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Why would I have any interest in this old war horse of a song? The lyrics (such as they are) are depasse and sexist. They depict a quaint, almost innocent era entirely unlike our own. The Palmach boys were beautiful, young and pure.
But truth be told, everyone knows this song and loves it. It’s melody has great spirit and energy, just like the newly established State of Israel itself in 1948. And it is a joy to perform both because of the spirited audience response and because it’s such a happy, blissful song.
Tzena, Tzena was written by Issachar Miron who was born in Kutno, Poland in 1920. At age 19, he emigrated to Palestine just before the Holocaust and World War II began. He wrote the song during WWII while serving in Britain’s Jewish Brigade. His 30 year-old friend, Yechiel Chagiz composed the lyrics. There is a fascinating recounting of how he composed the song (and the landmark copyright claim he won in U.S. courts which returned rights to the song to him).
The Weavers discovered the song in 1950 & recorded it. It was a huge hit (#1 song if I’m not mistaken) for them. I think it was the B-side for Goodnight Irene, another great old chestnut.
Miron and Julius Grossman (who I see credited for “English adaptation”) collaborated on the song. When Gordon Jenkins (who arranged the song for the Weavers I believe) and a colleague tried to copyright their version of the song, Miron sued and won.
Another piece of trivia is that my wife’s cousin, David, is a cousin of Miron’s. He met him only once, but family stories and history filled him in on its brush with musical celebrity.
Tzena, Tzena
Composer: Yechiel Chagiz
Lyrics: Issachar Miron
Notes: “Moshav” is a collective farm. “Tzena” can also be transliterated “tsena.”
Lyrics
צאנה צאנה צאנה צאנה הבנות וראינה
חיילים במושבהאל נא אל נא אל נא תתחבאנה
מבן חייל איש צבא
Hebrew transliteration:
Tzena, tzena, tzena ha-b’not u-r’eina
Chayalim ba-moshavaAl na, Al na, Al na, al na titchabeyna
Mi ben chayil, ish tzava
Translation:
Go out, go out, go out young women and see
Soliders from our moshav.Do not, do not, do not hide yourself away from
A brave son, a man of the army.
Take a look at this wildly awful translation by Mitchell Parish to see what violence can be done to a decent, simple song:
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
See Tsena, Tsena in the Freedman Jewish Music Archive at the University of Pennsylvania. To hear the song online click on this International Federation of Secular Humanist Jews’ musical clip.
Tags: folk_song, israel, israeli_music, issachar_miron, the_weavers, tzena-tzena
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i am issachar miron’s daughter and i urge you to check your facts with him. miron is not the lyricist, but the composer of the melody for tzena, tzena. please verify the facts and post a correction as soon as possible.
many thanks for replying to my comments and posting a correction so quickly!!
sincerely, miriam lipton
I am a music education professor at DePaul University in Chicago. I am teaching a vocal methods class to undergraduates.
I learned this song from Christopher Moore the Founding director of the Chicago Children’s Choir in 1980 when I was a conductor there. I wanted to share this song with my students. Each week I give them many songs to put in their notebooks so that when they become teachers, they can have a nice collections of wonderful songs that can inspire their students.
As I looked up some background on the song, I found your web site and comments. There are so many sources for this song, but yours stood out. How wonderful that you share this passion for music and life and peace. Thank you for giving me some insight into the song. I will share it this morning with my students. They are all instrumentalists required to take this class. They must learn something about singing and teaching vocal music so they must come to me. They have turned from grumpy skeptics who don’t like to sing to eager to learn pick-me kind of kids. I really enjoy the class.
Just wanted you to know that your article on Tzena was helpful and that it was great to read about you.
Marty Swisher.
Hi, I was named after this song in 1957. My parents like Mitch Miller, who also helped make it famous, and decided to name me Tzena. I get to explain the origin of it all the time. We are not Jewish, but it is interesting to tell the story. I was told that “Tzen” means “to go” an action verb in Hebrew.
Tzena M. Scarborough
Spokane, WA
Helo Tzena, my name is Shira (which means a song or poetry in Hebrew. I’m an Israeli btw..
Just wanted to let you know, since it’s your name that:
1. Tze- means to go (without the ‘n’)
2. Tzena – when you refer to women and tell them : “please go”..
The “na” ending is basically taking the verb tze (go) and converting it to a request for females only.
Well.. have a nice day! can’t believe your name is tzena! :) I’m saying it only in a good way of-course
peace
Ms. Scarborough is close. The word “Tzenah” is the feminine plural imperative of “to go out.” The root is Y-TZ-’ The N is not a root letter, but rather part of the fem pl formation in the imperative and imperfect (i.e. future) tense.
