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


Israeli '80s and '90s Music
Israeli new wave, synth-pop, Julio Iglesias-style '80s Latin music and good time rock n' roll pieces, with lyrics translated below.

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On This Page:
80'S AND 90'S
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80's and 90's Hits (the list is sortable by clicking on the column names)

Song Name Artist Name Genre Song # in Jukebox
"Goodbye Adolescence Hello Love" (live) Mashina Pop / Rock Song #1-2
"In The Spring" Micha Shitreet Pop / Rock Song #29
"In the Society for the Protection of Nature" Ariel Zilber Pop / Rock Song #30
"The Scrub's Song" Meir Banai Pop / Rock Song #31
"She Walks on the Streets" Alon Olearchik Pop / Rock Song #32
"Saturdays and Holidays" Yehudit Ravitz Pop / Rock Song #33
"Joint Apartment" Benzine Pop / Rock Song #54
"Sparks" Fortis / Sakharof Pop / Rock Song #66
"There's no End to Childhood" Fortis / Sakharof Pop / Rock Song #67
"Heatwave in the Morning" Menny Beger Pop Song #74
"Game of Tears" Revenge of the Tractor Pop / Rock Song #81
"The Anger" Rockfour Pop / Rock Song #89
"Restless Night" Shlomo Artzi Pop / Rock Song #100
"Beneath a Mediterranean Sky" Shlomo Artzi Pop / Rock Song #108
"A Room of my Own" Arkadi Duchin Rock Song #121
"Thorns (part A)" Meir Ariel Rock Song #126
"A Thousand Firemen" Doda (Gidi Gov & Danny Sanderson) Good-Time Rock 'n Roll Song #138
"Violets" David Broza Latin-Spanish Song #147
"On the Steps of the Theater" Ilan Virtzberg Pop Song #148
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Song Title: Goodbye Adolescence Hello Love [live] ("Lehitraot Neurim Shalom Ahava")
Musician: Mashina
Video: original music video of the studio recording from the 1994 album "Goodbye Adolescence, Hello Love" - a very good original version of the live piece here on mp3
Year Released: (1994) 1995
Credits: lyrics and music by Yuval Banai and Shlomi Brakha
Website: www.mashina.com
Comments: Originally released during the Oslo peace process, when the new and unexpected process brought an avowed enemy to be a sudden peace partner, and was still accompanied by terror attacks. The song captures modern mores of the '90's, with the aura of exuberance punctuated by mourning. This live version was recorded during the band's announced final concerts before breaking up - and just a few months short of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination. The opening is delivered in the style of a newscast, with similar figures of speech, by Yosi Banai - the lead singer's (Yuval) father.
Hear the song!


Mashina album: Time Machine - Live 1995 (Mekhonat Ha Zman), 1995
[Opening]: It was a very rainy day and the team lost
"He was crazy", said an experienced politician
"Tens of people were killed - tens of people", concluded the television announcer
"Let's hope there will be quiet. And now the commercials."
A woman, very pretty, I close with the switch
With an arrow in the heart begins the black night
I can't stop moving even when the music's over
Something in my life is going to change
Above the neon lights, above the concrete city, I see an angel
And he says to me "Take the 1990s"

It was a very rainy day and the team lost
"He was crazy", said an experienced politician
"Tens of people were killed", concluded the television announcer
"Let's hope there will be quite. And now the commercials."
A woman, very pretty, I close with the switch
With an arrow in the heart begins the black night
I can't stop moving even when the music's over
Something in my life is going to change
Above the neon lights, above the concrete city, I see an angel
And he says to me "Take the 1990s"

We returned from Haifa with our faces in our hands
The enemy's no longer frightening, he's just dependent on mercy
Tomorrow will be clear, hoped the forecasts
"The closure will continue. This is the end of the news."
A metal drink can rolls in the street
This is a strange winter and the wind begins to blow
I feel like I've been in an accident but continue behaving normally
I feel like I've been in an accident but continue behaving normally
Above the neon lights, above the concrete city, I see an angel
And he says to me "Take"

Lie down, relax, just close your eyes

The craziness continues all the way
"We live", he said "from Sabbath to Sabbath"
Ideology and money don't go together
And the facts of life are slim like a knife
The call me "Mister Love", the false romantic
Who sinks little by little in to a large testicle
I beg on my knees that there won't be another time
Goodbye adolescence, hello love

