Another great performance. But the way "schön" is pronounced in this song drives me nuts. Not your fault, as it was written to rhyme with "explain" but... ugh...
To further complicate matters - the original title is actually in Yiddish: "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" being the closest transliteration. "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" is a Germanization of the original name. "Shein" has the same rhyming problem as "schön," however. "Danke Schoen" has a similar problem - originally an instrumental written by a German, but English lyrics provided by a American Yiddish speaker. Wikipedia explains this away by suggesting that some Amish and Yiddish speakers would pronounce schön/schoen as "sheyn." It all drives me nuts, too.
Hi Nesya - I got interested in this "problem" back in college when I was studying German and taking a day course in Yiddish (trying to work my way through a lot of Jewish-American writers). I asked my instructor about this song, and the way she pronounced it was closer to "shine" than "sheyn" to my ear. However, IIRC, there are a couple of different dialects of Yiddish, so I don't know if that plays into this discrepancy. Also, I don't get much exposure to Yiddish, so I'm sure your knowledge is more extensive than mine by several orders of magnitude. Therefore, I bow to your information and experience. But yeah - this song drives German speakers nuts because a lot of them don't know it's actually Yiddish.
The fact you have regular access to Yiddish speakers puts your knowledge light-years ahead of mine. My Yiddish references are a few Jewish-American writers and movies; it was the overlap between Yiddish and German that got me interested (well, that and dating Jewish girls in college).
Along those same lines, in the bridge where the lyrics suggest other languages (Italian and German) to express the same thing, it should be "sehr wunderbar", not "say wunderbar". Being a German word, of course "sehr" starts with a "z" sound. That's not to say I don't like your performance of the song! Awesome rhythm and blend, and as a barbershop bass of nearly 40 years I can say without any bias at all ;-) that Katie MacDonald is the most important member of your group and should be treated like royalty. I kid, I kid (mostly). You are all fantastic.
Glad to hear some Andrews Sisters-style swing in the barbershop
Fabulous, just for fun play at .75x for a mellower sound, and at 1.25x for an amazing sound.
the jazzy vocals in this song never fail to give me goose bumps
So beautiful and being separated shows just how talented they are.
It just doesn't get any better than GQ
M-m-m-m- you ladies don't grace my feed often enough!
Bella, Bella, how grand you are. Spectacular as always.
That was amazing. So many subtle, elegant touches--and way to get down with the bass line. =)
What can I say? I only wish I could live to see you grow as you have. My days are so short now. Yes you are FANTASTIC
I've said it from the very first GQ experience to today; Incredible. I have GOT to see you perform in person.
You ladies are simply extraordinary. Over and over again you thrill and delight all of my musical senses. Thank you so much!
Gosh, your blend and arrangements are top notch! I remember seeing you live at Camp A Capella last year and being blown away by your capabilities.
Jaw-dropping as always. In love with this
You guys are just pushing boundaries every time I listen to you... Outstanding
Love this so much. Truly amazing.
Fantastic!
Fantastic! I hereby submit any Boyz II Men song as potential future cover.
Great to see the video after hearing it on the record, cool to see who's singing which bit, ye blend so well.
So dang good.
GQ are my inspiration! This song is so fun :)
Excellent !!!
i love it
If you ever do America's Got Talent you will take it hands down
Incredible!
Super!
Perfection, as usual :)
Wow!
Watch with automatic english subtitles! It was hilarious!
The Andrews Sisters would have been proud!
Can I buy this arrangement? Where can I get it? I just set up a Jazz singing group and it would be incredible to do this!
Oh, PLEASE do more Andrews Sisters stuff.
Unbelievable
You even swapped roles! Damn, where were you all my life
Another great performance. But the way "schön" is pronounced in this song drives me nuts. Not your fault, as it was written to rhyme with "explain" but... ugh...
To further complicate matters - the original title is actually in Yiddish: "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" being the closest transliteration. "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" is a Germanization of the original name.
"Shein" has the same rhyming problem as "schön," however.
"Danke Schoen" has a similar problem - originally an instrumental written by a German, but English lyrics provided by a American Yiddish speaker. Wikipedia explains this away by suggesting that some Amish and Yiddish speakers would pronounce schön/schoen as "sheyn."
It all drives me nuts, too.
Hi Nesya - I got interested in this "problem" back in college when I was studying German and taking a day course in Yiddish (trying to work my way through a lot of Jewish-American writers). I asked my instructor about this song, and the way she pronounced it was closer to "shine" than "sheyn" to my ear.
However, IIRC, there are a couple of different dialects of Yiddish, so I don't know if that plays into this discrepancy. Also, I don't get much exposure to Yiddish, so I'm sure your knowledge is more extensive than mine by several orders of magnitude.
Therefore, I bow to your information and experience.
But yeah - this song drives German speakers nuts because a lot of them don't know it's actually Yiddish.
The fact you have regular access to Yiddish speakers puts your knowledge light-years ahead of mine. My Yiddish references are a few Jewish-American writers and movies; it was the overlap between Yiddish and German that got me interested (well, that and dating Jewish girls in college).
Along those same lines, in the bridge where the lyrics suggest other languages (Italian and German) to express the same thing, it should be "sehr wunderbar", not "say wunderbar". Being a German word, of course "sehr" starts with a "z" sound.
That's not to say I don't like your performance of the song! Awesome rhythm and blend, and as a barbershop bass of nearly 40 years I can say without any bias at all ;-) that Katie MacDonald is the most important member of your group and should be treated like royalty. I kid, I kid (mostly). You are all fantastic.
I always it was a song about “Mr. Shane”