2020 was a challenging year, to say the least, but it made way for musical collaborations that would probably never have happened otherwise like Roy Rieck's project Hagal Hasheni (The second wave). The project began at the beginning of the first lockdown and a double album was released in September, just in time for the actual second wave. The idea behind the project is playful and brilliant: Rieck asked artists to send him unfinished drafts that they had lying around-lyrics without music, or music without lyrics, and then he would send it to other artists to work on. Rotem Bar Or from the Angelcy said in an interview that Rieck was bugging him to send his part so one morning he came up with the lyrics from the top of his head and sent them to Rieck in a WhatsApp voice message. Orel Tamuz took the reins from there and the result is one of the most beautiful songs I've heard this year.
In the past I would always associate this song with Memorial Day and other quiet songs about fallen soldiers. But after seeing "Valley of Tears" I understand a bit better the context of the song and the mood of the country when it was released in 1974, a year after the Yom Kippur War. Yehonatan Geffen wrote the lyrics based on a soldier who served with him and was tragically killed by "friendly fire" during training. The song was released on Ktzat Acheret's first and only album, which is well worth digging into (most of the songs are available here). The members of Ktzat Acheret ('A little different' in Hebrew) were Shlomo Gronich, Shem Tov Levi, and Shlomo Idov. Here's a bit about the band from an article in Mitkadem, a progressive rock site: "Shlomo Idov defined Ktzat Acheret as the antithesis of the music of the period, which was expressed in military bands and successful groups like Kaveret. Shlomo Gronich defined his writing in Ktzat Acheret as a kind of rebellion, crossing borders, and an expression of a lot of anger after the results of the Yom Kippur War ... Ktzat Acheret broke up, unfortunately, when Gronich decided to leave the country and go to Europe in the middle of 1975. It's possible that one of the reasons for Shlomo Gronich's decision to leave Israel was related to the fact that his brother, Yaron Gronich, who was also a talented musician, was killed in the Yom Kippur War."
"Valley of Tears" was more of an event than just another TV show. Each episode was followed by a quiet panel to help decompress after violent scenes and discussions about the show continued on the official Facebook page where war veterans shared stories from the battlefield and families of fallen soldiers shared personal stories of their loved ones. For many, the show was difficult to watch and there was a steep rise in calls to Natal, an organization that specializes in the field of war and terror-related trauma. There was also a lot of criticism towards the show from those who didn't like the fabricated storylines, those who felt uncomfortable seeing a traumatic event being shown as entertainment, and those who took issue with the show itself. I guess I belong in the latter group because even though I was glued to the screen every week, the show had many flaws and the end result felt too rushed and incomplete. But the show did succeed in capturing the chaos of the war and the ultimate loss of innocence.
I met him in the heart of the desert
How pretty the sunset is to a sad heart
I drew for him a tree and a sheep on paper
And he promised me he would return
The little prince from unit B
He won't see another sheep eating a flower
And all his roses are now thorns
And his little heart froze like ice
And if you ever come here
Know that here he fell silently
And the sound of the fall was never heard
Because of the soft sand
And if a boy should appear there
With a weary face and golden hair
Know that it's him, and offer him a hand
And wipe the desert sand from his eyes
And then do me a small favor
Please write quickly to all of our mothers
To relieve them a little and alleviate their sadness