Above the neon lights, above the concrete city, I see an angel
And he says to me "Take the 1990s"

Lie down, relax, just close your eyes

It was a very rainy day and the team lost
"He was crazy", said an experienced politician
"Tens of people were killed", concluded the television announcer
"Let's hope there will be quite. And now the commercials."
A woman, very pretty, I close with the switch
With an arrow in the heart begins the black night
I can't stop moving even when the music's over
Something in my life is going to change

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Song Title: In the Spring ("Ba'Aviv")
Musician: Micha Shitreet (pronounced "Shetreet")
Year Released: 1998
Credits: lyrics and music by Micha Shitreet
Website:
Comments:
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We'll get through the winter and afterwards we'll see
In the spring, in the spring
In the meantime, sit under the clementine tree
It's seasonable, seasonable
Accept the judgement which falls from above
Think that it's rain, think that's winter, and afterwards we'll see

We'll get through the winter and afterwards we'll see
In the spring, in the spring, in the spring

In the spring I'll wear a shite shirt
And cross the street like a king...
In the sping, in a white shirt like a king, like a king...
We'll get through the winter and afterwards we'll see
In the spring, in the spring

Accept the judgement which falls from above
Think that it's rain, think that's winter, and afterwards we'll see

We'll get through the winter and afterwards we'll see
In the spring, in the spring, in the spring

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Song Title: In the Society for the Protection of Nature ("Ba'Khevra Le'Haganat Ha'Teva")
Musician: Ariel Zilber
Video: original music video aired on a Channel 1 retrospective program
Year Released: 1982
Credits: lyrics by Shmuel Chisik; music by Ariel Zilber
Website: www.arielzilber.com
Comments:
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various artists album: The 80s - A Decade of Israeli Pop (Lehitei Shnot HaShmonim), 1990
Danny has sympathies for older women
A sexual attraction, an internal attraction
Sits in the bathtub, drawing on the walls
An impulse unknown, really just a permanant habit

Rina invited me to her her room
I thought to myself - this must be serious
Her father's well known and accepted in society
Perhaps there's a chance here to get some kind of appointment

But what a pity, what rotten luck
Sitting here on the bench next to the Supersal [supermarket]

I want to be a permanent member
of the Society for the Protection of Nature
To protect the animals
That are slowly disappearing from the world

I want to be a permanent member
of the Society for the Protection of Nature
To water the flowers
To plant some trees, like everyone

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Song Title: The Scrub's [Chafed-mans] Song ("Shiro Shel Shafshaf")
Musician: Meir Banai
Video: performance pulled from the "Zehu-Ze" ("This is It") program on Educational TV Channel 23
Year Released: 1984
Credits: lyrics by Yair Nitzani; music by Meir Banai
Website:
Comments:
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various artists album: The 80s - A Decade of Israeli Pop (Lehitei Shnot HaShmonim), 1990
What am I, I'm just a man
I live and work like everybody
And see a future and always think
That conviction gives belief

I don't understand what's happening and think
Who listens to what's inside the heart
And sees a future and always thinks
That conviction gives belief

And if we just look, and not be shocked
And we'll show the world that together everyone
So together, yes go together
Yes go together towards the light
Together, this is the time together
And with you together to love

I have no fear and I have a feeling
That my path will be difficult
I see a future, I always think
That conviction gives belief

I see a future, I always think
That conviction gives belief

And if we just look, and not be shocked
And we'll show the world that together everyone
So together, yes go together
Yes go together towards the light
Together, this is the time together
And with you together to love

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Song Title: She Walks on the Streets ("He Holokhet Ba'Drakhim")
Musician: Alon Olearchik
Year Released: 1984
Credits: lyrics and music by Alon Olearchik
Website: www.oleartchik.com
Comments:
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various artists album: The 80s - A Decade of Israeli Pop (Lehitei Shnot HaShmonim), 1990
And on Sunday morning
She wakes up to a dream
And on Friday morning
With a childish personal memory

Her breath escapes away
To touch the gloom
And wraps itself in it
She's a princess without a kingdom

