running gag / said by James and Jimmie
Hava Nagila, I don't know the words
What does "Hava Nagila, I don't know the words" mean on Small Town Murder?
The celebration James performs when a town's census comes back at least one per cent Jewish: he strikes up Hava Nagila, Jimmie harmonises, and the singing stops with the admission that he does not know the words. Towns below the threshold get a lament that they do not make the Hava Nagila cutoff.
- Kind
- running gag
- Usually said by
- James and Jimmie
- First heard
- Episode 101, 10 January 2019
The story behind the phrase
Where did "Hava Nagila, I don't know the words" come from?
The earliest use in these transcripts is episode 101, while James reads a town's religion figures. When the Jewish share comes out above one per cent, he bursts into a mangled "Hava Nagila" and says he has finally got to sing it because the town has "more than 1 per cent Jewish". It is already a running joke there. In episode 116 a town at 0.4 per cent is "not quite a Hava Nagila".
One per cent is the hosts' cutoff for a song. Small towns are rarely that diverse, so clearing it is a small win for James, who sings it as a celebration. The words are where it breaks down, because neither host knows them.
How is "Hava Nagila, I don't know the words" used now?
The "I don't know the words" ending turns up in later episodes and Jimmie often says it. In episode 188 he says he tried to learn the words from the subtitles of a film and found only music notes. The song comes out whenever a town clears the cutoff and is still sung in 2026.
When was "Hava Nagila, I don't know the words" first said?
It was first heard in episode 101, "First Degree Stupid", on 10 January 2019, at about 0:27:21.
"Negula hub."
James reads out the religion figures, reaches 1.4 per cent Jewish and sings a mangled 'negula hub', then says it is only the second time in the show's history he has got to sing Hava Nagila because a town cleared one per cent. The bit is already an established running joke here rather than coined on the spot; the 'I don't know the words' punchline turns up later, in episode 147.
Heard in these episodes
Found by searching the transcripts; speech recognition can miss a use.
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