On a heym bin ikh yung geblibn
S’hot di noyt mikh aroys getribn
Ven ikh hob keyn draytsn yor gehat
In der fremd, vayt fun mames oygn
S’hot in shmuts mikh di gas dertsoygn
Gevorn iz fun mir a voyler yat

Kh’bin avreml der feyikster marvikher
A groyser kinstler kh’arbet laykht & zikher
Dos ershte mol kh’vel s’gedenken bizn toyt
Arayn in tfise far lakhenen a broyt
Kh’for nit af marken vi yene proste yatn
Kh’tsup nor bay karge shmutsike magnatn
Kh’bin zikh mekhaye ven kh’tap aza magnat
Ikh bin avreml gor a voyler yat

On the street, hard to make a living
Ya beg for bread, a poor man might be giving
But all you people sick from being fed
You’d rather turn me out & lock your doors
You scorn us all as thieves & thugs & whores
Better a good crook than good & dead

Call me Avreml the finest little filcher
A master artist, you never see me pilfer
Some little shit you deposited in jail
Comes out a maven whose talent never fails
I ain’t some punk who steals from those who can’t afford it
I just rob the stingy filthy rich who hoard it
The rich are leeches sucking money day & night
I’m just a flea who takes a bite, ain’t I all right?
Avreml won’t live long at all
He’s sick from the streets & prison walls
But on his gravestone etched in gold
He should have his story told
“here lies Avreml, king of the thieves
A man whom all the world should grieve
He could’ve been a purer soul
But hunger is beyond control
& he never had no ma or pa
& the streets, they have their own law
This crooked prince zol zayn gebentsht
Here lies Avreml, what a mentsh

Do ligt avreml der feyikster marvikher
A mentsh a groyser geven volt fun im zikher
A mentsh a fayner mit harts mit a gefil
A mentsh a reyner vos got aleyn nor vil
Ven iber im volt gevakht a mames oygn
Ven s’hot di finstere gas im nit dertsoygn
Ven nokh als kind er a tatn volt gehat
Do ligt avreml, yener voyler yat