She walks on the streets
She walks on the streets
Above the sea in large planes
Where to will her face turn
Where to will her face turn
Where to will you go Miriam
Wanders around the world
Where to will you go Miriam

And the night's without a star
And the magic is in his hands
And the lights of the strange city
Stroke her hair

A day will come perhaps you'll know
What is hidden in the palm of her hand
What conceals her destiny
In its gray sack

She walks on the streets
She walks on the streets
Above the sea in large planes
Where to will her face turn
Where to will her face turn
Where to will you go Miriam
Wanders around the world
Where to will you go Miriam

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Song Title: Saturdays and Holidays ("Shabatot ve'Khagim")
Musician: Yehudit Ravitz
Video: live performance in Caesaria 1994, featuring Gidi Gov and Rami Kleinstein, pulled from Channel 2
Year Released: 1986
Credits: lyrics by Ya'akov Rotblit; music by Yehudit Ravitz
Website:
Comments:
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Now you're at hom, now you're there
The children jump on you, they're the lovliest things in the world
You melt, spreading out you're hands, you're very happy
And soon you'll read a story from the new book

A model family man you are - a perfect father
At the end you always return, you never leave
Everytime you travel you don't forget presents for everyone
And now you're at home, now you're there

And I'm a hidden partner
I'm in the shadows when the light rises
I'm a mute child witness
Who remains behind

Alone on the roof, Saturdays and holidays
Alone, alone Saturdays and holidays

And you'd be surprised to know that I know you
I know exactly where everything is laid
And perhaps you already know, perhaps you heard my name
Or you slept in silence, not fearing my existence
But I'm always with you
I see you but I'm not seen
When you're there, what remains for you of me now

Alone on the roof, Saturdays and holidays
Alone, alone Saturdays and holidays

You know how I felt
When I saw you on the street not long ago
I was fine, I didn't reveal any sign
But at night how I cried
How I wet the pillow
Why do I always fall in love in what's not possible

Alone on the roof, Saturdays and holidays
Alone, alone Saturdays and holidays

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Song Title: Joint Apartment Building ("Bayt Meshutaf")
Musician: Benzine
Year Released: 1984
Credits: lyrics by Ya'akov Gilad; music by Yehuda Poliker
Website:
Comments: Together with the band "T-Slam", Benzine is touted as one of Israel's first rock bands. It shares a similar early '80s pop-rock sound to Mashina. Benzine was fronted by Yehuda Poliker before he launched his successful solo career.
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Benzeen album: Benzeen (Greatest Hits), 1993
A joint apartment building, so many neighbors
I'm always surrounded by buildings in every direction
I never have a quiet moment
I get no rest
Always there's a door closing
A baby that it crying

Everything starts and ends at the same moment
Because here there's no border - no dividing areas

I turn on the radio
Tune into a station
Run away to the radio
I want to be alone
I turn to the radio
It can be nice
Now everyone's on the radio
They tune into a station

We live inside a box for so many years
We hang the laundry, make problems and issues
I go out, a neighbor enters
Apartment next to apartment
Living balcony across from balcony
As if there's no choice

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Song Title: Sparks ("Nitzutzot")
Musician: Fortis / Sakharof
Year Released: 1990
Credits: lyrics by Rami Fortis; music by Rami Fortis and Berry Sakharof ("FortiSakharof")
Website:
Comments: Berry Sakharof has been one of the country's leading guitarists for the last 25 years; he and Rami Fortis orginially belonged to the popular new-wave English-language Israeli lineup called "Minimal Compact" before they started to perform alone as a duo (and finally as soloists, only to come back together now in the last year). Although quite an old piece now, this song hasn't disappeared from the radio long enough to truly be "classic" (instead of contemporary) rock.
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Fortis & Sakharof album: 1900? (Elef Tsha-meot), 1990
Yes we're both together, the enemy who is a friend
I'm a costume and inside is someone else
Shouting to the moon, crying and cursing
Twisting around like a dog, beaten and wailing

It's like a shock of electricity, and it flows and distorts
The sense of time - to where? I go and get into trouble

Sparks of understanding, passing again like a running movie
Like a stormy wind, they're skinning off more pieces of the peel

The fear drips like poison and gets absorbed like a kiss
I'm the trap, imprisoned without hope
Wanting to open a door, but closed inside and don't go out
Trying to run away and always, always returning

