"Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" (Hebrew: צאנה צאנה צאנה) is a song, originally written in 1941, in Hebrew. Its music is by Issachar Miron (a.k.a. Stefan Michrovsky), a Polish emigrant in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel), and lyrics is by Yechiel Chagiz (a.ka. Jehiel Hagges)
Miron, born in 1920, left Poland at the age of 19 in the late 1930s, thus avoiding the Holocaust. In 1941, while serving in the Jewish Brigade of the British forces, he composed the melody for lyrics written by Chagiz.
Miron testified that he wrote the song 'Tzena' in the latter part of 1941, when he was with the Jewish troops of the British Army in Haifa, at the Peninsular Barracks. He described the occasion for writing the music as follows:
"I remember it as if it were today. I got some words that had been written by another soldier in the 22nd Company; the name of this soldier was Jehiel Hagges. The words were brought to me by a lance corporal, whose name is Blum. He showed me the words, and he asked me to compose the music as quickly as possible so that he could take them back when he returned to the 22nd Company. Blum was originally from the 2nd Company to which I belonged, but for a certain time he worked in the 22nd Company as an instructor. When I saw the words, I felt that I could compose a melody for them. I was very enthusiastic when I wrote this melody and I can say that I wrote the music, I might say so, with the blood of my heart."
Miron wrote the music in five or six hours, on the same day that he received the lyric from Hagges through Blum. The song was to be used in a celebration in the 22nd Company in which everyone was to participate. Miron went to the canteen gymnasium that evening and played the melody for the soldiers. It was a strong, gay melody, yet very simple so that the soldiers were able to sing it. Miron was a musician. He played several instruments, including the piano. A soldier named Hillel, a member of the battery, sang the song at the first performance.
On December 22, 1941 a well known singer, Efraim Di-Zahav (Goldstein), sang "Tzena" over the radio on Kol Yerushalayim, the Hebrew wing of the Palestine Broadcasting Service.
After this first performance the song spread among the Israel soldiers. It was sung quite a lot from 1943 to 1945 by children and by others who had learned the song from the soldiers.
The song 'Tzena' was also used by Miron and Hagges in a musical comedy they wrote about 1947. It was performed at the Gachlilit theatre in Tel-Aviv in January 1947. The performances were advertised on bill posters and programs were printed. The song 'Tzena, Tzena, Habanot' was listed: -- Music: I. Michrovsky; Lyric: Y. Hagges.
Julius Grossman, who did not know who composed the song, wrote the so-called third part of "Tzena" circa November 1946. With the addition of a 3rd refrain by Julius Grossman the song was recorded in Israel in November 1947 on album titled "Hagana Sings". It wasn't released in Israel, but it was released in the USA on ZIMRA records. The singer on the record was Sara Jaary.
(o) Sara Jaary (1947) (as "Tzena, Tzena")
Recorded November 1947 in Tel-Aviv
Released June 1948 on Zimra 1003 as part of the three platter album "Hagana Sings" (Zimra Z-1)
Re-released on LP album Zimra ZLP 101
(see Billboard review on page 19 of the next PDF-file: Billboard 1948-06-19.pdf
Or here:
(c) Raasche (1948) (as "Ali B'er and Tzenah")
Released on Banner Records Inc B-2084
SEE ALSO: | RSA
Listen here (after 1 min and 51 sec in the next MP4: Tzenah-Raasche.mp4
Or here (after 1 min and 51 sec in the YT below)
And the next version is partly sung in Yiddish
(c) Miriam Kressyn and Seymour Rechtzeit and Orchestra (1950) (as "Tzena-Tzena")
Released on Banner Records Inc B-585
Listen here: Tzena-Tzena - Miriam Kressyn.mp4
In 1948 Pete Seeger, member of the Weavers, heard the Hebrew version from a Jewish musician in New York, and performed it with The Weavers in a Greenwich Village nightclub.
2 years later The Weavers made a recording of the Hebrew version of "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena", which is almost identical to the 1948 Raasche-version above.
(c) The Weavers (1950) (as "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena")
Recorded May 4, 1950 in New York City
Matrix # 76281
Released as 78 RPM disc Decca 27053 (part of album Decca A-867)
Hebrew lyrics (by Yechiel Chagiz (a.ka. Jehiel Hagges)
Tzena, tzena, tzena, tzena ha-banot u-r’ena ħayalim ba-mosheva
Al na, Al na, Al na, Al na, al na titħab’ena Mi-ben ħayil, ish tzava
Translation:
Go out, go out, go out girls and see soldiers in the moshava.
Do not, do not, do not hide yourself away from a virtuous man, an army man.
Listen here: Tzena Tzena Tzena - The Weavers - J. Barasch.mp3
Or here:
The famous band leader Gordon Jenkins heard The Weavers, and then arranged for them to record the song with English lyrics he
composed. "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" went to #2 on the Billboard Top Hits (the other side of the single “Goodnight Irene” would go to #1).
