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For other meanings of the title, see If I Were a Rich Man

"If I Were a Rich Man" is a song from the 1964 musical Fiddler on the Roof. It was written by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry Bock. The song is performed by Tevye, the main character in the musical, and reflects his dreams of glory.

The title is inspired by a 1902 monologue by Sholem Aleichem in Yiddish, Ven ikh bin Rothschild (If I were a Rothschild), although the content is quite different.

In 1968, the song was covered in French: "Ah! Si j'étais riche," by Ivan Rebroff, and "Si j'avais des millions," with lyrics by Charles Aznavour and sung by Dalida.^{[citation needed]}

Big Boss and Winsome then made a new French version: "Ah! Si j'étais riche" (different from Ivan Rebroff's version).^{[citation needed]}

In 1970, the Romanian rock band Mondial released a cover of the song on an EP featuring gifted singer Gică Petrescu, together with "The Impossible Dream" (previously recorded by Jack Jones in 1966) and another two covers. Only the chorus and first couplet can be heard on this recording, mainly because of the timing limitations a single disc carries.^{[citation needed]}

Indie band The Magnetic Fields have also done a cover of this song.^{[citation needed]}

In 1993, it was covered as a ragga version by the British Louchie Lou & Michie One, as "Rich Girl". Lady Saw covered it in 1999, as well as Gwen Stefani and Eve for Stefani's debut solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

The song was parodied in an episode of The Man Show, which featured Jimmy Kimmel as a little person, accompanied by a song entitled “If I Were a Midget.”^{[citation needed]}

Alan Sherman sang a satire on the song as "If I were a Tishman" about building structures in the big cities, from his album "Together"^{[citation needed]}

An easter egg on the Spider-Man 2 DVD set features Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina) singing the song. Molina had played the role of Tevye on Broadway.^{[citation needed]}

• English Lyrics
• Lyrics of French versions
• Midifile (original version)
• Listen to a cover version of the song from Romanian band Mondial, featuring Gică Petrescu.

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