"Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" (, "Come Out, Come Out, Come Out"), sometimes "Tzena, Tzena", is a song, written in 1941 in
Hebrew
Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
. Its music is by
Issachar Miron (a.k.a. Stefan Michrovsky), a
Polish emigrant in what was then the
British Mandate of Palestine (now
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
), and the lyrics are by .
History
Miron, born in 1919, left Poland at the age of 19 in the late 1930s, thus avoiding the
Holocaust
The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
. In 1941, while serving in the
Jewish Brigade
The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...
of the
British forces
The British Armed Forces are the unified military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, support international peacekeeping ef ...
, he composed the melody for lyrics written by Chagiz. The song became popular in the British Mandate of Palestine and was played on the
Kol Yisrael radio service.
Julius Grossman, who did not know who composed the song, wrote the so-called third part of "Tzena" circa November 1946. After hearing
Pete Seeger
Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
performing ''Tzena'',
with
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City originally consisting of Lee Hays, Pete Seeger, Ronnie Gilbert, and Fred Hellerman. Founded in 1948, the group sang traditional folk songs from ...
as backing,
Gordon Jenkins made an arrangement of the song for the Weavers with English lyrics. The Jenkins/Weavers version, released by
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
under catalog number 27077, was one side of a two-sided hit, reaching No. 2 on the
Billboard magazine
''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...
charts in 1950 while the flip side, "
Goodnight Irene
"Goodnight, Irene" or "Irene, Goodnight," ( Roud 11681) is a 20th-century American folk standard, written in time, first recorded by American blues musician Huddie 'Lead Belly' Ledbetter in 1933. A version recorded by The Weavers was a #1 hit ...
," reached No. 1.
Cromwell Music Inc., a subsidiary of
Richmond/TRO, claimed the rights to the song, and had licensed the Decca release. They alleged the music to have been composed by a person named Spencer Ross. In reality this turned out to be a fictitious persona constructed to hide the melody's true authorship.
Mills Music, Inc., Miron's publisher, sued Cromwell and won. The presiding judge also dismissed Cromwell's claim that the melody was based on a traditional folk song and was thus in the
public domain
The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
.
Covers
The original English lyrics, written by
Mitchell Parish
Mitchell Parish (born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky; July 10, 1900 – March 31, 1993) was an American lyricist, notably as a writer of songs for stage and screen.
Biography
Parish was born to a Jewish family in Lithuania, Russian Empire in July 190 ...
, were greatly altered in the version recorded by the Weavers. Other charting versions in 1950 were recorded by
Vic Damone
Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018) was an American traditional pop music, pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit "You're Breaking My ...
(Billboard pos. 6),
Ralph Flanagan & His Orchestra, and
Mitch Miller
Mitchell William Miller (July 4, 1911 – July 31, 2010) was an American choral conductor, record producer, record-industry executive, and professional oboist. He was involved in almost all aspects of the industry, particularly as a conductor ...
's Orchestra.
The ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' obituary of Issachar Miron lists the following artists who covered "Tsena Tsena": "It was sung in some 39 languages and was performed and recorded by numerous leading artists in the United States, including Pete Seeger, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Dusty Springfield, Connie Francis, Vic Damone, Chubby Checker, the Smothers Brothers and Arlo Guthrie."
[Issachar Miron]
an obituary
*Guitarist
Chet Atkins
Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), also known as "Mister Guitar" and "the Country Gentleman", was an American musician who, along with Owen Bradley and Bob Ferguson (musician), Bob Ferguson, helped create the Nash ...
recorded an instrumental version of "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" on his 1960 album ''
The Other Chet Atkins''.
*1960:
Connie Francis
Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero ( ; born December 12, 1937), known as Connie Francis, is a retired American Pop music, pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. She is estimated to have sold more th ...
, ''Connie Francis Sings Jewish Favorites'', Universal Records
*1961:
The Springfields, album ''
Kinda Folksy'', a cover of the version by ''The Weavers'' described by
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger (born 1962) is an American author and journalist whose focus is popular music and travel writing.
Life and writing
Unterberger attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he wrote for the university newspaper '' The Daily P ...
as "a ridiculously brassy arrangement"
*1961: A humorous version titled "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" was recorded by the
Smothers Brothers
The Smothers Brothers were the American duo of brothers Tom Smothers, Tom and Dick Smothers, who performed folk singer, folk singing, music, and comedy. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on Steel-string guitar, a ...
on their 1961 debut album, ''
The Smothers Brothers at the Purple Onion''.
*1961 Canada, 1962, USA
The Barry Sisters, album ''Shalom'' as part of Side A, track 1: ''Izraeli Medley''(''Artza Alinu Tzena-Tzena'')
*1964:
Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including the Twist, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighters' R&B song " The Twis ...
, on ''Chubby's Folk Album''
Chubby Checker – Chubby's Folk Album
Lyrics
Transliterated: ''Tzena, tzena, tzena, tzena ha-banot u-r’ena ħayalim ba-moshava; Al na, Al na, Al na, Al na, al na titħab’ena Mi-ben ħayal, ish tzava.''
Translated: "Go out, go out, go out girls and see soldiers in the moshava
A moshava (, plural: ''moshavot'' , ''colony'' or ''village'') was a form of agricultural Jewish settlement in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine (now Israel), established by the members of the Old Yishuv beginning in the late 1870s ...
; Do not, do not, do not hide yourself away from a virtuous man pun on the word for "soldier" an army man."
References
External links
*
*Ari Y. Kelman
Hear Israel. When the Weavers recorded the popular Israeli folk song ‘Tzena Tzena’ in 1950, they did more than legitimize a strain of musical culture; they introduced Israel to a generation of young Americans
Tablet Magazine, January 7, 2011
{{Authority control
Songs in Hebrew
Vic Damone songs
1941 songs