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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.
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:
koyt far dayn fardakht קױט פֿאַר דײַן פֿאַרדאַכטNew 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
supported by 5 fans who also own “מַײאַ ז’פֿון איר אַרבעט געגאַנגען / Mya Z'Fun Ir Arbet Gegangen (Khaveyrim In Kamf) / Mya Left Work (Comrades In Struggle)”
supported by 5 fans who also own “מַײאַ ז’פֿון איר אַרבעט געגאַנגען / Mya Z'Fun Ir Arbet Gegangen (Khaveyrim In Kamf) / Mya Left Work (Comrades In Struggle)”
Finally I found some fine music with Jiddish lyrics. Very nice ! CountBreznak
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