It's like dancing with a ghost who hugs and never lets go
Yes, he's always hungry. I go and distance myself

Sparks of understanding, passing again like a running movie
Like a stormy wind, they're skinning off more pieces of the peel

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Song Title: There's no End to Childhood ("Ein Ketz le Yaldut")
Musician: Fortis / Sakharof
Year Released: 1990
Credits: lyrics by Rami Fortis; music by Rami Fortis and Berry Sakharof ("FortiSakharof")
Website:
Comments:
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Fortis & Sakharof album: 1900? (Elef Tsha-meot), 1990
Come and give me your hand firmly
And we'll go out on a journey, mysterious and pleasant
We'll hug the teddy bear, we'll draw clouds
We'll take a gun and fight like grown-ups
And at night, we'll go together to sleep
You'll be the lady and me the gentleman

At the day's noon everything is colored red
And there's no end to childhood, which passed by so suddenly
At the day's noon everything returns like a dream
Moments and hours which got frozen in place
At the day's noon

Come lets play the same game
The one which time covered in dust
We'll hug the teddy bear and you'll blush
Tell me more, and get so excited
And at night we'll go together to sleep
You'll be the little girl and me the little boy

At the day's noon everything is colored red
And there's no end to childhood, which passed by so suddenly
At the day's noon everything returns like a dream
Moments and hours which got frozen in place
At the day's noon

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Song Title: Heatwave in the Morning ("Boker Shel Khamsin")
Musician: Menny Beger
Video: performance pulled from the "Zehu-Ze" ("This is It") program on Educational TV Channel 23
Year Released: 1985
Credits: lyrics and music by Menny Beger
Website:
Comments:
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Menny Beger album: That Was My Home (Ze Haya Beiti), 1993
Heatwave in the morning
A girl in sandles
Gave me her hand
Took me to the sea

We got into the car
Drove in silence
We saw a beach with
Weeds and seashells

Heatwave in the morning
A girl in sandles
Gave me her hand
Took me to the sea

Heatwave in the morning
A girl in sandles
With sparkling eyes
She's all a dream

Heatwave in the morning
I sat on the sand
A red flame
Burst forth from the sea

The heat is covered in blood
Suddenly the summer ends
I saw people
And everyone was running to the sea

Heatwave in the morning
A girl in sandles
Gave me her hand
Took me to the sea

Heatwave in the morning
A girl in sandles
With sparkling eyes
She's all a dream

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Song Title: Game of Tears ("Miskhak Shel Dma'ot")
Musician: Revenge of the Tractor (also "The Tractor's Revenge"; "Nikmat Ha'Traktor" in Hebrew)
Video: original music video pulled from Channel 24 music TV
Year Released: 1990
Credits: lyrics and music by Avi Balali
Website: www.tractor.co.il
Comments:
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Revenge of the Tractor (Nikmat HaTraktor) album: Tractor's Revenge (Nikmat HaTraktor), 1990
In the hours of quiet
Sweaty from your body
I feel you disappearing
Slipping away inside yourself

Into clouds of silence
You drip saltiness of departure
And strangeness gets scattered

It's all just a game of tears
I fly to another place
It's all just a game of tears
I fly to another place

And in the day's morning
You stood before me silent
And a game of tears began
With the noise of the train

It's all just a game of tears
I fly to another place
It's all just a game of tears
I fly to another place

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Song Title: The Anger ("Ha Kaas")
Musician: Rockfour
Video: performance pulled from the "Zehu-Ze" ("This is It") program on Educational TV Channel 23
Year Released: 1991
Credits: lyrics by Tal Gordon / music by Amir Tzoref
Website: www.rockfour.com and Rockfour @ MySpace.com
Comments:
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Album: Green Airwave 2 - Songs Which Soldiers Love (Gal Yarok 2: Shirim ShKhayalim Ohavim), 2002
My ears are blocked, your smile a dim memory
I push away thoughts and throw, like into a gaping hole,
Seals on contracts of agreements which have passed their time
I see everything get interrupted and left on the side

The anger is already locked in, but still shaking
Between the exposed corners I need to be careful
When you come there won't be anything left
It's like a different place
I run away and call to you, I cannot release myself

