Dona, Dona - The Mystical Meaning

There is an old Jewish folk song called Dona Dona that I learned as a child in summer camp and it calls to me now. Is it just nostalgia or is there a deeper message? First let's review the words, and then look beneath the surface to find the hidden treasure of meaning.

On a wagon bound for market
There's a calf with a mournful eye
High above him flies the swallow
Winging swiftly thru the sky.


Refrain:

How the winds are laughing
They laugh with all their might
Laugh and laugh the whole day through
And half the summer's night

Dona dona, dona etc.
"Stop complaining," said the farmer
"Who told you a calf to be?
Why don't you have wings to fly with
Like the swallow so proud and free?"

Refrain:

Calves are easily bound and slaughtered
Never knowing the reason why
But whoever treasures freedom
Like the swallow must learn to fly.

Refrain:

At first glance, this song seems like a lighthearted, somewhat sentimental dialogue between a farmer and his calf on the way to the slaughterhouse. The calf is sad because he is going to die and the swallow is flying overhead, indifferent to the calf's plight. The farmer rebukes the calf, criticizing him for being one and goading him into growing wings like the swallow, as if he could. The song concludes with a wry observation about the helplessness of calves and how easy it is to end their short lives. The final line, however, does give a hint that this song is not talking about a calf and a swallow, but about freedom. Many folk singers have sung this song, from Yiddish sopranos to klezmer bands to Joan Baez who sang it in English. They all find in it a universal message about the victims of oppression and the desire for political freedom. But there a deeper message in this song that points towards spiritual liberation.

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