The Historama
Alex Ben-Arieh
P.O.Box 32128
Tel Aviv, Israel 61321
Phone: +972-547-680-086
Fax: +972-3-546-1971


Israeli Classic Rock & Soul Music with Lyrics
Below are Israeli classic rock songs and 'Mizrachi' soul music from the '60's and '70's, some "essential" music ("Anthems") which everyone here knows, music with political undertones - some of it humorous (and unoffensive), plus Israeli covers in Hebrew of popular hits in English and other languages.

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On This Page:
CLASSIC / ROCK POLITICAL & WARTIME ANTHEMS FOREIGN COVERS
ISRAELI SOUL
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Classic / Rock (the list is sortable by clicking on the column names)

Song Name Artist Name Song # in Jukebox
"I Have a Dream" Yehoram Gaon Song #7
"Why Didn't You Tell Me" Aric Lavie Song #11
"Don't Get Through the Month" Aric Lavie Song #10
"How Is It That a Star" Matti Caspi Song #12
"Terminal Luminelt" Meir Ariel Song #16
"Directed Signal" Yitzhak Klepter Song #40
"I See You Running Away" Oshik Levy Song #41
"Me and Simon and Little Moise" Yossi Banai Song #44
"And if This Song Sounds Familiar to You" Hanan Yovel Song #45
"Play On, Play On" ('Sakhki Sakhki') Aric Lavie Song #49
"Binyamina Days" Chava Alberstein Song #52
"I Will Speak to You" Chava Alberstein Song #58
"After All You're a Song" Shlomo Artzi Song #85
"Let Us Rest Our Head on a Dune" The Pale Scout Trio (Ha Gashash Ha Khiver) with Oshik Levy and Aryeh Moskona Song #87
"Give Me Strength" Ariel Zilber Song #95
"The Tree is Tall" Apocalypse (Akharit HaYamim) Song #129
"Come to Eilat" Lior Yeini Song #130
"The Babble Song" The Pale Scout Trio Song #134
"Sun Sun" Ariel Zilber Song #150
"Cypress Tree" Ariel Zilber Song #151
"Street Lamp" Tamuz Song #152
"The Celebration has Ended" Gevatron Song #155
"Coffee at Berta's" The Pure Souls Song #160
"Going Aimlessly (Loafer)" Tammuz Song #162
"May the Night not End for Me" The Pure Souls Song #164
"I'll Wait for You" The Pure Souls Song #166
"The Street of the Pure Souls" The Pure Souls Song #167
"And Sweet is the Light in Your Eyes" Sasi Keshet Song #170
"To Fly Like a Bird" Danni Litani Song #171
"Who's Afraid of Mrs. Levine" Ha Shlosharim ("The Three'ngers") Song #172
"On the Road" The Gevatron Song #173
"I Gave Her My Life" Kaveret Song #174
"Ze Khozer" Danny Granot Song #176
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Song Title: I Have a Dream ("Yesh Li Khalom")
Musician: Yehoram Gaon
Year Released: 1974
Credits: lyrics by Yekhiel Moher (based on Martin Luther King Jr.); music by Moshe Vilensky
Website: www.yehoramgaon.com
Comments:
Hear the song!


Yehoram Gaon album: 40 Golden Hits (Lehitei Zahav), 1998
I have a dream
And it's much greater than anything else
I have a dream
And it's very ancient and also new
Will come the day, very clear and sweet like honey
I have a dream

Deliver peace
Mountains blue from depth to sea
And sing suddenly
Children will sing from nation to nation
And not in a dream
Their song will touch the heart of the whole world
I have a dream

I have a dream
Which I received as an inheritance from my father
From every abyss
It knew to spread it's wings and ascend
Comes a threat
Arose purity from death and captivity
I have a dream

I have a dream
Fixed like a spring in the heart of the hill
This is the place
From here will shoot forth and rise, and even become stronger
And a song of peace
Will blow from this stone to the whole site
I have a dream

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Song Title: Why Didn't You Tell Me ("Lama Lo Amart Li")
Musician: Aric Lavie
Year Released: 1971
Credits: lyrics by Amos Keinan; music by Yokhanan Zara'i
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


Aric Lavie album: Ata Israeli - The Best of Aric Lavie (Ata Israeli), 1998
Why didn't you tell me that today your mother isn't here
Why didn't you tell me that today you're on your own
Why didn't you tell me that your father ran away from her
Why didn't you tell me that your sister is prettier than you

Why didn't you tell me that your room has a separate entrance
Why didn't you tell me before how good you are
Why didn't you tell me that today you're not working
Why didn't you tell me that you have time for love

Why didn't you tell me that you're cheating on your husband
Why didn't you tell me that he's now on vacation
Why didn't you tell me that today you're not working
Why didn't I know before how much you're a woman

Why didn't you tell me that I ought to run away from you
Why didn't you tell me that life is so nice
Why didn't you throw me out when I still had strength
Why did G-d want me to meet you

Why didn't you tell me that today your mother isn't here
Why didn't you tell me that today you're on your own
Why didn't you tell me that your father ran away from her
Why didn't you tell me that your sister is prettier than you

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Song Title: Don't Get Through the Month ("Lo Gomer 'Ta Khodesh")
Musician: Aric Lavie
Year Released: 1980
Credits: lyrics by Chaim Hefer; music by Dubi Zeltzer
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


Aric Lavie album: Ata Israeli - The Best of Aric Lavie (Ata Israeli), 1998
I break my head not knowing what to do
And my eyes are black and I'm at my wits end
I drive to Herzl Street and see the prices
Fall off my feet and meet a pair of tourists
And drink a cup of soda with them and say
"I love you so"
And it rings in my ear and I hear soda bubbles
And I catch a normal driver and say
"Drive fast, the prices are already in the sky and I'm already late"
And say "Congratulations" ["Kol Ha'Kavod"]
And he asks "Where is there Kavod?" [honor]
And I whisper in his ear
"I don't get through the month"
I don't get through the month, Don't get through the month...

I sold everything and went into debt
And my wife's in seventh heaven and my dad's in an old age home
And I got snared into a shared buffet
And my cleaner ran off with a Dutchman from Lebanon
And my neighbor went into a frenzy , his cat got burned
And I bought a television and I'm now in overdraft
And I flew with a winner to Paris and Amsterdam
And I bough in Herzliya 4 dunam by the sea
And I bought shares in an exporter of religious items
Why don't they let you live, I don't get through the month

I don't get through the month, Don't get through the month

I finished with Yael and started with Tamar
And my lips got burned and my cheque was returned
And I told Shoshanna that I finished up with Shosh
And I stayed Ilana us together, head to head
With Shoshanna and Tziona I already went to Eilat
And got from Simona a quarter chicken without salad
And I found myself indebted to friends and in consolation
It's a pleasure simply to see beauties for hundreds here
But I have no more strength left
I don't get through the month...

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Song Title: How Is It That a Star... ("Eikh Ze She'kokhav")
Musician: Matti Caspi
Video: From an in-show performance, pulled from Educational TV channel 23
Year Released: 1974
Credits: lyrics by Natan Zach; music by Matti Caspi
Website: www.matticaspi.co.il
Comments: Caspi plays all the instruments in this song (in fact for all the songs on the album from which this song is from).
Hear the song!


Matti Caspi album: The Best of (HaMeitav), 2004
How is it that a single solitary star dares
How does he dare, for G-d's sake
A single solitary star
I would not dare
And I, basically, am not alone

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Song Title: Terminal Luminelt
Musician: Meir Ariel
Video: from the "Breeza Festival" (1999?)
Year Released: 1978
Credits: lyrics and music by Meir Ariel; arranged by Shalom Hanoch
Website: www.meirariel.org.il and www.meirariel.net
Comments: A richly textured song, and one of Meir Ariel's most popular - though least understood pieces. Ariel himself revealed little about its origins or meaning and left it up to others to understand what he meant. The title already alludes to the alterior meaning of its lyrics: "luminelt" is a candle that is put into a baby's rear-end in order to calm it down. An informal "lexicon" even exists to define Ariel's words and phrases. Although the modern Ben Gurion Airport made local history when it opened a year before the song, in 1977, as best as can be interpreted this song is not about airports at all, but rather about the search for satisfaction in relationships, whether as one-night stands or otherwise - Ariel refers to young pretty women as 'terminals', found everywhere, unavoidable, desired but unattainable.
Hear the song!


Meir Ariel album: The Best of (HaMeitav), 2004
At the time of my release the doctors recommended me a monthly visit to the terminal
This really does me well to see a big airplane take off through a clear tear
Afterwards the pressure is a little easier on the washed eye

It takes up for me a positive afternoon, I drive to the airport
To myself I say on the way that also from this I'll need to finish up
Myself replies back to me that when we arrive we'll also start to exercise

Terminal je t'aime, I love you terminal, bellamia

The doors sense me and open by themselves
I enter slowly with a lot of pomp in my rear-end
And all the intercontinentalia tickles me here and there

I take myself to the toilet to calm down
Steal a cutting glance, and seem there crazy
Chicks like terminal - there are many of her kind

Standing there curved, two pomegranates, a large earing, short hair
Like some kind of suspicious object that the counter for Swissair
The security officer stabs her with a penetrating glance
Je t'aime, I love you terminal, bellamia

I run to the schedule board to find me a takeoff
There's a flight to Zurich via Rome in another hour
Polite loudspeakers give me a warning
Here on the side I suddenly feel like a disturbance
It goes and gets more pressured, my decision
I love you terminal, bellamia

I run back to Swissair to make it to terminal
Beauties like her you can flip through in every magazine
But she's now not there, the security officer too, it seems to me
Polite loudspeakers with a more agressive tone
I need to go upstairs now to see
Here on the side it's always moving and getting worse

Almost without breath I get stuck at a barrier
A large sunset blinds me with its dazzle
A Boeing of Swissair slides, stops and waits

A reddish Boeing starts to run and rise up
Little by little taking off into the fading red [lipstick]
Through the tear of the astonished clown

Terminal je t'aime, I love you terminal, bellamia

Here on the side releases for me the shrinkage
Suddenly the night sky is lit up by explosions
On the field below begins some running around

At the time of my release the doctors recommended me a monthly visit to the terminal
This really does me well to see a big airplane take off through a clear tear
Afterwards the pressure is a little easier on the washed eye
Now it's a little easier... the pressure on the eye -
the washed, drawn, peeled, sniping, trickly, fastened, preying, burned - engraved in purity
And so it was myself told me, we have a remedy.

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Song Title: Directed Signal ("Tzlil Mekhuvan")
Musician: Tzlil Mekhuvan / Yitzhak Klepter
Video: Klepter solo in live performance, shown on Channel 3
Year Released: 1979
Credits: lyrics and music by Yitzhak Klepter
Website:
Comments: Israel's first "guitar hero", Klepter created a unique guitar tone of his own and made a name for himself well before the age of 20.
Hear the song!


