* In September 1967
Bill and Boyd
Bill and Boyd were a pop music duo from 1959 to 1989 consisting of William "Bill" Cate (10 October 1940 - 29 November 2020) and William "Boyd" Robertson (born 1941), both on lead vocals and lead guitar, which started recording in 1960. They bega ...
's version peaked at No. 24 on the ''
Go-Set
''Go-Set'' was the first Australian pop music newspaper, published weekly from 2 February 1966 to 24 August 1974, and was founded in Melbourne by Phillip Frazer, Peter Raphael and Tony Schauble. NOTE: This PDF is 282 pages. Widely described as ...
'' National Top 40 in Australia.
* In 1967,
Chaim Topol
Chaim Topol ( he, חיים טופול; born September 9, 1935), also spelled Haym Topol, mononymously known as Topol, is an Israeli actor, comedian, singer, film producer, author, and illustrator. He is best known for his portrayal of Tevye the ...
recorded a version, billed as Topol and also credited as 'From the London cast production "Fiddler On The Roof"' (CBS 202651), it entered the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
on 20 April 1967 where it remained for 20 consecutive weeks peaking at nine.
* The
reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...
song "
Rich Girl", released in 1993 by
Louchie Lou & Michie One
Louchie Lou & Michie One were a British female ragga/soul duo from London, best known for the single " Shout (It Out)", plus their collaboration with Suggs on the single "Cecilia", both of which reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart.
Ca ...
and covered in 2004 by
Gwen Stefani, is an adaptation of "If I Were a Rich Man".
* In 2001 the Australian
punk
Punk or punks may refer to:
Genres, subculture, and related aspects
* Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres
* Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...
band
Yidcore
Yidcore are an Australian Jewish punk rock band from Melbourne, formed in 1998. Known primarily for playing punk covers of Jewish and Israeli songs, the band started writing more of its own material in later albums.
Logo and
The band's lo ...
recorded the song for their self-titled debut album and later on their ''Fiddlin' on ya Roof'' album.
* In 2013, French baritone
David Serero recorded a French version which he modernized on a videoclip.
* In 2021, it was sampled on
Flo Milli
Tamia Monique Carter (born January 9, 2000), known professionally as Flo Milli, is an American rapper. She rose to prominence after her songs " Beef FloMix" and "In the Party" went viral on the social media platform TikTok, eventually leading th ...
's song "Roaring 20s".
References
External links
Ven ikh bin Rothschild(full text in Yiddish)
{{Authority control
1964 songs
songs from Fiddler on the Roof
songs written by Jerry Bock
songs written by Sheldon Harnick