If there are still more reasons they're no longer important now
A diver disappears and buries his head in the sand
A collection of questions still burns inside
Afraid to rise up, and always falls afresh

The anger is already locked in, but still shaking
Between the exposed corners I need to be careful
When you come there won't be anything left
It's like a different place
I run away and call to you, I cannot release myself

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Song Title: Restless Night ("Laila Lo Shaket")
Musician: Shlomo Artzi
Year Released: 1986
Credits: lyrics and music by Shlomo Artzi
Website:
Comments: According to mima.co.il the song is about a good friend of Arzti's, Miron Granot, a helicopter pilot killed in the Yom Kippur war.
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Shlomo Artzi album: Restless Night (Laila Lo Shaket), 1986
Again at night I dream about you
In the military uniform which was yours
A helicopter flies around the hot desert
And you're scared
And she already has a child here
She phones that I should come
And I try to get out of it and make an effort
But she's not like everyone else

I tell her it's coming back
Yes, it doesn't go away
She pours me a hot coffee
And caresses my whole being
Then she asks does it help
Go smoke and come back
She gets undressed even when it's not hot
And tempts me

But at night I dream of you
With the same face which was yours
And the same small stubbles which back then
You didn't manage to shave away
And I get down from the bed
And unite, but not with her
Yes I shirk away
Yes I make an effort
But, she watches

I tell her it's coming back
Yes, it doesn't go away
She pours me a hot coffee
And caresses my whole being
Then she asks does it help
Go smoke and come back
She gets undressed even when it's not hot
And tempts me

Again at night I dream about you
And wake up from dreaming about how they are
They're shooting at you and striking you
And you cry
Perhaps you found rest
Among soldiers you're permitted to
Yes I console and sleep with her, yes
As if in your stead

I tell her it's coming back
Yes, it doesn't go away
She pours me a hot coffee
And caresses my whole being
Then she asks does it help
Go smoke and come back
She gets undressed even when it's not hot
And tempts me

I tell her it's coming back
Yes, it doesn't go away
She pours me a hot coffee
And caresses my whole being
Again she asks does it help
Go smoke and come back
Again she gets undressed even when it's not hot
Again she tempts me

A night, a restless night
And you're dead...

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Song Title: Beneath a Mediterranean Sky ("Takhat Shmey Yam HaTikhon")
Musician: Shlomo Artzi
Year Released: 1988
Video: Original music video with English subtitles; features Artzi's son, Ben, who has also launched a music career.
Credits: lyrics and music by Shlomo Artzi
Website: www.shlomoartzi.com
Comments:
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Shlomo Artzi album: August-July Heat (Khom Yuli August), 1988
Beneath a Mediterranean sky
The moon takes a break and packs up
A man with a paintbrush tells me his worries
And paints you similarly - or not, or so
Now we have the time to lie supinely
Half the world takes drugs
In my body passes a shiver, the song "Roxanne"
A shiver I have too, from deprivation

Beneath a Mediterranean sky
You had time to put on makeup and enchant
You go out with a trace of self confidence
You return with your tail folded between your legs
Half the world barely survives
Half the world hates the other half
In my body passes a shiver, me betting
Who is the enemy and who is the friend

Beneath a Mediterranean sky
An evening of watermelons descends
Sweet delusions
Gold links on your neck, and it throws
You from here to there, and me from there to here
Like a ballet melody
Until the sea will return from its fury
No, we won't know
It costs, it costs, it costs us
How much it costs us

Beneath a Mediterranean sky
Your hand strokes me a rare caress
Soon there will be elections
You're a political animal who identifies with minorities
Now we have a an eastern time
Half the world already sings for Greece
In my body passes a shiver, anyway it's
From terror and love

Beneath a Mediterranean sky
An evening of watermelons descends
Sweet delusions
Gold links on your neck, and it throws
You from here to there, and me from there to here
Like a ballet melody
Until the sea will return from its fury
No, we won't know
It costs, it costs, it costs us
How much it costs us

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Song Title: A Room of my Own ("Kheder miSheli")
Musician: Arkady Duchin
Year Released: 1995
Video:
Credits: lyrics and music by Arkadi Duchin
Website: www.arkadi-music.com
Comments:
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I have a room of my own
And in the room there is light
At the moment it's not me
Or me in black