Yitzhak Klepter album: Yitzhak, Alone, Holding On (Yitzhak, Levad, Makhzik Maamad), 1993
Come over, come here
I'm sending you a directed signal
After years of uncertainty
Come here to the words
To the rhythm, to the sounds
Enough as a dream, turn into reality

When a tree in the park blossoms
It doesn't hurt to fall in love
Therefore - stand up and play

Cover over, come with me
It's so easy to be practical
We'll go out together, we'll certainly have a good time
A little heartbreaker
I'm broken with no chance of repair
And that's a good enough reason -
So come...

When a tree in the park blossoms
It doesn't hurt to fall in love
Therefore - stand up and play

Come over, come here
I'm sending you a directed signal
After years of uncertainty
A little heartbreaker
I'm broken -
And that's a good enough reason -
So come, yes
Come

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Song Title: I See You Running Away ['The Prophet'] ("Khoze Lekh Brakh")
Musician: Oshik Levy
Year Released: 1971
Credits: lyrics by Ya'akov Rotblit; music by Shalom Hanoch
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


Oshik Levy album: Peace of Mind (Ktzat Sheket), 1991
The dwarfs find shelter in fairy tales
Dark shadows step slowly, slowly into the night
In white light behind heavy doors there in tall buildings

I see you running away - I see you running away
The night is so dark

The glow of a cigarette there in a Mars night
From within this dark forest suddenly Cinderella is waiting for the dwarfs
And in the street loiters the sin next to every entrance
From the tall buildings all the dwarves suddenly come
One by one to Cinderella - because Cinderella is all the fairy tales
Because there isn't another in the tales similar to her

I see you running away - I see you running away
The night is so dark

A keeper of his soul escapes - a simple keeper of his soul
Because there's no shelter in the city - and there is no mercy in her

I see you running away - I see you running away
The night is so dark - The night is so dark

And they return to their tall buildings - and they slip away one by one
From the forest - only Cinderella remains in her place
When they run away to fairy tales they close the gate

I see you running away - I see you running away
The night is so dark

A keeper of his soul escapes - a simple keeper of his soul
Because there's no shelter in the city - and there is no mercy in her
I see you running away - I see you running away
The night is so dark

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Song Title: Me and Simon and Little Moise ("Ani ve Simon ve Moiz ha'Katan")
Musician: Yossi Banai
Year Released: 1989
Credits: lyrics by Yossi Banai; music by Hanan Yovel
Website:
Comments: Yossi Banai (1932 - 11 May 2006) is one more in a string of musical treasures that have left us in the last three years, following Natan Yonathan, Nomi Shemer, Arik Lavie, Ehud Manor, Uzi Hitman and Shoshana Damari. Banai began his musical career in the first draft of the Nachal brigade band ("Lahakat Ha'Nachal", which became legendary for its songs and the subsequent stars it produced in the '50s and '60s), in 1951. After his army service he joined the "Ha'Bima" theater and became a successful stage entertainer. Later he wrote the materials for the country's legendary comedy troupe "The Pale Scout Trio" ("HaGashash HaChiver"), and released musical albums of his own which became successful in their own right. One of his key contributions to Israeli music was his incorporation of the French 'Chanson' tradition of careful language, storytelling and sound into the arena of popular Israeli song. He translated songs of Brel, Brassens and Moustaki into Hebrew and incorporated them into his presentations of Israeli song. The reference to Church bells in the song below is from Jerusalem, Banai's home town. The Banai family is well entrenched in Israeli entertainment, and some of her stars include Yossi's son Yuval (lead singer for Mashina), Meir and Ehud (Yossi's nephews); Gavri (Yossi's brother, a member of the Pale Scout Trio); Orna, Uri and Evyatar (all cousins of Yossi).
Hear the song!


Yossi Banai album: Collection of Songs (Osef Shirim), 1990
And sometimes when I'm alone like this
I return to the alleys of my childhood
To my youth which disappeared with the years
To them, my old friends
I return to the colors and the voices
To the large innocent eyes
I return to the neighborhood, to the mulberry tree
To the red red kite tied to a string
We were children and it was already long ago
Me and Simon and little Moise

I remember cinema 'Rex' in the everyday routine
And from a distance the bells of Churches
And how we chased doves on the roof-tops
To fly with them, we wanted, up to the clouds
And in the playground, on the swings
We swore loyalty to all the girls
We played sergeant and long horse and chiefs
The wars then were not real
We were children and it was already long ago
Me and Simon and little Moise

In Sabbath shoes and a beret hat
And in beautiful Hebrew with proper accents
We galloped on a cloud made of pillows
And with a cap gun we popped ships
I was Tarzan; Simon was Errol Flynn
And little Moise jumped like 'Gonga Deen'
And on the very cold winter nights
We'd cover ourselves with all the dreams
We were children and it was already long ago
Me and Simon and little Moise

Many years have passed, and now the city is larger
From Simon no one hears, not even a word
And little Moise, to where did he disappear
And even cinema 'Rex' no longer exists
But I, when I'm alone like this,
I return to the alleys of my childhood
To my youth which disappeared with the years
To them, my old friends
We were children and it was already long ago
Me and Simon and little Moise

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Song Title: And if This Song Sounds Familiar to You ("Ve Im Ha'Shir Haze Nishma Lakhem Mukar")
Musician: Hanan Yovel
Year Released: 1985
Credits: lyrics by Ehud Manor; music by Hanan Yovel
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


Hanan Yovel album: Twenty - The Best of (Esrim), 1992 Hanan Yovel album: Twenty - The Best of (Esrim), 1992
And if this song sounds familiar to you
It's just because the same dream remains
A little forgotten, a little less certain
Perhaps
But this song remains and is remembered
Still remains and is remembered

And if this song sounds simple to you
It's just because aspires still to enchantment
A little less than a child, less than light blue
Perhaps
But this song is suitable sometimes
Still suitable, sometimes

Towards light and towards freedom, in hope it rises
A song in a thousand, from "A" it begins and begins

And if this song sounds stubborn to you
It's just because it eternally never despairs
A little worn out, a little less touching
Perhaps
But this song is choppy and desireous
Still choppy and desireous

Towards light and towards freedom, in hope it rises
A song in a thousand, from "A" it begins and begins

And if this song sounds pained to you
It's just because it comes from the heart
A little balding, a little less promising
Perhaps
But this song loves, never leaves
Still loves, never leaves

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Song Title: Play On, Play On (I Believe) ("Sakhki Sakhki")
Musician: Aric Lavie
Year Released: 1978
Credits: Words by Shaul Tchernichovsky; music by Tuvia Shlonsky
Website:
Comments: Shaul Tchernichovsky (1875-1943) is one of the great Hebrew poets whose writings are closely associated with themes of nature, and influenced by the culture of ancient Greece. Tchernichovsky was a Russian medical student and later also a doctor, who had literary skills and wrote his first poems during his years of study. In subsequent years, he combined medical work with both literary and professional writing - and translations, of Greek, German and English writers into Hebrew; and moved to Eretz Israel in 1931. Tchernichovsky employed the styles of ballads and sonatas, and themes of elegy and idyll into his poetry - forms which had not till then been used in Hebrew literature, and is the Hebrew poet most closely identified with the sonnet. I had some difficulty translating this song patially because it is written in "old" Hebrew and partially because it seems to be based on - but not entirely - on a poem called "Creed" written by Tchernichovsky. Certain portions may have been written/added later and even the word "Laugh" in the original text seems to be substituted by a word similar to "Play on". I've placed the original text at the top and my (poor) translation in italics below. The grainy quality of the recording gives the piece a pioneering feeling from the '30s but it was actually recorded in 1978.
Hear the song!


Aric Lavie album: Ata Israeli - The Best of Aric Lavie (Ata Israeli), 1998
[Original text of "Creed"]:
Laugh, laugh at all my dreams!
What I dream shall yet come true!
Laugh at my belief in man,
At my belief in you.

Freedom still my soul demands,
Unbartered for a calf of gold.
For still I do believe in man,
And in his spirit, strong and bold.

And in the future I still believe
Though it be distant, come it will
When nations shall each other bless,
And peace at last the earth shall fill.



Play on, play on, on dreams
It's me who dreams to tell
Play on because in man I will believe
Because I still believe in you

Because still my free soul aspires
I will not betray her for a golden calf
Because still I will believe also in man
Also in his spirit a strong wind

His spirit will send chains of utterances
They raise raise us to my great height
Not from hunger will a worker die
Liberty for the soul is a meal for the poor

I will believe in her also in the future
Even if it will be far from today
But come, it will be and peace will be made then
And a blessing to the people from the nation

The settlement will blossom then and also my nation
And in the country will rise a generation
Its iron chains will be removed
Eye to eye, they will see light

It will live, it will love, it will accomplish achievements
A generation in the land indeed lives on
Not in the future in the sky
Living in the spirit is not enough

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Song Title: Binyamina Days ("Yamei Binyamina")
Musician: Chava Alberstein
Video: live broadcasted performance
Year Released: 1975
Credits: Words by Ehud Manor; music by Matti Caspi
Website: www.aviv2.com/chava/
Comments: One of Israel's most prolific singers with over 40 albums recorded in Hebrew and Yiddish, Alberstein - a guitarist - is closely identified with the period around the 1967 Six-Day War to the years just after the trauma of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Her songs evoke memories of old Israel as a developing state with simple tastes and norms ("Israel was like a little child in those days discovering all the parts of her body..."); they celebrate the beauty and the sadness that have passed over the country over the years. Chava grew up in the northern city of Kiryat Chaim; this song is about another old northern city (then town) of Binyamina, which came out on Alberstein's breakthrough album, which, as she wrote, is an album of "purification, of the desire to turn the frustration, the injury, the mourning and hurt that passed over [the nation] after the Yom Kippur War into something positive, for change to hope".
Hear the song!


Chava Alberstein album: Like a Wildflower (Kmo Tzemakh Bar), 1975
Whatever happened to the boy
who used to speak to the stars
who filed away secrets
with groundsels and seagulls
who counted every silent freckle
and in the sand fell asleep
What happened to him that one day
he arose and disappeared?

I want to return to the days
the lovliest of mine,
The barefooted days of Binyamina
yes, I remember everything flowed slowly
the sun didn't hurry
people said hello
a friend was a friend

The first rain will fall tomorrow,
look at the moon.
How was the crop of grapes this year?
Come in this evening
there's jam of garden strawberries,
and in the nights cover yourselves
because there will be a chill.

I want to return to the days
the lovliest of mine,
The barefooted days of Binyamina
yes, I remember everything flowed slowly
the sun didn't hurry
people said hello
a friend was a friend

And now if day or night,
if it's bad for me or if good
I don't have a moment's time
to sit and to think.
Sometimes I almost
go out of my mind,
everyday of mine I go there
and don't find [him].

I want to return to the days
the lovliest of mine,
The barefooted days of Binyamina
yes, I remember everything flowed slowly
the sun didn't hurry
people said hello
a friend was a friend

Whatever happened to the boy
who in the hot sand fell asleep
who one day suddenly
arose and disappeared.

