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Lyrics
Вот мне бы хоть чуточку счастья
Хоть горсточку счастья бы мне
И ставни распахнуты настежь
А солнца не видно в окне
Но всё что прошу я у неба
Уместится даже в горсти
Мне бы малую горсточку счастья
Горсточку чтоб было легче нести
А в чем я был счастлив когда то
То нынче лишь дым да зола
Не нужно мне славы и злата
Мне б только немножко тепла
Но счастие тоненькой струйкой
Стекает меж пальцев моих
Ах верните мне горсточку счастья
Горсточку счастья хоть на миг
Ах верните мне горсточку счастья
Мазл а биселе глик
Приходят за бедами беды
И хрипло кричит вороньё
И бродит по белому свету
Бездомное сердце моё
И я собираюсь в дорогу
И мне очень нужно найти
Эту малую горсточку счастья
Горсточку чтоб было легче нести
Behind the song
The song’s story
A little luck, a little happiness
Our starting point is the Yiddish song named A Bisele Mazl in the release description. Olga Anikina's Russian adaptation, written in 2009, asks for something modest: not fame or gold, but enough warmth and happiness to hold in one's hands.
Our recording & notes
Following the title carefully
Penn's Jewish Sound Archive catalogs Vu Nemt Men A Bisele Mazl? under Ben-Tsion Witler as writer and composer. Our release uses a shorter title. We are keeping that attribution question open until the precise musical source has been compared, rather than guessing from a name.
Penn sound archive
The small wish becomes a world
In Olga's telling, happiness slips through the fingers and the heart prepares to search for it. Elechka sings and accompanies herself on guitar. This particular Russian text, rather than a fresh translation of a different Yiddish version, is our English adaptation source.
Our recording & notes · Our writing brief
About this recording
The speaker does not ask for fame or gold, only a little warmth. Happiness might fit in a cupped hand, yet it slips through the fingers. The song ends with a heart preparing to travel in search of that small gift.
Olga Anikina wrote this Russian text in 2009 in response to the Yiddish song A Bisele Mazl. Elechka sings and accompanies herself on guitar.
Why we consider this song Jewish or Jewish-themed
For JewishHit, the link begins with the Yiddish song and the retained phrase about a little luck and happiness. The Russian words carry that musical inheritance into another language through a modest, personal request.
We hear a Jewish-song connection, not a claim that poverty or longing belongs to one people. The lyric's smoke and ash suggest loss without naming a particular historical catastrophe.
Credits & source
- Russian words
- Olga Anikina (2009)
- Source song
- A Bisele Mazl (Yiddish)
- Voice and guitar
- Elechka
- Arrangement
- Elechka
From our YouTube description