It's continued almost a week
Or at least a few days now
If you ask me why
It's deep inside

Get over it, overcome it
Says a voice to me
To get hit and to fall
Is something everyone can do
All of us are permitted to be weak
Don't plug your ears
Don't close your eyes
Don't raise your hands
Even on difficult days
Even on difficult days

I have a room of my own
In which I relax
How long will all this take
As long as it must

In the meantime it's been a week
Or at least a few days
If you ask me why
It's deep inside

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Song Title: Thorns (part A) ("Kotzim Alef")
Musician: Meir Ariel
Video:
Year Released: 1993
Credits: lyrics and music by Meir Ariel
Website: www.meirariel.org.il and www.meirariel.net
Comments: Meir Ariel chose to name this song and another from the same album as "Thorns A" and "Thorns B", to distinguish them as critical songs from among many of a more pleasant nature on the same album - the notion being that these were "thorns" surrounding the fruits. "Thorns A" mocks the culture of mass television, permanently on, mixing disasters with advertisements and leading in the end of apathy and mindlessness.
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Meir Ariel album: The Best of (HaMeitav), 2004
The naked king rides again under pressure from the masses
The naked king rides again under pressure from the masses
Thrusts out his right shoulder
Sticks out his tongue

My easy chair opens to the back, facing the [television] screen
My easy chair opens to the back, facing the screen
I had a gray day, if not a terrible one altogether
I'm facing the screen

They're showing a little girl stuck in the mud, and there's nothing to be done
I've got a little girl stuck in the mud and there's nothing to do
I, in my easy chair, will continue to lie around
Because I have nothing to do

Those guys who are shooting there in the street - is that real?
Those guys who are shooting there in the street - is that real?
Is that a piece of live news - or a quality movie?

A plane taking off dives and crashes into the bottom of my belly
A plane taking off dives and crashes into the bottom of my belly
A news presenter busies himself a bit in papers - above the peak of my belly

And all the disasters indeed in the end go to the dairy delicacy
Yes all the disasters in the end go to the dairy delicacy
Struck by hunger and quick noise they turn into natural juice now

Above the belly's dome here I am with lurching jaw and tongue
Above the peak of the belly here I am with lurching jaw and toungue
Someone there tried hard and here I am knocking myself down to sleep

With my awakenings they present the national anthem* - perhaps I would get up
With my awakenings they present the national anthem - certainly no one gets up
Our flag flutters in every salon - and nobody gets up
[*Channel 1, back in '93 the only channel, used to play the national anthem at midnight at the close of programming]

The naked king rides again under pressure from the masses
The naked king rides again under pressure from the masses
Thrusts out his right shoulder
Sticks out his tongue

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Song Title: A Thousand Firemen ("Elef Kabayim")
Musician: Doda (Gidi Gov & Danny Sanderson) ["Doda" means 'Auntie']
Video: Danny Sanderson's live version, from Channel 24
Year Released: 1980
Credits: lyrics by Gidi Gov & Danny Sanderson / music by Danny Sanderson
Website: Danny Sanderson @ MySpace and www.dannysanderson.net; www.GidiGov.co.il
Comments: Gidi Gov (lead vocals) and Danny Sanderson, the original "bad boys" of Israeli "good-time rock 'n roll" in one of their early incarnations, with Yehuda Eder on guitars.
Hear the song!


A thousand firemen won't succeed in putting me out
A thousand firemen won't succeed in putting me out
From below the ladder rises
It gets closer and tries...
It reaches...
It doesn't reach, it doesn't reach

A thousand doctors won't succeed in hospitalizing me
A thousand doctors won't succeed in hospitalizing me
Here, there the doctor shouts
He gets closer to me with a needle
Gets closer...
He doesn't reach, he doesn't reach

A thousand barbers won't succeed in cutting my hair
A thousand barbers won't succeed in cutting my hair
Scissors get closer to the head
My ears, he wants to cut
He reaches...
He doesn't reach, he doesn't reach

A thousand firemen won't succeed in putting me out
A thousand firemen won't succeed in putting me out
To put me out
A thousand firemen won't succeed in putting me out
To put me out
Oh oh oh, oh oh eee...
Won't succeed in putting me out
Oh oh oh, oh oh eee...
Won't succeed in putting me out
Oh oh oh, oh oh eee...
Won't succeed in putting me out

