Reply To: How to tell if a song is Jewish

I think that’s true.

A lot of the niggunim used by gedolim of yesteryear during the Yomim Noraim came from Russian bar songs and the like.

Conversely, I have heard renditions of Shwekey’s “Im Eshkachaich” and other such songs which have been mangled so badly that they don’t sound Jewish at all, except for the words.