- Votes:
- Composers:
- Jerry Bock
- Sheldon Harnick
 
- See also:
Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - If I Were A Rich Man lyrics
Dear God, you made many, many poor people
 I realize, of course, that it's no great shame to be poor
 But it's no great honor either
 So what would have been so terrible if I had a small fortune?
 If I were a rich man, daidle deedle daidle
 Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
 All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
 If I were a wealthy man
 I wouldn't have to work hard
 Daidle deedle daidle
 Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
 If I were a biddy-biddy rich
 Daidle deedle daidle daidle, man
 I'd build a big tall house with rooms by the dozen
 Right in the middle of the town
 A fine tin roof with the real wooden floors below
 There would be one long staircase just going up
 And one even longer coming down
 And one more leading nowhere, just for show
 I'd fill my yard with chicks and turkeys and geese
 And ducks for the town to see and hear
 Squawking just as noisily as they can
 And each loud "Pa-pa-gee! Pa-pa-gaack! Pa-pa-gee! Pa-pa-gaack!"
 Would land like a trumpet on the ear
 As if to say, "Here lives a wealthy man", oy!
 If I were a rich man, daidle deedle daidle
 Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
 All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
 If I were a wealthy man
 I wouldn't have to work hard, daidle deedle daidle
 Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
 If I were a biddy-biddy richHerb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass - If I Were A Rich Man - http://motolyrics.com/herb-alpert-and-the-tijuana-brass/if-i-were-a-rich-man-lyrics.html
 Daidle deedle daidle daidle, man
 I see my wife, my Golde, looking like a rich man's wife
 With a proper double chin
 Supervising meals to her heart's delight
 I see her putting on airs and strutting like a peacock
 Oy! What a happy mood she's in
 Screaming at the servants day and night
 The most important men in town will come to fawn on me
 They will ask me to advise them like a Solomon the Wise
 "If you please, Reb Tevye, pardon me, Reb Tevye?"
 Posing problems that would cross a rabbi's eyes
 Ya va voy, ya va voy, voy vum
 And it won't make one bit of difference
 If I answer right or wrong
 When you're rich, they think you really know
 If I were rich, I'd have the time that I lack
 To sit in the synagogue and pray
 And maybe have a seat by the Eastern wall
 And I'd discuss the holy books with the learned men
 Seven hours every day
 That would be the sweetest thing of all, oy!
 If I were a rich man, daidle deedle daidle
 Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
 All day long I'd biddy-biddy-bum
 If I were a wealthy man
 I wouldn't have to work hard, daidle deedle daidle
 Daidle daidle deedle daidle dum
 Lord who made the lion and the lamb
 You decreed I should be what I am
 Would it spoil some vast, eternal plan
 If I were a wealthy man?