(c) Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra and the Weavers (1950) (as "Tzena Tzena Tzena")
English lyrics by Gordon Jenkins
Recorded May 26, 1950 in New York City
Matrix # 76421
Released on Decca 27077
English lyrics (by Gordon Jenkins)
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
Can't you hear the music playing in the city square?
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
Come where all our friends will find us with the dancers there
Tzena, Tzena, join the celebration
There'll be people there from every nation
Dawn will find us laughing in the sunlight
Dancing in the city square
Tzena, Tzena, come and dance the Hora
One, two, three, four, all the boys will envy me
Tzena, Tzena, when the band is playing
My heart's saying, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
Or here:
A little note about the authors on the label of the Hebrew version by the Weavers and the English version by Gordon Jenkins and the Weavers, here above
On the Weavers Hebrew version of "Tzena Tzena Tzena" the name of Jack Barasch is mentioned as one of the composers. And on the Jenkins/Weavers English version of "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena" the name of Spencer Ross is mentioned. In reality this turned out to be a fictitious persona, constructed to hide the melody's true authorship.
Gordon Jenkins is mentioned as the composer of the English lyrics of Jenkins/Weavers' "Tzena, Tzena, Tzena". Gordon Jenkins' publisher, Cromwell Music Inc., a subsidiary of Richmond/TRO, claimed the rights to the song, and had licensed the Decca release.
When the song hit, Cromwell Music received a rude surprise. Mills Music had published the original version, with words by Mitchell Parish and the music attributed to Issacher Miron (a/k/a Michrovsky), an Israeli who claimed he had composed the song.
So around 1954 Mills Music, Inc., Issachar Miron's publisher, sued Cromwell/TRO and won. The presiding judge also dismissed Cromwell's claim that the melody was based on a traditional folk song and was thus in the public domain.
Since Cromwell controlled Jenkins's popular lyrics, this created a legal dilemma, essentially preventing anyone from duplicating the Weavers' version.
The complete Copyright law suit can be viewed on the link below:
Here's the English version of "Tzena Tzena Tzena Tzena" with English lyrics by Mitchell Parish:
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
Don’t you know that you’re the darling of the regiment?
Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, Tzena,
All the soldiers want to see you, why don’t you consent?
See the handsome soldiers gaily riding
Come out from wherever you are hiding
Won’t you smile a little for the colonel
Throw some kisses to the rest
Tzena, Tzena, Bashful little Tzena
Please don’t be afraid of all the soldier boys, for Tzena, Tzena,
All the boys adore you
Calling for you Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
With French lyrics by Jacques Larue, the song was covered by Doris Marnier, Jacques Helian, etc
(c) Doris Marnier (1950) (as "Tzena")
French lyrics by Jacques Larue
Released on La Voix de son Maitre K 9092
Listen here: Tzena Tzena Tzena - DORIS MARNIER.mp3
With German lyrics by Kurt Feltz the song was covered by Peter René Körner und Willy Hofmann, Horst Winter, etc
(c) Peter René Körner und Willy Hofmann (1951) (as "Immer Wieder (Tzena Tzena Tzena")
Recorded March 20, 1951
Released on Polydor 48501
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Listen here:
(c) Horst Winter und sein Tanzorchester (1951) (as "Immer Wieder")
German lyrics by Kurt Feltz
With Swedish lyrics by Povel Ramel the song was covered by Povel Ramel
(c) Povel Ramel och Hans Husade Hetsorkester (1951) (as "Bråttom! Bråttom! Bråttom!")
Listen here:
(c) The Springfields (1962) (as "Tzena Tzena")
with the Mitchel Parish lyrics
Listen here:
(c) Chubby Checker (1964) (as "Tzena Tzena")
with the Mitchel Parish lyrics
Listen here:
More versions here: Cover versions of Tzena written by Jacques Larue, René Rouzaud | SecondHandSongs
More info on the song and the composer: SEE: https://www.tabletmag.com/
Details of the legal battle mentioned above are also provided by Eliyahu HaCohen in an article in "Ben Ezer News 333."
SEE: חדשות בן עזר - 333
As part of the procedure, Shlomo Zarchi testified that there is a resemblance between the melody "Tsana Tsana" and the song "Russian soldiers" in which the words "Strauss, Strauss Army in Colonies", "Prophesy", "Prophecy of men and men" The Russian song that Meir Noy pointed out was found in a number of textual versions, but not to the tune of "Tsana Tsana". The song that Shlomo Zarchi pointed out has not been found so far. The Russian singer-songwriter, Uri Jakubowicz, expands a little on this matter in a short article (docx file) he sent to the singer in October 2021.
According to Uri Jakubowicz, there is a possibility that a Russian song influenced at least part of the "Tsana Tsana" melody: Meir Noy testified that in 1939, during his military service in the USSR, he knew the melody of the second part of "Tsana, Tsana" as a chorus of a military campaign song. (Which he even sings), and his words:! See a short article on the matter (docx file) that he sent to Zemeresh in October 2021.]
SEE: צאנה צאנה - שרה יערי
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