Ranking the Best Versions of 'If I Were a Rich Man' from Fiddler on the Roof

In honor of Katrina Lenk’s masterful genderbent performance of Tevye, we went down a rabbit hole of the best “If I Were a Rich Man” covers that could be found on YouTube. And yes, we included Gwen Stefani.

Prepare to have All day long I’d biddy-biddy-bum stuck in your head for the end of time. Without further ado, the official rankings:

14. Sesame Street, Monsterpiece Theater version

Love a good Sesame Street bit, but this is kind of a mashup of all the songs of Fiddler on the Roof to help teach kids to count. “Addition, addition” instead of “tradition, tradition.” Great for learning math, not for “If I Were a Rich Man” covers.

13. Vibrasonic, surf music

This will make you feel like it’s California in the 1960s. Which is a bit weird for a song about a Russian shtetl, but hey, we’re all about artistic expression.

12. Louchie Lou & Michie One, Reggae

Very strange… but it somehow works?!?!

11. Kelly Hall-Tompkins, Violin Version

This is just really beautiful. Also, not the point, but her outfit is gorgeous.

10. Garth Brooks & Muppets, comedy? Country?

Reallllly unclear what genre this is but it’s just so funny to see Garth Brooks kicking chickens on the Disney Channel.

9. Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass, jazz

A really neat jazz/trumpet interpretation of “If I Were a Rich Man,” released in 1966.

8. The Portnoy Brothers, smooth jazz/blues

These Jewish brothers make Fiddler sound…. cool?

7. Grandpa Elliot, street performance

One, the chicken noises are fantastic. Two, his overalls! That hat! Three, WHAT A PERFORMANCE. All hail Grandpa Elliot.

6. Semi-Toned, A Capella

Super high production quality (like, weirdly high quality for an a capella music video?!). And it’s a mash-up of Gwen Stefani and the original Fiddler song. Plus period-accurate costumes.

5. Levantino, Yiddish version