Was tzena tzena ever used as a movie theme or part of the score and if so which movie
John H Key: Jeez, I couldn’t tell ya. Maybe someone else can answer that. Not to my knowledge anyway.
To our surprise, last evening my husband found an old vinyl 33 instrumental recording of that song. Searching some topics about it on the web, we found you.
We are French Canadians, living in the Province of Quebec, Canada. Since many years we, evangelical christians, sing on that Miron’s melody the words of Mose’s Song (Exode 15), and our children attending Sunday School name it “The Horse and the Rider”, referring to the crossing of the Red Sea by the Hebrews while Pharaon and his army were pursuing them.
If someone know the story behind how such melody become basic for a Christians’ Victory famous song would you teach us about it? Thanks.
F. Bilodeau
Quebec, Quebec (Canada)
I remember being mentioned that tsena tsena was composed by Miran in Italy during WW2
while at a rest stop before entering a village whose people raised a white flag of surrender.
Is it true that the copyright settlement in US amounted to $1 million or more? [ which today would have been a major fortune]
Thank you for publishing the lyrics in hebrew, it was difficult to find!! I red lots of english versions and translations that have nothing to do with the original joy that spring from my understanding of the song: the happiness that pervades the town when peace has been declared. At least that’s how I understand it, I’m too peaceful to marry an ish tzavá (soldier)!!!
PS: Sorry, I´m not an english speaker, I´m from Argentina.
Dearfolk,
Great information here!
Seems to me I remember that The Weavers originally recorded “Tzena, Tzena, Tzena” in Yiddish for DECCA; this was released on both 78 and 45. THEN they re-recorded it in English, as the intended A-side of “Goodnight, Irene” (DECCA 27077).
I’d love to know if this is true (the Yiddish version). I’m a 45 collector, and would love to have the thrill of scrounging up a copy of this. Does anyone out there know anything about this, or am I wronger than a Georgia snow in August? (Feel free to e-mail me.)
Gratuitous thanks!
Sincerely, Ort. Carlton in Athens, Georgia.
@Ort. Carlton.: The Weavers DID record the song in Hebrew (not Yiddish). I have it if you can’t find it any other way.
I am very interested in doing a concert band arrangement of this song and wonder if anyone knows its current copyright holder.
Spike Maiden Muller said: “I am very interested in doing a concert band arrangement…”
I have completed a concert band arrangement of “Tzena Tzena” in combination with “Zum Gali Gali”; the work is titled “Songs of the Pioneers” (”Shirim ha-Halutzim”). I’ve been researching the copyright issue; it was at one time widely thought that the work was P.D., but it appears that the copyright is held by Mills Music and will expire about 2035 under current law. I plan to contact them and investigate further.
Did you ever find out whether Mills still holds the copyright? I would send them a request for permission to arrange if I could just find out where to send it.
I’d love to hear your arrangement someday.
Thanks,
Spike
Bing Crosby and Judy Garland did do a duet of this back in September 1950, when she was a guest on his radio show promoting her latest (and final) MGM film, SUMMER STOCK. Their version is high spirited and the band sounds great.
Judy was a frequent guest on Bing’s show from 1950-1952 when she was making the transition to live stage performing (again…she’d started years earlier in vaudeville) and was without both a record contract and a movie contract.
She’d go on to play London and then opened in September 1951 at the Palace Theatre in NY before coming back to Hollywood to make A STAR IS BORN for Warner Bros.
Greetings!
Many thanks for this wonderful website. Although I was raised in the Episcopal faith, I am Jewish (both mother and father), and have a lot of catching up to do. I really missed out on the wonderful traditional songs, and am trying to make up for lost time. The Weavers’ version is magical and joyful. Now, I just need to learn Hebrew (and Yiddish)!
Happy New Year,
AJ
What a nice way to revisit my teens! For some reason I was wondering if the words I learned by ear were anything like the correct Hebrew and I find real information about the song!
I was raised Methodist, but my high school was about 70 percent jewish and every school dance had a Hora and a Mayim (sp?). I loved the energy of the Hora and I suspect my sanity was saved by an environment fostering intellectual achievment.
For the record, the school was Cleveland Heights High and I graduated in 1961.
Thanks for the posting
I noticed that the article above has the composer and lyrics writer reversed right above the hebrew lyrics– does it need correcting? Thank you for the article.
I learned “Tzena Tzena” many years ago as a ROUND.
Try it; with the 3 verses following one another, it works.