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Song Title: I Will Speak to You ("Adaber Itkha")
Musician: Chava Alberstein
Year Released: 1975
Credits: lyrics by Rachel Shapira; music by Alona Tur'el
Website: www.aviv2.com/chava/
Comments:
Hear the song!


Chava Alberstein album: Like a Wildflower (Kmo Tzemakh Bar), 1975
When you're pale with sadness
Burrowing into your silence
Let me speak to you
To go between your shadows
To be with you

I won't ask you why
Won't frighten your lonliness
Cautious, like a hesitator
With signs of affection and grace
I will speak to you

I have strength, I have strength
Don't have pity on me
Don't prevent your thorns from
Scratching my legs

When you're tired to death
Not falling asleep in the darkness
At the hour when your nightmares
Are chasing your dreams
I will remain with you

Next to you I wander
Between your slumbers and your wakes
My words are fragile, they are
And the palms of my hands are small, they are
But they are next to you

When I'll see, or when you'll tell me
Silently, softly
Because your dead are congregating
Also I will bow my head

I won't ask you why
Won't frighten your lonliness
Cautious, like a hesitator
With signs of affection and grace
I will speak to you

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Song Title: After All You're a Song ("Akharei Ha'Kol At Shir")
Musician: Shlomo Artzi
Video: from live performance in Caesaria, pulled from "Musika 24" TV Channel
Year Released: 1979
Credits: lyrics and music by Shlomo Artzi
Website: www.shlomoartzi.com
Comments:
Hear the song!


Shlomo Artzi album: His Best 1 (HaShirim 1), 1985
(sung as if to a female)
After all you're a song
No longer flesh and blood
No longer a woman living
But you're a song existing
And it's wrapped in words
Words and melody
And a certain tempo
After all you're a song which exists

So sometimes when it's cold for me
In quiet I sit with you
And sing without words
I sing to myself
After all you're a written song.
All the words you whispered into me
All the words you whispered
They're a song now
A lover and more
That you sensed in me
Words, words, in a song written

I'm close in song
Like a breath
In love we shall open
And we shall end how?
And we shall end as who?
Perhaps in you, perhaps in me
Perhaps without words
After all you're a song of mine

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Song Title: Let Us Rest Our Head on a [Sand] Dune ("Ten La'Sim T'a Rosh Al Dyuna")
Musician: The Pale Scout Trio (HaGashash HaHiver) with Oshik Levy and Aryeh Moskona
Video: pulled from the movie scene (a shorter version than the audio edit here)
Year Released: 1976
Credits: lyrics by Asi (Asaf) Dayan; music by Naftaly Alter
Website:
Comments: This is a signature piece of what is probably the most popular Israeli comedy film ever made, "Halfon Hill is Not Replying". The film came out 2 years after the surprise Yom Kippur War and a year before the fall of the ruling Labor Party after 29 years in power. In the wake of the shock after the war the film poked fun at the military establishment which many felt had suffered from overweening pride prior to the war and failed to prepare for it, poked fun at the UN, and lampooned the reserve service on whom the outcome of the war depended, although the jokes have since been absorbed into popular culture. The three members of the comedy trio began their careers in the Nachal brigade band. Asi Dayan, an actor and director, and the lyricist here, is the son of Moshe Dayan, the former Chief of Staff and Minister of Defense. The scene from which this piece is taken features the Trio whiling away their reserve service strumming a guitar on a desolate sea-side dune, near the Egyptian border. The popular soundtrack piece for this film can be heard on the IDF ensemble music page here.
Hear the song!


Album: Green Airwave 2 - Songs Which Soldiers Love (Gal Yarok 2: Shirim ShKhayalim Ohavim), 2002
Let us rest our head on a sand dune
Let the muses thunder a little
Let us rest on every step
Give the respect to Tzahal [the IDF - Israel Defense Forces]

Take your time and 'take it easy'
Nothing is urgent here
Only in a Walt Disney movie
Does the desert there come to life

Wars there are a plenty
And troubles here aren't lacking
So between a missile and a rocket
Let us catch a 'relax' in the shade

Let us rest our head on a sand dune
Let the muses thunder a little
Let us rest on every step
Give the respect to Tzahal

All the day to sit in the "Shekem" [the military PX store]
And about you just to dream
Between [eating] the waffles and the wafers
Crashes down my heart
The paper my pen tears
When I dream of you
And a tear of longing
Gleams in my eyes

Let us rest our head on a sand dune
Let the muses thunder a little
Let us rest on every step
Give the respect to Tzahal

The whole column is heard in Tzahal
Every joy and every celebration
All of Israel is tired there
Don't disturb the serenity
Don't say, between the tanks in the cannon areas,
That the gang is enjoying it here
'Cause you'll wake the "neighbors" [i.e. the surrounding Arab states] yet

Let us rest our head on a sand dune
Let the muses thunder a little
Let us rest on every step
Give the respect to Tzahal

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Song Title: Give Me Strength ("Ten Li Koakh")
Musician: Ariel Zilber
Video: in-studio television performance pulled from Channel 3
Year Released: 1978
Credits: lyrics by Ehud Manor / music by Ariel Zilber
Website: www.arielzilber.com
Comments: A great start-of-workday song.
Hear the song!


various artists album: The 80s - A Decade of Israeli Pop (Lehitei Shnot HaShmonim), 1990
Oh, give me strength
Oh, let it go [be forgotten]
What does a man receive,
What does he have in this world?
When all his life
Is a moment which disappears

Oh, give me strength
Oh, let it go [be forgotten]
The slim chance
In games of luck
Who gets interested up above [i.e. G-d]
To whom does it matter at all?

Because a person who rises
For another for whom he toils.
What does he get for free?
What does he get?

Oh, give me strength
Oh, let it go [be forgotten]
So what if I win
So what if I cry [i.e. lose]
Because what was destined has already passed
What can await me now?

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Song Title: The Tree is Tall [aka "The Soaring Tree"] ("Ha Etz Hu Gavoa")
Musician: Apocalypse ("Akharit Ha Yamim")
Year Released: 1972
Credits: lyrics by Hanoch Levin; music by Zohar Levy
Website:
Comments: A one-album wonder which won all of Israel's top awards for "best band" in 1972 with the record that this song comes from. "Apocalypse" includes the famed guitarist Yitzhak Klepter and the singers Gaby Shushan and Miri Aloni
Hear the song!


The tree is tall, the tree is green
The sea is wild, the sea is deep
If the sea is deep, what does he care of the tree
What does the sea care if the tree is green

The tree is tall, the tree is green
Pretty is the bird, he will fly far
If the bird flies, what does he care of the tree
What does the bird care if the tree is green
The sea is wild, the sea is deep
Pretty is the bird, he will fly far
If the bird flies, what does he care of the sea
What does the bird care if the sea is deep

A man sings songs because the tree is green
A man sings songs because the sea is deep
If the bird flies, he will no longer sing songs
What does the bird care if he sings or keeps silent

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Song Title: Come to Eilat ("Boyi Le Eilat")
Musician: Lior Yeini
Year Released: 1970
Credits: lyrics by Yaron London; music by Nurit Hirsh; musical arrangements by Moshe Vilensky
Website:
Comments: Originally written as the jingle for an advertisement to promote the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat.
Hear the song!


(sung to a female)

Come let's escape from the asphalt
And from the wrinkled cities
Come let's escape to the quiet lagunas
Come to Eilat, to Eilat

Come let's escape from the asphalt
And from the wrinkled cities
Come let's escape to the quiet lagunas
Come to Eilat, to Eilat

In the capital of the sun
Freckled with freckles
Against the skies
We'll snap a picture
And the wind which will blow
Will divert us to think about nothing
Close your eyes
Will escape as two
To the waters of the coral reefs
Between blue and green
Our bathing suits we'll cast aside
We'll throw them to the fish

Come let's escape from the asphalt
And from the wrinkled cities
Come let's escape to the quiet lagunas
Come to Eilat, to Eilat

With razzled hair
Swept by the wind
I'm stretched out like a lizard
Like a dolphin who's slipped out
From the depths of the bay of Eilat
Like a surprise
Give me just two months
On the [water] skis
And on the water's waves I won't stand
Between green and blue
Man, I could...
I could live forever

Come let's escape from the asphalt
And from the wrinkled cities
Come let's escape to the quiet lagunas
Come to Eilat, to Eilat

Come let's discover the
Enchanted places
And the magic of the bays
Like Columbus so did suddenly
In a light bowed boat
Of masts
If this time you came again
Come back to Eilat
Because in witchcraft she's an estate of the city
And in sorcery she's a hideout
And you will come to her
You will come to her more youthful

Come let's escape from the asphalt
And from the wrinkled cities
Come let's escape to the quiet lagunas
Come to Eilat, to Eilat

To Eilat, to Eilat...

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Song Title: The Babble Song ("Shirat HaBirbur") [a play on the Hebrew words for "Swan Song" - Shir Barbour]
Musician: The Pale Scout Trio (HaGashash HaHiver)
Video:
Year Released: 1969
Credits: lyrics by Nisim Aloni; music by Yitzhak ("Ziko") Graziani
Website:
Comments: A comic piece sung with a mixture of high learned Hebrew spiced with Hebrew and English slang. Music written by the former conductor ("Ziko") of the Israeli Army Orchestra.
Hear the song!


La, la, la, la...

Moshe, Moshe
How are you?
   - ah...

How was the honeymoon?
   - ah...

Good?
   - good...

How are things at home?
   - okay...

How's the wife?
   - okay...

Good?
   - good...

Good "good"? or "good not-good"?
   - good...

Good, so why not good?
   - she's going crazy

Ahhh, heh-heh...

And how are things by you?
   - ah...

What's up?
   - ah...

Good?
   - good...

How's the wife ["Isha"]?
   - sha, sha, sha... ["shush" - a play on the end of the word for "wife"]

She's going mad?
   - "may the evil eye not affect him" [a superstition]

She's being a bully?
   - "Non stop"

She's babbling?
   - G-d almighty, an exclusive prattle specifically for the buried man
      - [buried] deep


This isn't hail
   - on a tin roof
It's not a barrage
   - from any cannon
This is the song
      - of the babble
         - of the babble
            - of the babble
For the buried man



I return from the office
   - I'm jovial,
      - I'm pleasant
   I'm good-looking
      -Like a quarter-chicken [standard fare at cheap weddings]
   Wearing a smile
      - from coast to coast
            And this is the end...

"Can I know honey what's all the happiness?"
   - what happiness?
"So what are you singing?"
   - who's singing?
"So what's so funny?"
   - who's laughing?
"So where have you been puttering on me all day?"
   - hallo, hallo, what's that "puttering"? Who's puttering? I'm a working man!
"Working..."


But if...

I return from the office
   - I'm jovial,
      - I'm pleasant
   I'm good-looking
      - Like a bowl
   Pasting a smile
      - on an atonement
         And in short...
            A dead man does not look worse!!!

"Fine, tell me honey..."
   - what?
"Are you coming from a funeral?"
   - what funeral?
"You couldn't help me frighten the children?"
   - what did I do?
"Do you think you're sweeter when you're more bitter?"
   - who's bitter?
"Smile a little"
   - okay
"Be happy a little"
   - fine


This isn't hail
   - on a tin roof
It's not a barrage
   - from any cannon
This is the song
      - of the babble
         - of the babble
            - of the babble
For the buried man



Take for instance, my wife...
   - Well?
Take her away from me!
   - No...


I sit down to eat
   - you sat
I eat
   - you ate
Just like that
   - no problem
That is, I also swallow
   - good going
A little from here, a little from there
   - here's to your health
Six ribs
   - it works
With liver
   - what...?
Perhaps for the spleen
   - and that's all?
Salad
   - ah...
Rice
   - ah...
Ful [middle eastern bean cuisine]
   - wow [Arabic slang]
To hasten the digestion...
That's how a man sometimes is - he's hungry!


"Hallo, hallo - you've never seen food before in your life?"
"Eat with your mouth closed - the neighbors can hear"
"Leave the pudding alone - it's for the kids"
"Put the bread down, you silly fatso"
"What about the diet?"

But if...

I didn't have a chance to finish the chicken
   - "so what!"
Spinach with semolina is not my fancy
   - not his fancy

I fancy...
   Coffee
      - blessed be its coming
   I want a cigarette
      - well done
   I want to read
      - the sports section
   And the cigarette
      - is inside the pastry
         - And that is the end...

"Welcome"...
"Happy new year"
"Are you ill?"
   - No
"Is my cooking burnt?"
   - No
"You mother cooks better than me?"
   - Ah
"You ate baked lamb and spices at Gamliel's!" [a real out of date ethnic name]
   - Yes!
"Why, don't you have a home?"
   "Don't you have a wife?"
      "Don't you have children?"
"Ahh... you ate with Shula!"
   - "with Ada!"
      - "with Hedva!"
         - "with Nitza!"
            - "with Ezra!"
               - "with George Washington!!"


This isn't hail
   - on a tin roof
It's not a barrage
   - from any cannon
This is the song
      - of the babble
         - of the babble
            - of the babble
For the buried man



Fine, here I am...
   - "Rise and come and bring forth from your heart"
Oiy...
"Did something happen?"
   - the alarm-clock went off late
"What a shame"
   - what could I do? I woke up late
"Better late than never"
   - but what?
"What?"
   - I didn't shower
oooohhhh
   - I washed up in a hurry
oooohhhh
   - I throw the wife a quick kiss
      - In a polite manner?
         - In a polite manner, but quick
oooohhhh
            - And that is the end...

What happened, what did I do?
   - "Look how you're dressed"
      - why?
   - "Look how you look"
       - not good?
   - "Where do you think you live?"
      - here
   - "What will they say at the grocery store?"
      - gee, what grocery store?
   - "You look like your aunt"
   - "Like before the wedding, when I found you in the rain, with influenza"

But...

If by chance I happen to wake up one morning with the sound of a mandolin in my heart... it can happen, no?
      - To the most married husband
In the bathtub there waft two tones or three
While shaving I shave both ways
I shorten, in my nose, two hairs [a play on the word "tone"]
I sprinkle some eau de cologne, a little aftershave
Throw a glance of great meaning to the wife...
...and quietly bite her on... the ear!

But she...

What happened, what did I do?
   "What happened?"
      - what?
   - "What holiday is today?"
      - Father's day!
   - "Look how you're dressed"
      - sporty!
   - "From whence is that awful tie?"
      - your mother brought it!
   - "With which sauce did you stain it?"
      - yours!
   - "You stink from a mile away"
      - oh, please!
   - "You'll wind up like a pimp in an amusement park!"
   - "You're spiraling downward!"
   - "You're becoming barbarian!"
   - "You're getting ugly!"
   - "You're becoming Christian!" [i.e. moving away from your roots]
   - "You're philandering!"


This isn't hail
   - on a tin roof
It's not a barrage
   - from any cannon
This is the song
      - of the babble
         - of the babble
            - of the babble
For the buried man



One word: curl and get curled up
   - "Without music, please"
   - "Orchestra, s'il vous plait"
               Why is there no understanding with the wife?!?
I said it
   - we heard
         Mo-she!
   - I'm coming, sweetie
We heard
   - you heard it, but you didn't experience it
"Please"
[music resumes]

I'm the first rain (of the season), she is the last
   - I'm Purim [a festive holiday], she's Kippurim [somber holiday of atonement]
I land, she takes off
   - I tie up, she unravels
And when the night falls, and I'm a rectangle, she's a triangle
   - I'm in Dan [the central region of Israel], she's in Eilat [southern-most resort town]

"What is this?"
   - what?
"You're going to sleep?"
   - yes, sweetie, I'm tired. Falling off my feet. Dead. RIP.
"Certainly, honey. Go, go on, honey. Go."
"To work, to eat, to sleep. To sleep, to work, to eat."

But...
If she wants to sleep:

"Mo-she!"
   - what is it?
"Turn off the light in the salon!"
   - fine, okay, just want to hear the news
"Turn off the radio, it's midnight!"
   - I heard you, why shout?
"Stop wasting the electricity!"
   - I heard you, but
"Finish the newspaper on Saturday!"
"Solve the crossword in the office"
"And come already"
"And wake up already"
   - okay
"And go already"
"Well, already?"

Quack, Quack, Quack...

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Song Title: Sun Sun ("Shemesh Shemesh")
Musician: Ariel Zilber
Year Released: 1972
Credits: lyrics by Ruti Noi; music by Ariel Zilber
Website: arielzilber.com and Ariel Zilber on Facebook
Video: live performance, circa. 1977
Comments:
Hear the song!


Sun sun comes during the days
There's one dream which no one dreams about
There's a place which no one goes to alone
One by one

There are evil spirits on the waters
And in the hills, the way is still long
And the people, ho, are hard
Let's get over the years
Let's pass over the days
Let's enter the cold caves
So that we aren't seen

Let's look at the sun, she knows what's happening
How can you shine when the sea is full
The sea is sick.
We'll close our eyes just for the day when we won't see
How the waters rise
How a smart person errs
Ho, ho

Let's go and find the forefathers
Lets go and wrap ourselves in loves
Let's go join the sun which is rising
So big

We'll close our eyes just for the day when we won't see
How the waters rise
How a smart person errs
We'll join the sun which rises up so largely
There are, there still are, skies
There are mine, hers, or all of it

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Song Title: Cypress Tree ("Brosh")
Musician: Ariel Zilber
Year Released: 1976
Credits: lyrics by Ehud Manor; music by Ariel Zilber
Website: arielzilber.com and Ariel Zilber on Facebook
Video: live performance circa. 1977; a superb rendition with backing violins and deep base
Comments:
Hear the song!


And I saw a cypress tree
Which stood in a field facing the sun
In the heat, in the cold
Against the storm

On its side was tilted the cypress
Not broken, its tree top it lowered to the grass
And here, against the sea
Arose the cypress, green and high

Here is a cypress, alone
Against fire and water.
Here is a cypress, alone
Up to the sky.
A cypress, alone, steadfast.
If only it was possible, and I would learn
The ways of a single tree.

And I, like a baby,
Which breaks down and cannot face the sun.
In the heat, in the cold
Against the storm.

Here is a cypress, alone
Against fire and water.
Here is a cypress, alone
Up to the sky.
A cypress, alone, steadfast.
If only it was possible, and I would learn
The ways of a single tree.

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Song Title: Street Light (Someone Cut the Current) ("Panas Rechov")
Musician: Tammuz
Year Released: 1976
Credits: lyrics and music by Shalom Hanoch
Website:
Video: live performance, circa. 1977
Comments:
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A street lamp - put itself out to death
Because without any electricity he didn't see the point [in continuing to live]
Somebody cut
Somebody cut
Somebody cut the current
In the central office

The stream dried itself up and disappeared
Because without any liquids, his head blocked up
Somebody cut
Somebody cut
Somebody cut the current
In the central office

You and I sat and we smoked
But something, like, suddenly left us
Somebody cut
Somebody cut
Somebody cut the current
In the central office

And if this song will end by dying
It won't help if you push it with force
Somebody cut
Somebody cut
Somebody cut the current
In the central office

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Song Title: The Celebration has Ended ("Ha Chagiga Nigmeret")
Musician: The Gevatron
Year Released: 1976 (1988)
Credits: lyrics and music by Naomi Shemer
Video: The group "Every Passes 'Bro" ("HaKol Over Chabibi") performing the piece at the 1976 Israel music festival
Website: gevatron.co.il
Comments: A classic piece of the Labor-Zionist movement
Hear the song!


And sometimes
The celebration comes to an end
Lights out
The trumpet says
Farewell to the violins
The central time [eg. midnight] turns toward three -
To get up tomorrow in the morning and start from the beginning

To get up tomorrow in the morning with a new song in the heart
To sing it with force, to sing it in pain
To hear flutes playing in the free wind
And to start from the beginning

From the beginning
Your world, in the morning, to always create:
The earth, the grass and all the [sources of natural] light
And then from the dust, in the image of people
To get up tomorrow in the morning and start from the beginning

To get up tomorrow in the morning with a new song in the heart
To sing it with force, to sing it with hurt
To hear flutes playing in the free wind
And to start from the beginning

And also for you
The celebration comes to an end
And at midnight
Homeward bound, the way
Is hard for you to find
From the darkness [all] we ask is
To get up in the morning and start from the beginning

To get up tomorrow in the morning with a new song in the heart
To sing it with force, to sing it with hurt
To hear flutes playing in the free wind
And to start from the beginning

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Song Title: Coffee at Berta's ("Kafe Etzel Berta")
Musician: The Pure Souls ("Ha Neshamot Ha Tehorot")
Year Released: 1974 (1973)
Credits: lyrics Ehud Manor; music by Natan Cohen
Video: as performed (originally) by Yigal Bashan (circa. 1973)
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


When I'm depressed and my heart is heavy
I go to Berta's and sit there
I drink black coffee
I show her my hand
[And] she says - you're pleasant
Put a tenner [eg. 10 Lira] on the side

And then she suddenly gets quiet and sees
All that will happen and all that happened already
She sees who I'm thinking about
And what I want
She says that a new cycle
Will begin when the year ends

Whenever I get ready to leave
She tries to say that things will get better
After a few small problems
Suddenly you'll feel great
You will have great happiness
Berta's word is her word [eg. her words stay true]

I go to Berta's once a year
And in the meantime nothing has changed
But I always return
Show her my hand
And hope that one day
I'll say goodbye and not be afraid

And then I ask her about love
She says yes, but before then [there will be] disappointment
So it doesn't pay for you to worry
Perhaps you should see a doctor
Look, you're a good looking guy
Perhaps you'd like to drink another cup of coffee

Whenever I get ready to leave
She tries to say that things will get better
After a few small problems
Suddenly you'll feel great
You will have great happiness
Berta's word is her word [eg. her words stay true]

Whenever I get ready to leave
She tries to say that things will get better
After a few small problems
Suddenly you'll feel great
You will have great happiness
Berta's word is her word [eg. her words stay true]

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Song Title: Walking Aimlessly (Loafer) ("Holekh Batel")
Musician: Tammuz
Year Released: 1976
Credits: lyrics by Meir Ariel; music by Ariel Zilber
Website:
Video: original music video and live performance (probably late 1990's)
Comments:
Hear the song!


