Bei mir bist du schon

Rise Again:

Jazz & Swing

p. 141

Find Under:

Bei mir bist du schon (a)

Alternate Title:

Bei Mir Bistu Shein

First Line:

Of all the boys I’ve known & I’ve known some

Artist & Tune

Composed by:

Jacob Jacobs

Sholom Secunda

Version by The Andrews Sisters

Reference

Genre:

jazz / swing

Culture:

Yiddish, German

Musical / film / TV show:

I Would If I Could

About the Song

Print source:

Family Songbook (Readers Digest)

This was originally a popular Yiddish song ("Bei Mir Bistu Shein") composed for the comedic 1932 Broadway musical "Would If I Could" (in Yiddish, Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, "You could live, but they don't let you"). It became a world-wide hit 5 years later for The Andrews Sister in an English version with a Germanicized title.

The origins of the English version are controversial (see the Wikipedia article.) The title means "To me you are beautiful."

Wikipedia Entry

Mudcat