SATIRE: A Brief History of the Nigun

by Joshua Kail

Perhaps one of the most well-known, yet least understood schools of music in the Jewish faith is the deceitfully simplistic Nigun. These wordless tunes have been chanted throughout generations and have been the soundtrack of our people. But where did the Nigun come from, how has it evolved, and what role does it play in modern Judaism?

With something so simple as a song without lyrics, one might assume that the Nigun predates all other instances of liturgy, but you’d be wrong, DEAD wrong. The story of the nigun starts hundreds of years ago in the Yeshiva of Bratislava and a less than-apt pupil by the name of Shmini Ben Yoseph.

Every day for morning prayers he was surrounded by people praying so fast and accurately that he had no hope of keeping up. While his peers shuffled back and forth with the spirit of prayer, Shmini would tremble in anxiety. Luckily for him, from the outside it all looked that same. To help hide his ignorance, Shmini would just mumble made-up tunes as he shuffled, “Oy yoy oy yoy oy oy yoy vey.”

One day after prayers, his friend Lev asked him about his bizarre prayers. Shmini confessed everything. But rather than being ridiculed for his actions, word spread of what he was doing, and like wildfire, this proto-nigun began to emerge throughout the yeshivot of Europe. Whenever a yeshiva bocher had a late night bottle dancing or was lost in the debate over if Moshe Rabbeinu would have preferred firm or fluffly matzoh balls, and found themselves too tired the next morning to recite Modeh Ani, they would instead mumble Shmini’s tune; “Oy yoy oy yoy oy oy yoy vey.”

By the end of the 1500’s, there would be over 3000 different niguns which would be treated as a form of legitimate meditative prayer.

Below we will look at some of the most well-known niguns throughout Jewish history and break down their meaning and how things have changed.

1617 — The Nigun of Szeged:

Considered by many to be one of the earliest examples of the use of “deedle,” this nigun was a pop sensation of its time. The full nigun as I am sure you will recognize is

Deedle deidle do deidle do deidle do

Doodle deedle die, deidle die, deidle die

Deedle deidle doodle do doodle do

Prior to the Szeged nigun the very thought of using “deedle” would have been considered an excommunicatory offense. The fact that this edition not only was allowed but thrived is a telling look at how the times were changing. Many believe that the reason “deedle” was embraced in this nigun was that it so closely followed the barley famine of 1612 and people were looking for a way to really let loose and celebrate no longer have to eat the much inferior Kvinoa Varnishkes. Whatever the reason was, in 1617 deedle “made” its Aliyah onto the public bima and never looked back.

1829 — The Nigun of Bruges:

The Nigun of Bruges is notable because it took the hectic, almost anti-establishment nature of The Nigun of Szeged and brought it back to a place of musical and liturgical order. By this time “deedle” had become so commonplace that its inclusion in niguns but the close of the 18th century, led to that period being known for its flood of sloppier tunes. One need not even mention the disaster that was Moshe’ Nachturn’s “deedle deedle deedle deedle do.” His “Nigun for the B’shert” is often regarded as the worst lyrics never written.

This is why the Nigun of Bruges is so notable, it creates order from chaos, a beauty from the common. Just read below and see how this complex simplicity really saved the future of the art form.

Die die deedle die deedle do deedle do

Die deedle do deedel do deedle doo

Die die deedle die deedle do deedle do

1972 — The Nigun of Berkley:

The Niggun of Berkley was perhaps the most important reflection of the changing times via song in the history of Judaism. Berkley’s impact would be permanent. In the midst of the turbulent social restructuring of America in the 1960s, the nigun exploded out of the schul and into pop culture. The historic performance of The Beetles’ classic Ashkenazi Arnie Herring Monger on The Ed Sullivan Show and it chorus of “yi di dee dee di do” in a Liverpoolian inflection not only impacted externally but internally as well.

It was only natural for that to be reflected in nigun form while also carrying over some of the stinging wit of the popular folk movement of the time. What the Beetles may have started, Dylan forever changed with his invention of “yidiedie.” Some scholars argue Dylan wasn’t singing a niggun at all and he was simple mumbling lyrics as was his style at the time. Regardless, the mark was made and “yidiedie’s” stark contrast to the “deedless” and the “doydles” of past niguns, was a direct swipe at the Stedtl influences on the Jewish people. This bold choice drew the line in the sand as if saying “our time has arrived in America!” In its day, you would be hard-pressed not to see the wincing face of an elder Rabbi upon hearing a younger yeshivah bocher uttering “yidiedie” while walking by in a tie-dyed Borsalino. The nigun of Berkley will forever be seen as a turning point in not only nigunim but in Judaism itself. Thankfully the same cannot be said for tie-dying.

Excerpt from Bob Dylan’s Tzit Tzit in the Wind Nigun:
Yidiedie die dee deedle die Yidiedie die dee
deedle do yidiedie die yidiedie die yideidei
die deedle do

2024 — The Nigun of the Future:

What makes the nigun such a beautiful and powerful mediation of Judaism, is its ability to turn something meaningless into something full of meaning. The nigun’s ability to transform a collection of phonetics that previously had no value, purpose, or impact on the world, into a sound that brings together the totality of Jewish spiritualism and peoplehood is magical. For the purpose of this Brief History of the Nigun, I thought I would close it out with my own addition our shared historical library.

However, songwriting is really hard, even without words and I’m a busy guy so to help speed it up I used ChatGPT. Surprisingly our AI brethren feel now is the time to add words to the nigun. A revolutionary change indeed! The only questions left is, when will Siri be counted in a minyan or Alexa be called to do hagbah? Neither of these have to do with music, so they are not mine to answer. All I can do is leave you with the Nigun Roboto: