Orphaned Land - Norra el Norra

I've been following the news a bit more than usual this past week, and the more I read/see, the less I understand. It just seems so surreal to me what's going on in Tunisia, Lebanon, and Egypt, and with the additional warnings of near-time earthquakes and the whole political and military messes that are taking place, it feels a bit like the world is going a bit crazy these days. I feel foggy because I don't fully understand what's going on and what effect it has. It's just so easy to get absorbed in schoolwork and become disconnected from the news. Usually, it's a pretty okay thing and not that bad, but now that I'm connected again, I feel like I have to catch up on what I missed. It's also very weird that something big is happening in the Middle East that doesn't directly have anything to do with us. Anyway, this week there was an Orphaned Land concert and I thought of maybe going, but then I realized that this is the only song I really like, as well as their quiet Mabool songs, and it's not even from their latest album. I really love this song, but their other songs aren't all my cup of tea, so for me it's enough to watch this at home and not spend my night dodging fogos. Orphaned Land has earned the well-respected title of being the only Israeli band to attract a huge number of fans of all religions. There was even a news item about them not long ago about their huge popularity in Turkey. I love the fact that people don't care about political issues as long as it's good music - and it is. But it's even more than that because they made an entire concept album on the great flood using Hebrew texts, including this song, which is also called Entering the Ark. According to Wikipedia, the album Mabool tells the story of three sons (Angels) of the seventh (in the mythology, the number seven refers to God). The seventh was divided into three, representing the divide of the Abrahamic religion into three main streams: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity.

Each angel was given a power and a representation. The first angel is Judaism, represented by a Star of David, and his power is magic. The second angel is Islam, represented by a half moon, and his power was his strength. The third angel is Christianity, represented by the cross, and his power is his wisdom.

God had forbidden the angels from reuniting because of fear of their strength. Ignoring the divine order, the angels united into one angel, who was immediately exiled from heaven to earth and was divided into three again, sentenced to fight each other until they could prove themselves and return to heaven.

The angels then tried to convince humanity to stop their sins and warn them of a coming flood as punishment if they did not. The album describes the journey of the three, their convincing, and in the end, their failure.

Sounds like a pretty heavy concept album, but it works. To see Arabs and Christians headbanging to biblical texts seems surreal, but then again, seeing Jews doing it feels even more surreal. I don't really know why, but it just felt right to return to this song today. Especially during these days when it feels like we could all use a flood (as depressing as it may seem). Or we could ignore all this heavy stuff and just rock - that's not too bad of an option.

Nora El Nora, the lord of courage,

Return to me my lord, men my wounds,
my soul is yearning, and in valor we wait.

Nora I sing to thee, hymn of praise,
to you I give my life and faith

Through all time, mighty Nora,
Deliver us the progeny of Abraham,

Offspring of greatness,
you are the living God,
Giver of Torah.

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