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This song was written by Sholom Secunda and Aaron Zeitlin and originally in Yiddish, known as “Dana Dana” (1941).
In English translation it was called “Dona Dona,” but the n is doubled in Joan Baez’s popular version first recorded in 1960.
The calf in the song represents the body, the seat of desire. The body and the animal soul that enlivens it desire pleasure, wealth, and honor. But like an animal, the body is a slave to these desires. The calf bound on the way to market to be slaughtered is a metaphor for the body’s journey towards death. The calf ( i.e. the body) is mournful because it has become attached to life and pleasure and fears the unknown of the next world.
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