The most famous recordings in English language include those by Joan Baez and Donovan. The German folk ensemble Zupfgeigenhansel interpreted it as part of their 1978 album Jiddische Lieder ('ch Hob Gehert Sogn) (as 'Dos Kelbi' (YouTube video) with lyrics from Jtschak Katsenelson). The song has been recorded in original Yiddish lyrics amongst others by: The song was recorded in many other languages as well including German, French, Swedish, Japanese, Hebrew, Russian, Italian, and Vietnamese. ZaraГЇ went on also to launch a French oriental dance version in her album Hava. 'Dana Dana' has been translated from Yiddish into Hebrew as 'Lama Dona' and interpreted by Rika ZaraГЇ. The title is also 'Donna, Donna', thus reinforcing further the popular 'Donna' rather than the original transliteration 'Dona'. The track appeared in Donovan's album What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid. Very soon after the Claude FranГ§ois version, the Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan recorded another very popular cover version of Baez in 1965 in English. In the last verse, in an autobiographical twist, Claude FranГ§ois alludes to himself by singing the verse as 'ce petit garГ§on que j'Г©tais' (this small boy that I was.). The song also known by its longer title 'Donna, Donna (Le Petit GarГ§on)' is a completely revamped version lyricwise, as it no longer describes a helpless calf being led to its slaughter, as in the original Yiddish version, but is rather about the troubles of an aspiring young boy growing up dreaming about his own future. FranГ§ois co-wrote the French lyrics with Vline Buggy. In 1964, the song was recorded in French language by French singer Claude FranГ§ois as 'Donna, Donna' reaching the top of the French Singles Charts for two consecutive weeks in December 1964.

The song became a staple of Baez and used in the human rights protest movement in the 1960s. This became very popular and later versions also used the double 'n'. In her version, the song is retitled 'Donna, Donna' (doubling the n'). It became especially popular after being recorded by Joan Baez in 1960 in her album Joan Baez. The lyrics were translated once again in the mid-1950s, this time by Arthur Kevess and Teddi Schwartz, and the song became well known with their text. Secunda translated 'Dana Dana' into English language (changing the vocalization of 'dana' to 'dona'), but this version didn't gain much attention. Secunda wrote 'ha ha ha' for the choral score with the broken chords. There are some differences between the original and the melody that are well known. Secunda wrote 'molto rit.' (suddenly much more slowly) for the ending of the first verse. Then 'he' sings the melody, and 'she' sometimes sings 'Dana', other times sings 'Ah' with a high voice or technical passage. Although singing the third part of 'Dana Dana' (='Dana Dana Dana Dana.') the man sometimes sings lower than the melody using disjunct motions. First, a woman (Secunda wrote 'she') sings four bars and then the man (Secunda wrote 'he') sings the next four. He wrote 'piu mosso' (more rapidly) for the refrain and some passages that emphasize the winds. The melody of the introduction was also used at the end of the song. He wrote for the choral score 'andantino' (somewhat slowly) and 'sempre staccato' (play staccato always). The Yiddish text was written with Roman alphabet. Secunda wrote 'Dana-' for the orchestral score and 'Dana Dana' for the vocal scores. The original is 2/4, in G minor for a duo of a man and a woman, choral with the orchestral accompaniment. The orchestra plays the 'Dana Dana' melody at several points in Esterke. The YIVO standardized transliteration system was not then in widespread use, and many Yiddish transliterations looked like German, to which the Yiddish language is closely related. The text underlay in the score and parts is otherwise romanized in a phonetic transcription that appears oriented toward stage German. The lyric sheet is in typewritten Yiddish and handwritten Yiddish lyrics also appear in the piano score. The lyrics, score, parts, and associated material are available online in the Yiddish Theater Digital Archives. 'Dana Dana' was written for the Aaron Zeitlin stage production Esterke (1940-41) with music composed by Sholom Secunda.

Dona dona yiddish