Independent in the field
He doesn't need any favors
He doesn't even have
A list of addresses.
One shoelace is torn
Another shoelace is already missing
One time he treads uncertainly
Another time yes

He goes aimlessly, goes aimlessly

The streets give him
Time without [demanding] accounts from him
Here and there he rolls down
Little alleyways.
Looking in the darkness
For substance [drugs] for a 'whisper'
In case he gets caught up
In a woman's ear

He goes aimlessly, goes aimlessly

In his eyes there is "what is all this?"
He's also a little hungry
Perhaps he's also enjoying himself a little
Feeling pain
Looking in the darkness for an iota [a clue]
In case he gets caught up in his own death.

He goes aimlessly, goes aimlessly

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Song Title: May the Night not End for Me ("She Lo Yigamer Li Ha Layla")
Musician: The Pure Souls ("Ha Neshamot Ha Tehorot")
Year Released: 1974 (1973)
Credits: lyrics Yehuda Shavit; music by Matti Caspi
Video: rotating photos with music
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


The evening has ended for me
I want the night
May the night not end for me
May the night not end for me
May it not end for me
May the night not end for me
May the night not end for me

So that I don't miss
Anything anything
So that nothing remains
Nothing

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Song Title: I'll Wait for You ("Akhakeh Lekha")
Musician: The Pure Souls ("Ha Neshamot Ha Tehorot")
Year Released: 1974 (1973)
Credits: lyrics Dudu Barak; music by Natan Cohen
Video: live performance, circa. 1974
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


[sung to a male]
I'll wait for you
Turn off all the lights in your city
And come to our own corner
Between sheets, pure and white

I'll wait for you
Gather me into yourself
Far in our own fog
Between red smoke and clouds

I'll wait for you
I'll wait for you on the edge of the night
Floating, floating towards you lover
I'll wait for you
I'll wait for you at the end of the way
Take away the tear, the pain

I'll wait for you
Engraved deep in your heart
Our book of books
Which has been written in secret

I'll wait for you
To breath deeply your neck
In our own love
The riddles only get sharper but are not solved

I'll wait for you
I'll wait for you on the edge of the night
Floating, floating towards you lover
I'll wait for you
I'll wait for you at the end of the way
Take away the tear, the pain

I'll wait for you
To struggle within your body
And so in our own battlefield
My death to find with you lover

I'll wait for you
I'll wait for you on the edge of the night
Floating, floating towards you lover
I'll wait for you
I'll wait for you at the end of the way
Take away the tear, the pain

Take away the tear, the pain

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Song Title: The Street of the Pure Souls ("Rechov Ha Neshamot Ha Tehorot")
Musician: The Pure Souls ("Ha Neshamot Ha Tehorot")
Year Released: 1974 (1973)
Credits: lyrics Shimon Sapir; music by Natan Cohen
Video: a recent rendition by the band's founder, Nathan Cohen, circa. 2008
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


On the street of the pure souls
The beggars spread out furs
Making money, breaking change
Exposing deficiencies to dozens
And playing on violins
On the street of the pure souls
The street lights are without bulbs
Filth and moisture on the walls
The thieves are in the yards
Quietly collecting up treasures

For every street
There is a private name
Which testifies to the quality of its inhabitants
On every street
There hang signs
Of righteous beings without flaw

On the street of the pure souls
The [male] teenagers are making problems
And harass the girls
Files are opened [possibly a play on words for "purses" = "files"] as are investigations
They dirty up the walls

For every street
There is a private name
Which testifies to the quality of its inhabitants
On every street
There hang signs
Of righteous beings without flaw

On the street of the pure souls
They sent three to prison
Because they didn't know of morality [eg. they used drugs/engaged in illicit sex]
And on the sign which was taken down
They changed the name of the short street
They changed it to "Meat Street"

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Song Title: And Sweet is the Light in Your Eyes ("U Matok Ha Or Ba Einayim")
Musician: Sasi Keshet
Year Released: 1971
Credits: lyrics by Rachel Shapira; music by Moni Amarilio; arranged by Moshe Vilensky
Video: video with a static photo
Website: Sassi Keshet on Facebook
Comments: The title is loosely derived from Ecclesiastes ("Sefer Kohelet"): "And sweet is the light, and good for the eyes, to see the sun". Keshet reached second-place with this piece in the 1971 Hebrew Song Festival.
Hear the song!


Sassi Keshet album: Sassi Keshet, 2003 Sassi Keshet
Yes you can get up and go
Something inside you calls you to go
Your longings are wings for you
And sweet is the light in your eyes

A path, a path, rise up on your feet
A land, a land comes towards you
Sun and wind in your veins like wine
And sweet is the light in your eyes

Yes you can get up and go
Something inside you calls you to go
Your longings are wings for you
And sweet is the light in your eyes

See rowboats floating on the water
And kites in the sky
You won't be satiated
[or know] The distance and the height
And sweet is the light in your eyes

Yes you can get up and go
Something inside you calls you to go
Your longings are wings for you
And sweet is the light in your eyes

Your hands won't tire of touching
Your face won't tire of being amazed
Your dreams are brighter seven-fold
And sweet is the light in your eyes

Yes you can get up and go
Something inside you calls you to go
Your longings are wings for you
And sweet is the light in your eyes

Where among all this is your home
Where among all this are your loves
The taste of the song which you haven't yet sung
And sweet is the light in your eyes

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Song Title: To Fly Like a Bird ("La Ouf Kmo Tzipor")
Musician: Danni Litani
Year Released: 1978
Credits: lyrics by Antonio Carlos Jobim; music by Jakupi; adapted to Hebrew by Ehud Manor
Video:
Website: Danilitani.co.il
Comments:
Hear the song!


To fly like a bird
Wind and light - a present for a bird
A lake and tree - a station for a bird
And nothing will prevent a bird
From flying, from freedom

But I'm a lonely man
From winter and thunder afraid
From fire and war I shake
And from the time which suddenly slips by
Within the awful noise
It's not clear, it's not simple
I'm lost

To fly like a bird
Wind and light - a present for a bird
A lake and tree - a station for a bird
And nothing will prevent a bird
From flying, from freedom

About love, now they're speaking
About love, now they're singing
But where are they hiding
Those who love with all their hearts.
Is there still a place in the world
Is it here, is it there
It's not clear, it's not simple
I'm lost

To fly like a bird
Wind and light - a present for a bird
A lake and tree - a station for a bird
And nothing will prevent a bird
From flying, from freedom

I'm tired of swallowing lies
Of buying freedom from traders
Of crying like others
From the mirror the end is reflected
So what - does you have to bear your teeth?
Do I have to clench a fist?
It's not clear, it's not simple
I'm lost

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Song Title: Who's Afraid of Mrs. Levine ("Mi Mefakhed mi Giveret Levine")
Musician: Ha Shlosharim ("The Three'ngers" - a play on the words 'the three singers')
Year Released: 1970 (1969)
Credits: lyrics by Yonatan Geffen; music by Shalom Hanoch; arranged by Misha Segal
Band members: Benny Amdursky (father of Assaf Amdursky, featured here), Hanan Yovel (featured here), Shalom Hanoch (a section is featured here)
Key musicians: Danny Sanderson (featured here) - guitars, Eli Magen (featured here) - bass, Ahrele Kaminsky - drums, Misha Segal - keyboards
Video: original music video
Website:
Comments: Although Yonathan Geffen denied it, many observers felt that the character of "Mrs. Levine" was based on the culture, fashion and theater critic Hadas Busches, who wrote for the Israeli newspaper "Haaretz", the radio and television. She was noted for her clear and brief critiques and high cultural standards, though in the one presumed to have inspired "Mrs. Levine" she mercilessly criticized Arik Einstein and Uri Zohar's youthful and iconoclastic program "Lool" ("The Chicken Coop").
Hear the song!


Ha Shlosharim ('Threengers') album: HaShlosharim, 2002 (1970) The Shlosharim (left to right): Benny Amdursky, Hanan Yovel, Shalom Hanoch
At the 'Vered' [a woman's name] Cafe
Sits a lady
And recounts a story
She gathers her legs together
Shows her thighs
- for the public's awareness

She says "Paris last year
Wasn't humane, of coourse!" [accented mockingly]
She opens a button on her shirt
So we can see the broken heart

What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you

Nobody knows
How much she suffers
Between four and six in particularrr [accented mockingly]
Afterwards
She rings two numbers
And cries 'telephonically' with bitter sobs

She learned philosophy
In a private manner
And would die to learn more
Many people
Have already called her "my wife"
And went to a different place [i.e. passed away]

What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you

Until she was
Thirty-five years old
Four years in a row
She covered her eyes
With sun glasses
- such beautiful eyes

She still
Remains in the same cafe
But in her hand is a pen
She writes
A letter which is stylish and well-written
On matters of theater

"What are you writing Mrs. Levine"
Ask all the readers of the paper
"What are you writing Mrs. Levine"
Ask all the readers of the paper

What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you
...which nobody understands, nobody understands...
What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine
What's the matter with you -
Mrs. Levine...
Say, what is up with you??...

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Song Title: On the Road [figuratively: "Onwards To the Path"] ("El Ha Derekh")
Musician: The Gevatron
Year Released: 1987 (1984-86)
Credits: lyrics by Yoram Taharlev; music by Vladimir Solovyov; adapted for Hebrew and arranged by Yoram Taharlev and Tzvika Caspi
Video:
Website: www.gevatron.co.il
Comments:
Hear the song!


To the path we again set out
A long journey without end
A path on which will accompany us
Only the dust, the stone and the wood

Yes, yes,
Yes the journey continues
In suffering and in hard labor
All of us will march on it
Forever and ever

Our home, we did not forget
And all our loves
Even if we'll be a thousand kilometers away
We shall still be close to our home

Yes, yes,
Yes the journey continues
In suffering and in hard labor
All of us will march on it
Forever and ever

Little girl, don't cry for us
Lift up your eyes, little girl
If we see you in our dreams
We are already on our way back

Yes, yes,
Yes the journey continues
In suffering and in hard labor
All of us will march on it
Forever and ever

The winter has ended and so has the spring
Summer upon our heads is hot
Our longing will never end
And forever the path will not end

Yes, yes,
Yes the journey continues
In suffering and in hard labor
All of us will march on it
Forever and ever

To the path we again set out
A long journey without end
A path on which will accompany us
Only the dust, the stone and the wood

Yes, yes,
Yes the journey continues
In suffering and in hard labor
All of us will march on it
Forever and ever

Yes, yes,
Yes the journey continues
In suffering and in hard labor
All of us will march on it
Forever and ever

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Song Title: I Gave Her My Life ("Natati La Khayay")
Musician: Kaveret ("[Bee] Hive")
Year Released: 1974
Credits: lyrics by Danny Sanderson and Alon Olearchik; music by Danny Sanderson
Band members: Alon Olearchick, Gidi Gov, Danny Sanderson, Yitzhak Klepter, Efraim Shamir, Yoni Rechter, Meir Fenigstein Video: static image with music
Website: Kaveret on wikipedia
Comments: Kaveret represented Israel at the 1974 Eurovision song contest with this piece and finished 7th
Hear the song!


Back in the first years of history
When the world only existed in theory
And they didn't distinguish between tomorrow, two days ago and last year
They were arguing about where to put the sun
But one thing was agreed upon
If stubborn will be the Man
There's no chance, no compensation
That's what happened

I gave her my life -ife
I went down on my knees -ees
Believe me everyone -one
I learned what a waste it is and got insulted

Since then there passed many bridges over the water (eg. a play on Simon and Garfunkel's song)
And they already managed to invent the afternoon
But they there on the planet didn't yet know what his shape is
If he's square or round or whatever he feels like
But one thing they knew
And this they immediately decided
If she refused, there's no hope
[And] that's what happened

I gave her my life -ife
I went down on my knees -ees
Believe me everyone -one
I learned what a waste it is and got insulted

Today you'll find that the cause of every argument
Is what came first, the egg or the apple
One says that his skies are ending
Even though there's enough air for a country or two
Perhaps in any case we'll get by
She'll want or we'll overcome
She prevented every access
[And] that's what happened to me

When I gave her my life -ife
I went down on my knees -ees
Believe me everyone -one
I learned what a waste it is and got insulted

I gave her my life -ife
I went down on my knees -ees
Believe me everyone -one
I learned what a waste it is and got insulted

I gave her my life -ife
I went down on my knees -ees
Believe me everyone -one
I learned what a waste it is and got insulted...

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Song Title: It Returns ("Ze Hozer")
Musician: Danny Granot
Year Released: 1975(?)
Credits: lyrics by Paul Le Claire; music by Matti Caspi; adapted for Hebrew by Rimona di Nur
Video: static image with music
Website:
Comments:
Hear the song!


It returns,
[in] another week, another two weeks
or more...
It returns
it's sad when it passes
when it's over...
But it returns
Like a ship which sets sail
indefinitely...
But a thousand ships
In her stead
return to us, to the coast

For every chrysanthemum, for every cyclamen
which withers or is plucked
there are always four, five or six
or seven-hundred blossoms
And for every sun that sets
in my heart I know
that somewhere out there are
thousands of sunrises

It returns
[in] another two years, another two thousand years
or more...
It returns
it's sad when it passes
when it's over...
But it returns
like a bird which flies
before the autumn
But a thousand swallows
in her stead
will stretch their wings towards us

For every chrysanthemum, for every cyclamen
which withers or is plucked
there are always four, five or six
or seven-hundred blossoms
And for every sun that sets
in my heart I know
that somewhere out there are
thousands of sunrises

For every chrysanthemum, for every cyclamen
which withers or is plucked
there are always four, five or six
or seven-hundred blossoms
And for every sun that sets
In my heart I know
that somewhere out there are
thousands of sunrises

For every chrysanthemum, for every cyclamen
which withers or is plucked
there are always four, five or six
or seven-hundred blossoms
And for every sun that sets
In my heart I know
that somewhere out there are
thousands of sunrises

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Political & Wartime (the list is sortable by clicking on the column names)

Song Name Artist Name Genre Song # in Jukebox
"The Heat of July-August" Shlomo Artzi Pop Song #8
"The Face of The Nation" T-Slam Pop Song #18
"Yonathan, Come Home" Oshik Levy Classic Rock Song #19
"Waiting For Messiah" Shalom Hanoch Pop Song #21
"They're Working on Us" The Pale Scout Trio
("Ha'Gashash Ha'Khiver")
Vocal Song #72
"We Overcame Pharaoh" (this too shall pass) Various Artists (Meir Ariel) Rock Song #123
"On the Path to the Pools" Chava Alberstein Orchestral Rock Song #154
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Song Title: The Heat of July-August (The Platoon) ("Khom Yuli August")
Musician: Shlomo Artzi
Year Released: 1988
Credits: lyrics and music by Shlomo Artzi
Website: www.shlomoartzi.com
Comments: A song mourning the loss of youth and friends during the War of Attrition (1968-70), and the after-effects of the trauma. The songs for the album and album itself, "The Heat of July-August", was released during a period of confusion, uncertainty and introspection - the height of the Israeli presence in Lebanon, the loss of the Airforce navigator Ron Arad, rising tension in the Territories and the outbreak of the first Intifada.
Hear the song!


Shlomo Artzi album: August-July Heat (Khom Yuli August), 1988
The July-August heat then was very heavy
It was afternoon and the platoon went in the wadi
Write in the book a page, they speak of battles
Write of the wounded that are trembling, and this is normal

Youth is pleasant, the summer neverending
Va'aknin arrived to the platoon, the champion of Kiryat Gat
He burned down the barracks and ran off to Beit Gobrin
The police in pursuit of him only here relaxed a bit

All that I remember from this I write down
Innocent souls in stretchers, two without a name
Lately thoughts return to me from there in my dim memory
A heavy screen of battles and hallucinations

July-August heat, when a pinecone falls
A helicopter lands, I lie alone in the field
when the helicopter leaves I suddenly feel hungry
Dying to eat you in the mother base

I return with a pass to you at your home
Close the room, even G-d won't enter here
Suddenly your father enters, looks like he's crying
In the canal a whole platoon was hit by anti-ship
fire in "tempo" [an outpost on the Suez Canal]

What I remember from this I write down,
Catch a Haifa taxi, jump to the discotheque
prostitues on the fence, in me just a ghost burns
I go dancing with dead soldiers in my heart

Write it down, write it down; I write, I write...

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Song Title: The Face of the Nation ("Partzufa Shel Ha'Medina")
Musician: T-Slam ('Tislam' - slang for "By All Means")
Video: live performance from their reunion concert, 2004(?)
Year Released: 1990
Credits: lyrics by Ya'ir Nitzani; music by T-Slam
Website: www.t-slam.com
Comments: A song that's played frequently around election times, the piece was written in the wake of the embezzlement scandal involving the religious "Shas" Party.
Hear the song!


T-Slam album: Play Now (Nagen Akhshav), 1990
He stepped out on the morning of a tiring day
Kissed a woman, and crossed the street,
A luxurious car, a dedicated chauffer
They gallop to the capital - a new day for the small fixer

He dials during the drive - party matters
And worries for his share in the division of the pie.
The conversation flows, things are promised to him
Already years that he doesn't represent voters

Documents for review, budgets for development
And smoke from the cigar rises to the open window
He says to a member of the party
"Wait, Gedalia, perhaps you'll be the ambassador to Australia"

He observes the landscape of the nation he loved
So what if on the way he lied and stole,
His face reflects off the corner of the window
His face is -
the face of the nation...

Corridors of authority and floors of bureaucracy.
Budgets for 'Yeshivot' at the expense of the inflation
He cut in a minute three factories
And four hundred people became unemployed

They live in the car - bluish window shades
He stops by to visit, parents in mourning
He forgot that he advocated in favor of war
His face is -
the face of the nation...

He's important, a crony, he will be come what may.
It's he who will decide if there will be war.
It's he who will determine the education of your children
He'll establish procedures, you'll go out of your mind

With passion he gives an address to an emotional mass
Land of the saviours with sickle and scythe!!!
Vote correctly and I ask...
Give me power
Let cry out
What I want
Because I had a land flowing with milk...
[Play now...]

And I don't understand, what changed?
If I'm the sole idiot in the country,
Who feared for tomorrow and dreams of olive leaves
And wants to feel that here is the home?

I stroke your face and look out the window
And you smile from within the dream
I love that you're like this and not different
Your smile is -
the face of the nation...

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Song Title: Yonathan, Come Home ("Yonatan Sa Habaita")
Musician: Oshik Levi
Video: from a live performance shown on Channel 33
Year Released: 1972
Credits: lyrics by Yonathan Geffen; music by Naftaly Alter
Comments: Released in 1972, this song nonetheless became an anthem during the 1973 Yom Kippur War - a song to encourage Israelis to return home and fight for the country.
Hear the song!


Oshik Levy album: Peace of Mind (Ktzat Sheket), 1991
A big city without soldiers and it's impossible to sleep
Bells rings in the morning on Sunday
A cold moon on the buildings and it's a real winter
I feel simply wonderful, but this isn't my home

Yonathan, come home - take a train, take an airplane
Take a little present for the boy, an airplane - Yonathan, go to sleep

Michael comes and puts on a record - lightning flashes outside
And Shalom speaks English - just like in the kibbutz
And he showed me the city - and Maya who got bigger
The people are healthy but the sun here is sick.

Yonathan, come home - take a train, take an airplane
Take a little present for the boy, an airplane - Yonathan, go to sleep

We went to a big place - to drink, you know
And they play there rock n' roll in so many colors
The winter came here early - the light is no longer cheerful
Perhaps we'll go to Amsterdam, Rome or Paris

Yonathan, come home - take a train, take an airplane
Take a little present for the boy, an airplane - take a backpack, take a cane
And travel to Eretz Israel

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Song Title: Waiting For Messiah ("Mekhakim Le Mashiakh")
Musician: Shalom Hanoch
Video: original music video, pulled from Channel 23 educational TV
Year Released: 1985
Credits: lyrics and music by Shalom Hanoch
Comments: A critical piece about the economic depression and hyper-inflation of the mid-Eighties, this became one of the most popular 'protest' songs written in Israel even though Hanoch didn't write the song for this purpose.
Hear the song!


Shalom Hanoch album: Waiting for Messiah (Mekhakim Le Mashiakh), 1985
Sitting for hours, waiting for Messiah to come
Messiah is a vital person, his hand in everything - and everything in his hand
Thick smoke and Yerukham smacks his lips
Yudah looks at his watch and rolls his eyes
An office in the north "Artzieli Ltd. - Advisors"
It's afternoon and outside the world turns
He presses a button an says "Bring us some coffee"
Messiah's not coming - and he's also not calling

A general silence, five people - tense
The door opens and Yardena's all smiles:
"The black for Yudah, the tea for Artzieli the son"
Yardena goes out, Ezra doesn't stop smoking
And so it is that hour passes hour
The elder Artzieli knows that he didn't err
Wiping sweat from his brow he raises his voice to his son:
"Messiah's not coming - and he's also not calling"

The entrance bell cuts through the hum of the air-conditioner
Making Yerucham jump to the door, cutting through the smoke
Artzieli the son looks at his father from the side
And at the entrance appears a policeman with his hat in hand
And Yudah says: "Something must have happened"
And Yerucham replies: "They don't just send the police for nothing"
And says the policeman: "There was an accident and therefore -
Messiah's not coming - and he's also not calling"

"An accident for whom?" asks Artzieli the son
"An accident for the nation" replies the poor cop
"The bourse collapsed, people are leaping from the roof
Also Messiah jumped and they reported that he was killed..."
"...Everything's lost" cries Ezra Dahan, the contractor
"Messiah's in the sky and we without the money are here"
And Yardena the pretty mumbles: "This cannot be -
Messiah's not going to come - and he's also not going to call"

"December the Bitter" announced the newspapers
And the Minister of Finance gave an interview on "Mabat":
"The public is stupid and so the public will pay
What comes with ease with the same ease will go -
The little citizen is forced to pay in big"
And what interests me is Yardena more than all else
Goes off to reserve duty and counts the money that isn't there
And Messiah's not coming - and he's also not calling.

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Song Title: They're Working on Us ("Ovdim Aleynu")
Musician: The Pale Scout Trio ("HaGashash HaHiver")
Video: An election night revised version shown on the Channel 1 program "That's How it Was". Opens with Shaike reading the 1981 election results and Poli asking for a piece of the paper (which he literally receives), then Gavri shows up, asks also for "a piece" which he promptly starts to eat - because he's hungry.
Year Released: 1977
Credits: lyrics and music by Yossi Banai
Comments: The Pale Scout Trio are Israel's premier and legendary comedy act, representing the apex of Israeli humor: jokes and satire built on impersonations and feeding off material from the day-to-day, with wit drawn from the skillful use of proper Hebrew to make plays on words and phrases.
Hear the song!


- I read in the paper
- Yes, what did you read in the paper?
- Thaaaat the prices will go down...
- will go down?
- ...and there won't be a recession
- ...and there won't be a recession
- I swear by Gooooooooddddd
- So we do the prices jump like crazies?
[Chorus]: Because they're working on us, working on us...


- And why do they say...
- What do they say? What do they say?
- That poverty won't exist and there'll no longer be gaps (in standard of living)
- ...and that people will be able to buy apartments dirt cheap
- ...and that the crew here will rule until the end of all generations...
[Chorus]: They're working on us... working... in winter, in summer, in the afternoon… They're working on us right before our eyes, they're working on us right in the face, and we don't learn...
- don't learn...
- Yes
- don't learn...
- Yes
- don't learn... don't learn



- I heard the news...
- Nu, what's old in the news?
- That a new page has been turned, and that there won't be any more scandals
- Ah, they confirmed it in the news?
- Yes, (I swear) on the lives of all the Holy men
- So how do you explain it that every day here heads get lopped off?
[Chorus]: Because, they're working on us, they're working on us... whaaaat...


- And why do they say that it's terribly worthwhile to save?
- ...that income tax authority promises not to come and bite?
- ...and that account credits won't be wiped out in at a murderous rate?
- ...and that the next Chief of Staff will finally be Yemenite... Yemenite, Yemenite... Chief of Staff Yemenite, a Yemenite as Chief of Staff, Chief of Staff Yemenite, a Yemenite as Chief of Staff...
- Hey, heeey, Yeshayahu!!
- Will he be?
- Who?
- The Chief of Staff...
- What?
- A Yemenite?
- He'll be, he'll be, he'll be...
- When?
- When the Messiah will come...
- And when will the Messiah come?
- When the Chief of Staff will be a Yemenite

[Chorus]: ...In winter, in summer, in the afternoon... They're working on us right before our eyes, they're working on us right in our face and we don't learn...
- don't learn...
- Yes
- don't learn...
- Yes
- don't learn... don't learn



- Before the elections, they promise and they promise...
- ...that they'll make of the country a Garden of Eden of flowers
- ...that anyone who just wants will immediately be able to get a phone...
- ...even if his father's name is Zilberboim [Ashkenazi/European name, i.e. upper class] and his mother's name is Khalfon [Mizrachi/Middle Eastern name, i.e. lower class]...
[Chorus]: Because they're working on us, they're working on us, they're working on us, they're working on us, they're working on us...


- My voters and voteresses… Here has arrived the critical moment… We're sitting at President Carter's...
- Where?
- At the "Laben" (i.e. White) House… There we will speak with him in a language which is not used, and we will tell him: Jimmy... laid before us is the Bible, and like the Prophet said, in Chapter 4 Verse 15: "Thus said the Prophet Yeshayahu: 'Lo zmichut mit ha bubkes!'" [in Yiddish: i.e. "cut the crap"]


- It's not correct that in the country
      - there's a lack of work
- Look how they work on us already according to a system, so come and let's raise a glass in song of thanks, that we're the nation which was born to live to work
[Chorus]: They're working on us, they're working, in winter, in summer, in the afternoon... They're working on us right before our eyes, they're working on us right in our face and we don't learn... don't learn... in winter, in summer, in the afternoon... they're working on us right before our eyes, they're working on us right in our face and we don't learn...
- don't learn...
- Yes
- don't learn...
- Yes
- don't learn... don't learn
- they're working on us, they're working on us...


- They're working on us, they're working
- They're working, eh?
- Indeeeed...

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Song Title: We Overcame Pharaoh (this too shall pass) [live] ("Avarnu et Paroh")
Musician: Various Artists (Association for Remembrance of Meir Ariel)
Video: original rendition by Meir Ariel
Year Released: 2001 (1990)
Credits: lyrics and music by Meir Ariel / re-edited by: Eran Weitz, Tal Segev and Dori Ben-Zeev
Website: www.meirariel.org.il and www.meirariel.net
Comments: One of Meir Ariel's (1942-1999) seminal pieces, it was re-recorded live during a concert in 2001 for the annual tributes paid in his memory. About 13 different performers participated in the concert and in this group-song, some of whom are already featured on this music page: Shotey HaNevuah (Fools of the Prophecy), Shlomi Shaban, Meir Banai, Eran Tzur. The song is a sort of anthem promoting positive thought and spirit in the face of relatively trifling (but meaning-ladened) problems. In this live version one stanza is missing and the last stanza has been re-written to relate to Meir Ariel himself.
Hear the song!


The income tax authorities, they seized my amplifier
The value added tax authorities, they confiscated my transmitter
The electric company seized my battery
The water authority blocked up my well
I saw that I was spiraling down into crisis
I'd begun as a visionary
But we overcame Pharaoh
We'll overcome this too

A mistake in the computer cost me a million
A cash machine swallowed up my balance
An electronic secretary postponed my interview
An automatic judge revoked my license
Into a mechanical lawyer I slid a token
through the slit in his mouth
But we overcame Pharaoh
- Pharaoh
We'll overcome this too

I learned a profession which was useful and necessary
In order to not be hard-pressed and stressed
I stuck with it, I was diligent
So too was the failure of the system, it too was diligent
I found myself with my profession left outside
getting thinner
But we overcame Pharaoh
- Pharaoh
We'll overcome this too

Yes, yes we'll overcome this too
If we overcame Pharaoh we'll overcome this too
Yes, yes
Yes, yes we'll overcome this too
Also this and this...
This and this...

I wandered around a bit without purpose
without specification and without compromise
I lost height [stature] and some consciousness [recognition]
I thought perhaps in any case, what is the definition
that will give a clear and precise answer
I got torn up by this!
But we overcame Pharaoh
We'll overcome this too

And now you're stuck in the modern age
And to tell you the truth, you're rather indifferent
The situation indeed is rotten, but you don't feel it
You don't have the stomach for all the material which the [television] screen delivers
And the authority of the land is sinking to the streets
And you're [Meir Ariel] missed here
"But we overcame Pharaoh"
...just more and more often

Yes, yes we'll overcome this too
If we overcame Pharaoh we'll overcome this too
Yes, yes
we'll overcome this too
If we overcame Pharaoh we'll overcome this too
Also this and this...
This and this...

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Song Title: On the Path to the Pools ("Ba Shvil El HaBrekhot")
Musician: Chava Alberstein
Video: live performance in 1970's
Year Released: 1968
Credits: lyrics by Yoram Taharlev; music by Alona Tur'el; arranged by Dubi Zeltzer
Website: Chava Alberstein on Facebook and in wikipedia
Comments: A song about a love lost in the War of Attrition 1967-69.
Hear the song!


Chava Alberstein album: Death of the Butterfly (Moot Ha Parpar), 1968
Warm winds blew between the pine trees
And a rustle from the showers rose up from the fields
In her head's hair awhitened her fingernail
And her little hand awhitened in his

On the path to the pools they walked holding hands
And stars fell onto the water with the coming of the dew
And a lone jackal laughed far away in the night
And she said: you're so handsome, soldier

And she told him: if tomorrow you set out
Your backpack I packed for you to take
I didn't put inside a letter, or a flower for a momento
If you remember [me] - you'll remember, and if you forget [me] - you'll forget

And now they returned on the path from the pools with sunrise
Tears of dew gathered largely at the tips of the reeds
And he held her hand in his with security
And she looked at him from within a transparent screen

And he told her: my girl, I'll still return
Even if far from you, my heart remains with you.
And she quietly returned him the fingernail
If he remembers - he'll remember, and if he forgets - he'll forget.

And he set out to battle with the budding of the sun
And didn't return from there so many days.
And she knows that he will not return forever
And she still prays that he just forgot.

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Anthems (the list is sortable by clicking on the column names)

Song Name Artist Name Genre Song # in Jukebox
"It Happens" Aric Lavie Classic Rock / Vocal Song #9
"Me and You" Arik Einstein Classic Rock Song #64
"Pillar of Fire" Shem-Tov Levy Instrumental Song #76
"Run, Shmulik" ("Rutzi Shmulik") Ariel Zilber Classic Rock Song #163
"Above Mount Scopus" Yehoram Gaon Vocal Song #177
"Let it Be" ("Lu Yehi")" Chava Alberstein Classic Rock/Folk Song #178
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Song Title: It Happens ("Ze Koreh")
Musician: Aric Lavie
Video: video of a remix edit by the band "Polyanna Frank", 2003
Year Released: 1975
Credits: lyrics and music by Shmulik Kraus
Website:
Comments:
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Aric Lavie album: Ata Israeli - The Best of Aric Lavie (Ata Israeli), 1998
It happens, that the path gets longer
It happens, you have to keep going
Nothing at all is for sure
Not for a year, not for a week
You have to wander and wander
And to think "how I could
go back on everything"
But man, it happens

It happened that the path got longer for me
It happened, I don't know how it came to me
Nothing at all is for sure
Not for a year, not for a week
You have to wander and wander
And to think "how I could
go back on everything"
But man, it happened

It will happen, and perhaps at the end
We'll see that the path continues on
Nothing at all is for sure
Not for a year, not for a week
You have to wander and wander
And to think "how I could
go back on everything"
But man, it will happen

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Song Title: Me and You ("Ani ve Ata")
Musician: Arik Einstein and Miki Gabrielov
Video: original music video. Interesting to see the Caesaria power station with only 1 tower (instead of 3 as today).
Year Released: 1971
Credits: lyrics by Arik Einstein; music by Miki Gabrielov
Website:
Comments:
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Arik Einstein album: At Avigdors Grass (Ba Deshe Etzel Avigdor), 1971
Me and you, we'll change the world
Me and you, then everyone will come
They said it before then, before me
Doesn't matter - me and you, we'll change the world

Me and you, we'll try it out from the beginning
If it will be bad, it's not a problem - it's not so bad
It doesn't matter - me and you, we'll change the world

Me and you, we'll change the world
Me and you, then everyone will come
They said it before then, before me
Doesn't matter - me and you, we'll change the world

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Song Title: Pillar of Fire ("Amud Ha'Esh")
Musician: Shem-Tov Levy
Year Released: 1981
Credits: music by Shem-Tov Levy
Website:
Comments: Israel received television as late as 1966 as successive governments had felt that the device would have a distracting effect on the citizenry, and even when TV did reach the country it remained in black and white until 1982; Israel's Channel 2 arrived as late as 1993. A similarly-minded government also helped prevent the Beatles from coming to the country in 1964 to perform live.

The theme music here is from the landmark Israel Channel 1 documentary series on the rebirth of Israel, "Pillar of Fire", produced between 1975 and 1981 (airing in 1981). The program bore certain hallmarks of the groundbreaking British documentary series "The World at War" which preceded it (1973-74), with an emphasis on first-hand interviews with historical figures and participants; somber, charismatic narration (Yossi Banai on "Pillar of Fire", Laurence Olivier on "World at War"); dramatic pauses on black and white pictures at the start and end of each segment as well as the series' emblem rising from fire. The strains of the theme music here with orchestral accompaniment by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra is also reminiscent of Carl Davis's piece for "World at War".

A thematic derivation of Israel's national anthem, "Ha'Tikva" ("The Hope"), this piece is often used on public occasions as an unofficial anthem of sorts. Touching music with an aura of grandeur from an important production created relatively soon after the establishment of Israel's own television broadcasting authority.

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Shem-Tov Levy album: Music From Films (Musica Me'Hasratim), 1995
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Song Title: Run, Shmulik ("Rutzi Shmulik")
Musician: Ariel Zilber
Year Released: 1976
Credits: lyrics and music by Shmulik Chisik
Website: arielzilber.com and Ariel Zilber on Facebook
Video: live performance circa. 1977
Comments: In 1976 and for many years since there probably wasn't a person in the country who didn't know this song. Easily recalled by its odd name, which is really just two words from two different lines of the song.
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When you get up in the morning and dress
And the sun sends you warm regards
You drink a cup of coffee and remember
How at night he appeared in a dream.

Quickly on the steps you descend
You manage to catch the last ride
Arrive at the office and remember
How at night he appeared in a dream.

Run, Shmulik is calling you
And sends you a thousand kisses.
Run, Shmulik is waiting for you
How much more time will you make him wait

That's how the whole day goes by, you don't know
If it's simply reality, or a fantasy.
You drink another cup of coffee and remember
How at night he appeared in a dream

And in the evening when you return home
Throw a sudden glance out of the window
He is standing there on the corner and is waiting for you
Yes, tonight you no longer need to dream.

Run, Shmulik is calling you
And sends you a thousand kisses.
Run, Shmulik is waiting for you
How much more time will you make him wait

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Song Title: Above Mount Scopus ("Me'al Pisgat Har Ha Tzofim")
Musician: Yehoram Gaon
Year Released: 1971
Credits: lyrics by Avigdor Hameiri; music (folk song)
Website: official website and wikipedia entry and facebook page
Video: static picture with music
Comments:
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Above the peak of Mount Scopus
I will humble myself (prostrate myself) to face You
Above the peak of Mount Scopus
Hello to you Jerusalem!
Thousands of generations have I dreamt of you
To see, to be granted in the light of your face

Jerusalem, O Jerusalem
Alight your face to your sons
Jerusalem, O Jerusalem
From your ruins will I [re-] build you

Above the peak of Mount Scopus
I will humble myself (prostrate myself) to face You
Above the peak of Mount Scopus
Hello to you Jerusalem!
With a thousand blessings will you be blessed
Temple, King, city of monarchy

Jerusalem, O Jerusalem
I won't move from here
Jerusalem, O Jerusalem
Will come the Messiah, will come

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Song Title: Let it Be ("Lu Yehi")
Musician: Chava Alberstein
Year Released: 1973
Credits: words and music by Naomi Shemer; arranged by Kobi Oshrat
Website: musical biography and wikipedia entry
Video: static picture with music
Comments: A revised version of the original by Naomi Shemer and Yossi Banai; a song synonymous with the 1973 Yom Kippur War. Although the album cover suggests the record is collection of pleasant elevator music this is landmark record with a lot of blues and folk themes - Alberstein was 26 years old when this album came out.
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Still there is a white sail on the horizon
Across a heavy black cloud
All that we ask - let it be
And if in the windows this evening
The holiday candles shake
All that we ask - let it be

Let it be, let it be, please let it be
All that we ask is let it be

If the herald (eg. officer informing of soldier's death) stands in the doorway
Place a kind word in his mouth
All that we ask - let it be
If your soul asks to die
From the blossom or the harvest
All that we ask - let it be

Let it be, let it be, please let it be
All that we ask is let it be

What sound of song and joy I hear
Sound of 'shofar' and sound of drums
All that we ask - let it be
If you hear in all these
Also one prayer from my mouth
All that we ask - let it be

Let it be, let it be, please let it be
All that we ask is let it be

Inside a little neighborhood is shaded
A tiny house with a red roof
All that we ask - let it be
This is the end of summer, the end of the path
Let them return hither
All that we ask - let it be

Let it be, let it be, please let it be
All that we ask is let it be

Let it be, let it be, please let it be
All that we ask is let it be

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Covers of Foreign Songs (the list is sortable by clicking on the column names)

Song Name Artist Name Genre Song # in Jukebox
"I Feel Like a King (Mellow Yellow)" Arik Einstein Classic Rock Song #14
"Shooting Star" Yehuda Eder Classic Rock Song #131
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Song Title: I Feel Like a King (Mellow Yellow) ("Ani Margish Kmo Melekh")
Musician: Arik Einstein
Year Released: 1968
Credits: lyrics by Donovan; Adapted to Hebrew by Arik Einstein
Website: arik220.tripod.com
Comments: Israeli lyrics and arrangement for a song originally performed by Donovan.
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It's good to lie on the grass
It's good to run on the sand
It's good to listen to some Mozart
And to forget everything
I feel like a king
I feel like a king
I feel like a king

You want to win
I'm willing to lose
Come, come, come already the night
You're mine for ever
I feel like a king
I feel like a king
I feel like a king

Yes, yes, a king
Yes, yes, a king
Yes, yes, a king

It's good to see the gang
Who came from afar
It's good to see the sadness change to laughter
I feel like a king
I feel like a king
I feel like a king

It's good to lie on the grass
It's good to run on the sand
It's good to listen to some Mozart
And to forget everything
I feel like a king
Yes, yes, a king
I feel like a king
Yes, yes, a king
Yes, yes, a king
Yes, yes, a king

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Song Title: Shooting Star ("Kokhav Shavit")
Musician: Yehuda Eder
Year Released: 2007
Credits: lyrics and music by Bob Dylan; adapted to Hebrew by Yehuda Eder
Website:
Comments:
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Shooting Star 4... one, two, three, four...

I see a shooting star on a cold night
And you're with me
You draw away into your own world
Far from my world
And if things were good for you
And if things will be bad for you
Now that you've already chosen a target for yourself
I see a shooting star on a cold night

I see a shooting star on a cold night
I'm by myself
When you see me, my life
Accomplishing my dreams
Did I miss an opportunity, make a mistake
Through you I know who I am
I see a shooting star on a cold night

Listen to the engine, they rang the bell
The train is rolling though fires of hell
Rolling, prayers and moans
Last thoughts, a quick self examination
A reverberation rises above the city
And the radio broadcasts announcements

I see a shooting star on a cold night
And draw away
Tomorrow will be too late, so I keep quiet
I wanted just to tell you tonight
What you really needed to hear
I see a shooting star on a cold night
And draw away

Listen to the engine, they rang the bell
The train is rolling though fires of hell
Rolling, prayers and moans
Last thoughts, a quick self examination
A reverberation rises above the city
And the radio broadcasts announcements

Tomorrow will be too late, so I keep quiet
I wanted just to tell you tonight
What you really needed to hear
I see a shooting star on a cold night
And draw away

a shooting star on a cold night
I see a shooting star on a cold night

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Israeli Soul Music (the list is sortable by clicking on the column names)

Song Name Artist Name Genre Song # in Jukebox
"Delusions" Nisim Sarousi Soul / Rock Song #136
"That's How We Parted" Avner Gadassi Soul / Rock Song #137
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Song Title: Delusions ("Ashlayot")
Musician: Nisim Sarusi
Year Released: 1973
Credits: lyrics by David Halfon; music by Nisim Sarousi
Website:
Comments: Unfortunately not the original recording (I winded up with some awful '90s remix). I'll post the original once I get my hands on it.
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To live in a luxury apartment
To think that you're a millionaire
To wake up in the afternoon
Next to a girl or two

A car in red
To sing songs of love and peace
To wander in the outskirts of town
To declare I'm the mayor ["king of the city"]

Never to work
Never to serve anyone
Only the head is in the skies
Rising up there in deceptions
Delusions

To set sail out to the yonders
To float into every port
To travel in Paris or Rome
To live like a Casanova

Delusions, many delusions
But most never come to pass
There, perhaps in dreams
The sweetest delusions are fulfilled

Never to work
Never to serve anyone
Only the head is in the skies
Rising up there in deceptions
Delusions

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Song Title: That's How We Parted ("Nifradnu Kakh")
Musician: Avner Gadassi
Year Released: 1972
Credits: lyrics by Smadar Shir; music by Avner Gadassi
Website:
Comments:
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That's how we broke up
There was a silence
There was nothing left to say
The street was full of emotion
The street was full of people
As if nothing had happened

All this was yesterday
And it seems like a year has already passed
From moments of a large dream
Remains only a tune

You said goodbye
Perhaps you thought
That everything can be changed
It was sad
That it's not so
I simply said goodbye ["see you later"]

All this was yesterday
And it seems like a year has already passed
From moments of a large dream
Remains only a tune

I remember
There was a silence
And we looked one at the other
It was sad
The heart was full of vitality
And we parted with hope

All this was yesterday
And it seems like a year has already passed
From moments of a large dream
Remains only a tune

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