A thousand firemen
- Won't succeed in putting [me] out
Two thousand painters
- Won't succeed in putting [me] out
Four hundred thousand cavalrymen
- Won't succeed in putting [me] out
A million nine-hundred and ninety
- Won't succeed in putting [me] out

A thousand firemen won't succeed in putting me out

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Song Title: Violets ("Sigaliyot")
Musician: David Broza
Video: live performace pulled from Channel 3 (probably early 1990's)
Year Released: 1983
Credits: original lyrics and music: A. Sobredo / Hebrew adaptation: Yonatan Geffen / Musical adaptation: Louis Lahav and David Broza
Website: www.davidbroza.net and David Broza @ MySpace
Comments: A Hebrew version of the original "Cecilia" by Sobredo, one of Broza's favorite musicians, who died prematurely in a car accident. This song featured on Broza's 1983 album "The Woman With Me" ("HaIsha She Iti"), which has been for years Israel's best selling album ever. Bearing certain hallmarks of Julio Iglesias of that time, the whole album was dedicated to contemporary Spanish/Latin music of that time; 9 of 10 songs were Hebraicized covers of original Spanish songs. If memory serves me correctly, prior to being released, the record company "Hed Artzi" turned down the chance to produce this album feeling it would not be financially viable and missed out on the country's best selling album ever.
Hear the song!


She got married and she's in bliss
Even though her husband was a sort of ghost and mule
All the time ill-tempered permanently
And he doesn't even say why
It's three years that she receives
From a stranger, under the door
Letters of song to her
They brighten her world

Tell me who is it that writes to you little girl, tell me who sends
A wreath of purple flowers when spring blooms
Who on the ninth of every November
Without greeting, without name or riddle
Send you violets in a wreath tied with a ribbon

Whole nights that she doesn't sleep
About him, while awake, she dreams
He must be a guy with a romantic heart
A good soul and a pleasant smile
Three years he suffers in silence
Yes, sometimes she almost shouts
And what if her husband knows
She hides her letters

Tell me who is it that writes to you little girl, tell me who sends
A wreath of purple flowers when spring blooms
Who on the ninth of every November
Without greeting, without name or riddle
Send you violets in a wreath tied with a ribbon

When her husband returns home
Tired from work, casts downward a questioning glance
He doesn't say yes he knows
If she knows she'd definitely go crazy
Yes, it's he who writes to her
He the beloved, he her dream
And what if her husband knows
She hides her letters

Tell me who is it that writes to you little girl, tell me who sends
A wreath of purple flowers when spring blooms
Who on the ninth of every November
Without greeting, without name or riddle
Send you violets in a wreath tied with a ribbon

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Song Title: On the Steps of the Theater ("Al Madregot HaTeatron")
Musician: Ilan Virtzberg
Video: live performance on a Channel 1 weekly "top of the charts" program (ranking at #18)
Year Released: 1985
Credits: words by Dudu Weizer; music by Ilan Virtzberg
Website: www.virtzberg.com and ilan virtzberg @ MySpace
Comments: An excellent piece not available on CD (as the original record has not been re-released on disc), but kindly made available by Virtzberg on his site (for download and for listening). Virtzberg has many highly regarded music credits to his name, is an active songwriter - and probably the most understated (and so overlooked) of Israel's contemporary music writers and musicians. For example, until we get the actual song in, here is a wonderful piece composed by him, "Under the Tree of Love", and sung by Yossi Banai with Nurit Galron (1988).
Hear the song!


I still don't know what happened
It's still not yet registered in my mind
[It was] on the steps and she said
"I want you to know..."

And I didn't know if it was just
A dream of someone acting
In the theater of someone who said [a female]
"I want you to know..."

[said to a female]:
I love you
I need you
Above the reservoirs of my eyes
I love you
I need you

Goodbye to sadness, to suffering
For myself, my laughter rose and rose
On the steps of the theater
I found a solution

I still don't know what happened
It's still not yet registered in my mind
[It was] on the steps and she said
"I want you to know..."

[said to a female]:
I love you
I need you
Above the reservoirs of my eyes
I love you
I need you

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