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"Hava Nagila" (Hebrew: הָבָה נָגִילָה, Hāvā Nāgīlā, "Let us rejoice") is a Jewish folk song. It is traditionally sung at celebrations, such as weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvas, and other festivities among the Jewish community. Written in 1918, it quickly spread through the Jewish diaspora.
"Hava Nagila" is one of the first modern Jewish folk songs in the Hebrew language. It went on to become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and bar/bat(b'nei) mitzvah celebrations.
The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun.[1] It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem.[2]
Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (1882–1938), a professor at Hebrew University, began cataloging all known Jewish music and teaching classes in musical composition; one of his students was a promising cantorial student, Moshe Nathanson, who with the rest of his class was presented by the professor with a slow, melodious, 19th-century chant (niggun or nigun) and assigned to add rhythm and words to fashion a modern Hebrew song. There are competing claims regarding "Hava Nagila"'s composer, with both Idelsohn and Nathanson being suggested.[3][4]
The niggun has been attributed to the Sadigurer Chasidim, who lived in what is now Ukraine.[3] This version has been recreated by Daniel Gil, based on a traditional song collected by Susman Kiselgof.[5] The text was probably refined by Idelsohn.[6] Members of the community began to immigrate to Jerusalem in 1915, and Idelsohn wrote in 1932 that he had been inspired by that melody.[7]
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| Transliteration | Hebrew text | English translation | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hava nagila | הָבָה נָגִילָה |
Let's rejoice | |
| Hava nagila | הָבָה נָגִילָה |
Let's rejoice | |
| Hava nagila ve-nismeḥa | הָבָה נָגִילָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה |
Let's rejoice and be happy | |
| (repeat) | |||
| Hava neranenah | הָבָה נְרַנְּנָה |
Let's sing | |
| Hava neranenah | הָבָה נְרַנְּנָה |
Let's sing | |
| Hava neranenah ve-nismeḥa | הָבָה נְרַנְּנָה וְנִשְׂמְחָה |
Let's sing and be happy | |
| (repeat) | |||
| Uru, uru aḥim! | !עוּרוּ, עוּרוּ אַחִים |
Awake, awake, brothers! | |
| Uru aḥim be-lev sameaḥ | עוּרוּ אַחִים בְּלֵב שָׂמֵחַ |
Awake brothers with a happy heart | |
| (repeat line three times) | |||
| Uru aḥim, uru aḥim! | !עוּרוּ אַחִים, עוּרוּ אַחִים |
Awake, brothers, awake, brothers! | |
| Be-lev sameaḥ | בְּלֵב שָׂמֵחַ |
With a happy heart |
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- Israeli folk duo Ran & Nama (Ran Eliran and Nechama Hendel) released what is likely the earliest recording of the version that was later made famous throughout the world, on their album Ran & Nama - The First Record (Hed Arzi AN-42-70, 1959).[8]
- Singer Harry Belafonte is known for his version of the song, which was recorded for his album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, recorded at the titular Carnegie Hall in 1959.[9] He rarely gave a concert without singing it, and stated that the two "stand out" songs from his professional career were "The Banana Boat Song" and "Hava Nagila".[3][10][unreliable source?] Belafonte noted and claimed, "Life is not worthwhile without it. Most Jews in America learned that song from me."[11]
- Laurindo Almeida[10]
- Barry Sisters[10]
- Nissim Black, a Jewish Orthodox rapper, recorded an adaptation titled "The Hava Song".[12]
- Brave Combo[13]
- Glen Campbell[10]
- David Carroll[10]
- Jasper Carrott (on his 1976 album, Carrott In Notts)
- Chubby Checker[10]
- Herman Clebanoff[10]
- Carmela Corren – Israeli singer[14]
- Celia Cruz[10]
- Dick Dale and the Del Tones (surf rock)[10]
- Dalida (1959)[10]
- Neil Diamond, in addition to having performed Hava Nagila in his 1994 Live In America concert,[15] incorporated it into The Jazz Singer, based on Samson Raphaelson's play, in which he acted out a cantor with popular-music ambitions.
- Dream Theater performed a cover of "Hava Nagila" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 16 June 2009.[16]
- Bob Dylan[10]
- The E Street Band with guest accordionists performed it at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Sunrise, Florida, on 9 September 2009.[17]
- Percy Faith[10]
- Irving Fields[10]
- Four Jacks and a Jill released a version of the song on their 1965 album, Jimmy Come Lately.[18]
- Connie Francis[10]
- Benny Goodman, (c. 1960s)
- Lionel Hampton[10]
- Lena Horne, "Now!" (US #92, 1963)[10][19]
- Abraham Zevi Idelsohn published the Hebrew song book, Sefer Hashirim, in 1922, which includes the first publication of his arrangement of "Hava Nagila". He also produced the first commercial recording in 1922, on the Polyphon record label ("Order No. 8533."), as part of a series which recorded 39 Hebrew folk songs.[20]
- Los Iracundos[10]
- Kare and the Cavemen[10]
- Bert Kaempfert[10]
- Harold Land[10]
- James Last[10]
- Liel Kolet
- Abbe Lane[10]
- Jon Lord of Deep Purple included Hava Nagila in his solo keyboard improvisations as heard on Made in Europe (1975).[21]
- Arthur Lyman[10]
- Betty Madigan, "Dance Everyone Dance" (US #31, 1958)[19]
- Enrico Macias and Charles Aznavour as a duo, c. 1970
- Shelly Manne[10]
- Mantovani[10]
- Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, who recorded the song live for the album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah. They also recorded a second version on the same album to the tune of Feliz Navidad.[22]
- Perez Prado[10]
- Louis Prima
- Flora Purim[10]
- Ivan Rebroff[23]
- Frank Slay and his Orchestra, "Flying Circle" (US #45, 1962)[19]
- The Spotnicks[24]
- Pete Townshend, whose ability to play the song was instrumental to his induction in The Who.[25]
- Richard Tucker[10]
- Caterina Valente[10]
- Rika Zarai[10]
- Azucar Moreno, The Spanish group of gypsy origin included a version of this song on their album "Esclava de tu piel".
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Association football
Ajax Amsterdam
Supporters of the Dutch association football club AFC Ajax, although not an official Jewish club, commonly use Jewish imagery. A central part of Ajax fans' culture, "Hava Nagila" can often be heard sung in the Stadium by the team's supporters, and at one point ringtones of "Hava Nagila" could even be downloaded from the club's official website.[26][27][28]
Tottenham Hotspur
Supporters of the English football club Tottenham Hotspur commonly refer to themselves as "Yids" and say they are strongly associated with Jewish symbolism and culture. "Hava Nagila" has been adopted as an anthem of sorts by the club, and was one of the most frequently sung songs at the team's former stadium at White Hart Lane.[29][30]
Gymnastics
In the 2012 Summer Olympics floor exercise final, Aly Raisman placed first with a score of 15.600,[31] becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal on the floor exercise.[32] She performed to the tune of "Hava Nagila".[33]
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George Lam recorded a Cantonese version of "Hava Nagila", "狂歡" ("Carnival"), for his 1981 album 活色生香.
Allan Sherman recorded a parody, "Harvey and Sheila", on his album My Son, the Celebrity, using the tune but spoofing middle-class life.
Thrash metal band Anthrax included the melody in their 1987 single "I'm the Man".
In 1996, Dutch gabber group Party Animals released a hardstyle version of the song called "Hava Naquila".
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