[the OlLine Rebel]

Interesting, but it IS German; nothing odd old or Jewish about it. Literally it means By me are you pretty.

[Fiji Hill]

“Bei Mir” was originally written in Yiddish—a German dialect written in the Hebrew script. The English lyrics were written by Sammy Cahn and Saul Chaplin, both of whom were sons of Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

Check out the Wikipedia Article, it was originally titled, "Bei Mir Bistu Shein" (בײַ מיר ביסטו שיין) for a Yiddish Musical, titled Men Ken Lebn Nor Men Lost Nisht, ("You could live, but they won't let you"). Yiddish is a Jewish dialect of German, not related to Hebrew, though it borrows some Hebrew vocabulary, and is often written in Hebrew characters.

I knew it was a Yiddish song. The Original song was a duet (like "You're the Top"), with the lovers exchanging compliments. The English adaptation sung by the Andrews Sisters is obviously from the point of view of a female. The title was Germanized for the Andrews Sisters adaptation, as well, obviously. Still lovin' on the fact that it pissed off the Nazis. "Arayan" musical is as sterile and inane as "Arayan" physics.

[UnwashedPeasant]

"Interesting, but it IS German; nothing odd old or Jewish about it. Literally it means By me are you pretty."

I may have written it wrong. There are many variations on the spelling. I think the real spelling is Yiddish and the variations might be similar languages, where people are writing what it sounds like to them.