If I Were a Rich Man

E268011

musical theatre song show tune song

"If I Were a Rich Man" is a famous show tune from the musical *Fiddler on the Roof*, sung by the character Tevye as he imagines the luxuries and status wealth would bring him.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
If I Were a Rich Man canonical	5
If I were a rich man, ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2459227 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: If I Were a Rich Man
Context triple: [Fiddler on the Roof, musicFeature, If I Were a Rich Man]

A. What'll I Do
"What'll I Do" is a classic popular song from the 1920s, known for its poignant lyrics about lost love and its enduring status as one of Irving Berlin's most beloved standards.
B. They Can't Take That Away from Me
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a classic American popular song by George and Ira Gershwin, famously introduced by Fred Astaire and widely regarded as a jazz standard.
C. What'd I Say
"What'd I Say" is a 1959 rhythm and blues song by Ray Charles that became one of his signature hits and a pioneering record in the development of soul music.
D. Do-Re-Mi
Do-Re-Mi is a popular show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music," known for teaching the musical scale through its lyrics.
E. I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself" is a classic pop song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David that has been widely covered by numerous artists since the 1960s.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: If I Were a Rich Man
Target entity description: "If I Were a Rich Man" is a famous show tune from the musical *Fiddler on the Roof*, sung by the character Tevye as he imagines the luxuries and status wealth would bring him.

A. What'll I Do
"What'll I Do" is a classic popular song from the 1920s, known for its poignant lyrics about lost love and its enduring status as one of Irving Berlin's most beloved standards.
B. They Can't Take That Away from Me
"They Can't Take That Away from Me" is a classic American popular song by George and Ira Gershwin, famously introduced by Fred Astaire and widely regarded as a jazz standard.
C. What'd I Say
"What'd I Say" is a 1959 rhythm and blues song by Ray Charles that became one of his signature hits and a pioneering record in the development of soul music.
D. Do-Re-Mi
Do-Re-Mi is a popular show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The Sound of Music," known for teaching the musical scale through its lyrics.
E. I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself
"I Just Don’t Know What to Do with Myself" is a classic pop song written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David that has been widely covered by numerous artists since the 1960s.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	musical theatre song ⓘ show tune ⓘ song ⓘ
actInMusical	Act I ⓘ
associatedWith	Broadway musical canon ⓘ Jewish musical theatre ⓘ
basedOn	stories of Sholem Aleichem ⓘ linked to: Tevye the Dairyman
broadwayDebut	Imperial Theatre, New York City ⓘ linked to: Imperial Theatre
composer	Jerry Bock ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
culturalOrigin	American musical theatre ⓘ
dramaticFunction	character development ⓘ expression of Tevye’s fantasies about wealth ⓘ
featuredInFilm	Fiddler on the Roof (1971 film) ⓘ linked to: Fiddler on the Roof
filmPortrayalOfTevyePerformer	Topol ⓘ
firstPerformanceYear	1964 ⓘ
fromWork	Fiddler on the Roof ⓘ
genre	musical theatre ⓘ show tune ⓘ
hasCharacterPerspective	first-person monologue by Tevye ⓘ
hasMusicalStyleElement	cantorial-style vocal ornamentation ⓘ klezmer influence ⓘ
inspiredBy	Jewish liturgical and folk musical motifs ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
lyricist	Sheldon Harnick ⓘ
musical	Fiddler on the Roof ⓘ
musicalNumberType	solo ⓘ
notableFor	depicting imagined luxuries and status of wealth ⓘ use of pseudo-Yiddish vocalizations in the refrain ⓘ
notableLyricPhrase	If I were a rich man, ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum ⓘ linked to: If I Were a Rich Man
notableRecordingBy	Topol ⓘ Zero Mostel ⓘ
originalBroadwayActorForTevye	Zero Mostel ⓘ
originalMedium	stage musical ⓘ
originalProduction	Fiddler on the Roof (1964 Broadway production) ⓘ linked to: Fiddler on the Roof (1964 Broadway premiere)
partOf	Fiddler on the Roof ⓘ
performedBy	Topol ⓘ Zero Mostel ⓘ
positionInShow	early solo for Tevye ⓘ
publisher	music publisher for Fiddler on the Roof score ⓘ
setting	Anatevka ⓘ
sungByCharacter	Tevye ⓘ
thematicSubject	Jewish life in Tsarist Russia ⓘ dreams and aspirations ⓘ social status ⓘ wealth ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Fiddler on the Roof → musicFeature → If I Were a Rich Man ⓘ

Jerry Bock → notableSong → If I Were a Rich Man ⓘ

If I Were a Rich Man → notableLyricPhrase → If I were a rich man, ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum ⓘ

linked to: If I Were a Rich Man

Sheldon Harnick → notableSong → If I Were a Rich Man ⓘ

Fiddler on the Roof (1964 Broadway premiere) → notableSong → If I Were a Rich Man ⓘ

Bock and Harnick → notableSong → If I Were a Rich Man ⓘ

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (46)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (6)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited