Ikh bin a border bay mayn vayb
Words and Music by Rubin Doctor
דאָקטאָר, רובין
Ikh bin shoyn vider "singl"
punkt zoy vi a yingl,
mit mayn vaybl hob ikh zikh geget.
Gedenkt hob ikh tsu "mufn",
arum' gezukht tsu shlofn,
hot mayn vaybl mikh ibergeredt:
Vos darftstu zukhn glikn,
in fremde "rums" zikh shtikn,
un zayn aleyn un redn tsu di vent.
Blayb do iber punkt vi frier
zay a "border" yetst bay mir.
Vi a fremder tsol ikh ir dem rent.
Ikh bin a "border" bay mayn vayb,
oy gut, oy voyl, oy gut,
mener, iz dos a tayrer "dzhab",
Oy gut, oy voyl, oy gut.
Zi 'atendet' mikh mit ales,
Ven ikh kum fregt zi keyn shayles,
ikh bin a "border" bay mayn vayb.
Ikh zog aykh yetst oysdriklekh,
az ikh fil zikh zeyer gliklekh,
beser als a "border" eyder man.
Ikh darf mayn vayb nit hitn
un onkumen in mitn,
ven der "butsher" brengt dos fleysh arayn.
Ikh bin gants fray fun zorgn,
ikh darf nit layen, borgn,
nit arbetn un brengen ir dos gelt.
Nor zayt ikh bin in "bord" bay ir,
iz mir gut gor on a shir,
ikh es un trink nor un ikh bren a velt.
Es iz a fargenign,
ales ken ikh krign,
vi a fremder "border" bay mayn vayb.
Ikh bin gornit keyn griner,
un yedn tog nokh "diner"
leyg ikh zikh tsu azoy tsum tsayt-fartrayb.
Oy, frier flegt zi mir sheltn,
un iberkern veltn,
gor mit a fremdn "border" in mayn shtib.
Nor zayt ikh bin in "bord" bay ir,
iz zi azoy gut tsu mir,
es kost mir bilik un zi hot mikh lib.
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Read more and hear it:
Rough, incomplete translation of Reuben Doctor's lyrics from Milken Archive at:
Lyrics by Reuben Doctor
I’m a boarder at my wife’s.
Guys, it’s a sweet deal.
She attends to my every need.
When I come home, she doesn’t ask any questions.
I am a boarder at my wife’s.
I’m single once again,
single like a young boy.
I’ve divorced my wife.
I thought about moving out,
I looked for a room to lodge,
but my wife persuaded me:
“Why do you need to look for bargains
And be cramped in strange rooms,
And be alone and talk to the walls.
Stay here just like before.
Be a boarder now with me.”
So like a boarder, I pay her rent.
I’m a boarder at my wife’s.
It’s so nice, so good.
Guys, it’s a sweet deal.
She attends to my every need.
When I come home, she doesn’t ask any questions.
I am a boarder at my wife’s.
It’s a pleasure; I can get it all
as a stranger boarding at my wife’s.
I’m no greenhorn, and every day, after dinner,
I lie down, just to pass the time
Oh, earlier she used to curse me
and make a big hullabaloo,
Even when there was a stranger boarding
in my house.
But ever since I became a boarder at her place,
she is so good to me.
It costs me little, and she loves me.
Ikh bin a border bay mayn vayb
Words and Music by Rubin Doctor
דאָקטאָר, רובין
Notes and Translation at:
Fyvush Finkl sings a small fragment
at:
The late Bruce Adler sings all of Reuben Doctor's Ikh bin a 'boarder' bay mayn vayb with the Barcelona Symphony, conducted by Elli Jaffe. Milken Archive recording session, 2001.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ODWhHOOvRc
See Milken Archive Notes with rough, incomplete translation at:
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