מַײאַ ז’פֿון איר אַרבעט געגאַנגען / Mya Z'Fun Ir Arbet Gegangen (Khaveyrim In Kamf) / Mya Left Work (Comrades In Struggle)

by koyt far dayn fardakht קױט פֿאַר דײַן פֿאַרדאַכט

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about

This ballad has been sung about many different women murdered by the police. We sing it for Mya Hall, a black trans woman murdered by cops outside Baltimore in 2015, after her car made a wrong turn near NSA headquarters. Her killers have faced no consequences for her murder.

This special November 2019 / Kheshvn 5780 single release honoring trans struggles for liberation, and in memory of Mya Hall, benefits Baltimore Safe Haven, which provides opportunities for a higher quality of life for transgender people in Baltimore city living in survival mode. They offer safer sex kits, overdose reversal material/Naxolone trainings, overnight shelter for trans and other LGBTQ folks, drug safe-usage materials, and much more.

You can find out more about their amazing work on Facebook @bmoresafehaven, or at www.baltimoresafehaven.org

lyrics

MYA Z'FIN IR ARBET GEGANGEN / MYA WAS LEAVING WORK

mya was leaving her work
she didn't yet know her bad luck -
out came the murderer, the police chief
and shot her for no reason

the streets where they carried her to the hospital
were soaked with blood -
when they took her into the hospital
she only lived ten minutes

sisters, we must not be silent
about our comrade's blood:
we must wash her blood away
with bombs every minute

if a bullet should find you, my faithful one,
a bullet from our enemy, the dog -
then with my own hands i'll carry you from the fire
and heal your wounds with kisses

mya z'fin ir arbet gegangen
zi hot nokh fin ir imglik nit gevist
aroysgegaan der merder, der pristev
un hot zi geshosn imzist

di gasn, vos m'hot zi in bolnitse getrugn
geveyzn bagosn mit blit
az m'hot zi in bolnitse araangetrugn
hot zi nokh gelebt tsen minit

shvester, mir torn nit shvaagn
far indzere khavertes blit
mir darfn dus blit indzers vashn
mit bumbes in yeder minit

az s'treft dikh a koyl, maan getraye,
a koyl fin dem soyne, dem hint,
dan trug ikh dikh af maane hent finem fayer
un heyl dir mit kish daane vind.

מַײאַ ז’פֿון איר אַרבעט געגאַנגען זי האָט נאָך פֿון איר \ אומגליק ניט געװיסט אַרױסגעגַײן דער מערדער, דער פּריסטעװ און האָט זי געשאָסן אומזיסט

די גאַסן, װאָס מ’האָט זי \ אין באָלניצע געטראָגן געװײזן באַגאָסן מיט בלוט אַז מ’האָט זי אין באָלניצע אַרַײנגעטראָגן האָט זי נאָך געלעבט צען מינוט

שװעסטער, מיר טאָרן ניט שװַײגן פֿאַר אונדזערע כאַװערטעס בלוט מיר דאַרפֿן דאָס בלוט \ אונדזערס װאַשן מיט באָמבעס אין יעדער מינוט

אַז ס’טרעפֿט דיך אַ קױל, מַײן געטרַײע, אַ קױל פֿון דעם שׂונא, דעם הונט, דאַן טרוג איך דיך אױף מַײנע הענט פֿונעם פֿ ַײער און הײל דיר מיט \ קוש דַײנע װוּנד.

Lyrics adapted by Rozele from versions sung by Etl Volodarskaya (age 35; Ushomir, WNW of Kiev, 1928; printed by Moshe Beregovski); Lifshe Schaechter-Widman (Bukovina, 1910s / Bronx, 1954; recorded by Leyb Kahn). Some lyrics originally from a poem by Khayim Aleksandrov (NYC, 1904). Transliteration reflects the Southeastern Yiddish of the original singers.

credits

released November 18, 2019
Koyt Far Dayn Fardakht is:

Rozele - Voice
Ayelet - Guitar, Voice
Rose - Bass, Voice
Maggie - Drums

Arranged by Koyt Far Dayn Fardakht.
Recorded, mixed, & mastered by Ernie Indradet.
Recorded at The Seaside Lounge, Brooklyn, in 2018.

Sh'koyekh to Itzik Gottesman and the Yiddish Song of the Week blog's readers for their digging into the song's history.

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koyt far dayn fardakht קױט פֿאַר דײַן פֿאַרדאַכט image

koyt far dayn fardakht קױט פֿאַר דײַן פֿאַרדאַכט New York, New York

punk band playing mostly yiddish anarchist/bundist songs

we believe in these songs & the movements that made them possible—we are part of those movements

we sing in yiddish b/c our ashkenazi culture is alive & well despite the efforts of zionists, nazis, enlighteners, fundamentalists, assimilationists, necro-nostalgists

rozele: voice
maggie: drums
ayelet: guitar, voice
reyse: bass, voice ... more

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