Yiddish Lyrics

1.
Keyn Amerike tzu kumen, hob ikh keyn mi geshport,
kh'hob gedenkt a rov tzu vern un farlosn zikh a bord.

Kh'hob gehat tzvey sheyne peyes, vi yeder frumer yid
Tzum sof onshtot a bord hob ikh di peyes oykhet nit.

Vet ir mir fregn: S'taytsh? Vi ken dos zayn?
Der terets derfun iz, libe fraynt mayn':

Vot ken you makh? Es iz Amerike!
Do in land do putzt men zikh azoy.
Vot ken you makh? Es iz Amerike!
Afile der yid hot dem ponim mitn goy.

Az fun peyes do zet men bay keynem nit keyn shpor,
Do trogn zikh di peyelech ale meydlekh gor.

Vot ken you mach? Es iz Amerike,
S'iz Amerike, un vot ken you makh?

Az do in Amerike iz altzding farkert,
Di mener - zey sheyvn zikh, un bay di vayber shprotzn berd.

Vot ken you mach? Es iz Amerike!
Oy, Amerike, un bol'she nye tchevo!

In Yurop makht men khasene yunge meydlekh gor,
Un nakher hobn zey kinder, vi es firt zikh punkt tzum yor,
In Amerike iz gor andersh, me nemt zikh zayt on shir
Me hot khassene do shpeter, nor di kinder hot men frier

Vet ir mir fregn: S'taytsh? Vi ken dos zayn?
Der terets derfun iz, libe fraynt mayn':
Vot ken you mach? Es iz Amerike.
Do ken pasirn altz, zog ikh aykh [akh],
Vot ken you mach? Es iz Amerike,
Az do aylt men zikh dokh mit a yeder zakh.

Do zukht men tzu seyvn ekspenses af gevis,
Derfar makht men di khassene tzuzamen mitn bris!

Vot ken you mach? Es iz Amerike!
S'iz Amerike un vot ken you mach!

Az khosn-kale fun der khupe aheym nor me geyt
Iz shoyn dortn a vigele mit a kind oykh ongegreyt!

Vot ken you makh? Es iz Amerike!
Oy, s'iz Amerike aleyn un 'dets ol'

Translation

To come to America, I took great trouble.
I thought I'd become a rabbi and grow myself a beard.

I had two beautiful peyes, like every religious Jew.
But in the end I had no beard and my peyes were also gone.

Oh, you ask me how this can be?
The answer is, my dear friend:
What can you do, it's America!
This is how you get dressed up in this country!
What can you do? It's America!
Even a Jew looks just like a goy!

You don't see any trace of peyes,
here, all the girls wear them!

What can you do? It's America!
In America, that's just how it is!

Here in America everything's upside down.
The men shave their hair and their wived grow beards.

What can you do? It's America!
In America, and bol'she nye tchevo [Russian, bol'she ne tovo, That's all]!

In Europe you marry off a girl at a very young age,
and afterward, they have a kid exactly a year later.
In America it's different, they really take their time.
Weddings happen later, but the kids come earlier!

Oh, you ask me how this can be?
The answer, is my dear friend:
What can you do? It's America!
Here all everything can happen, I tell you.
What can you do? It's America!
Everything here is done in a hurry!

Here everyone's looking surely to save on their expenses,
So they have a wedding, together with the bris.

What can you do? It's America!
In America, what can you do?

When the bride and groom leave the wedding canopy to go home,
there's already cradle there, with the kid ready too!

What can you do? It's America!
It's America and that's all!