Fiddler on the Roof was one of the nominees, though not the winner, of the Best Revival of a Musical category at this year’s Tony Awards ceremony. When Fiddler on the Roof was first being developed, the opening song, Tradition, was the last to be written. What song that originally opened the show was replaced by Tradition?
Norland Scarecrow Festival - Fiddler on the Roof I by Tim Green is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
A. A Butcher’s Soul, with lyrics including “You say a butcher has no soul, it cuts me to the bone./You tell me if you please how many butchers have you known./What gave you the idea that a man who makes his living handling liver, lungs and kidneys has no heart./A butcher has his feelings, he is not a piece of meat./A man is not a chicken, you should hang him by his feet.”
B. A Blessing for the Tsar, with lyrics including “A blessing for the Tsar, a blessing on his head./A blessing for the Tsar, we wish that he were dead.”
C. I’m Going to Make Anatevka Great Again, with lyrics including “I’ll build us a wall to keep Russians away./And, oh, hey, did I mention, I’ll make the Tsar pay?/I’ll make Anatevka great again./And the Tsar, I have heard, may not even be Russian./Where’s his birth certificate, let’s start that discussion./I’ll make Anatevka great again.”
D. Letters From America, with lyrics including “Here in Anatevka, 90 percent are behind in the rent and we’re hungry to a man./Once a Rothschild saw our town, crossed himself and ran.”
E. We’ve Never Missed a Sabbath Yet, with lyrics including “Somehow the house will be clean, floors will be swept, soup will be cooked, beef will be boiled./Oh, there’s noodles to make and chicken to be plucked and liver to be chopped and challah to be baked./A race with the sun, so at the proper time the candles can be lit and blessed.”