Hava Nagila
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hava Nagila 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.
A transliteration, spelling of the title and lyrics varies.
Contents |
[edit] Lyrics
| Transliteration | Hebrew | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| Hava nagila | הבה נגילה | Let's rejoice |
| Hava nagila | הבה נגילה | Let's rejoice |
| Hava nagila venis'mecha | הבה נגילה ונשמחה | 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 | 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 as the German ch [IPA: /x/].
[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.". Saturday Night Live had a Sweeny Sisters sketch using the same joke.
The Simpsons also parodied this song on three 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. Oi!"
- (episode currently unknown) 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"
- In the episode"Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade," due to a lack of sleep brought on by watching too much TV, Bart begins to hallucinate in class. The characters from various shows Bart had been watching (such as Bender, a bulimic Tom Brokaw, Pikachu, and an anthropomorphic clock) greet Bart and throw him on their shoulders while singing Hava Nagila.
- The OpenBSD 4.0 release song, Humppa Negala, performed and recorded by Ty Semaka and Jonathan Lewis. [1]
- Hip Hop Hoodíos recorded a song called "Havana Nagila."
- Allan Sherman recorded a song to the tune of "Hava Nagila" called "Harvey and Sheila."
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes performed the song on their album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah, to the music of Feliz Navidad
- "I wanna wish you a Rosh Hashana / from the bottom of my heart"
[edit] Versions
- In 1957 Harry Belafonte recorded a version of Hava Nagila on his An Evening with Belafonte album.
- 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 1986, Adrenalin OD, recorded an instrumental surf rock version under the title "Surfin' Jew" on their album Humungousfungusamongus.
- In 1987, Anthrax used the tune in I'm the Man.
- In 1996, Party Animals released a single called Hava Naquila from their debut album Good Vibrations.
- In 2000, Scooter released a version called Last Minute on their album Our Happy Hardcore.
- 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 (album).
- In 2006, Twisted Sister used the tune in Oh Come All Ye Faithful on their album A Twisted Christmas.
- Heavy Nagila [4]
[edit] 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 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.
