p. 141
Alternate Title:
Bei Mir Bistu Shein
First Line:
Of all the boys I’ve known & I’ve known some
Artist & Tune
Composed by:
Version by The Andrews Sisters
Performed by:
Version by Ella Fitzgerald
Performed by:
Version by The Hot Sardines
Performed by:
Version by Girls from Mars
Performed by:
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."