Netta - Serenada

Serenada is the Hebrew word for Serenade, a musical composition dedicated to a loved one, often performed outdoors at night. It's also the name of an antidepressant medication given to people to treat depression, panic attacks, OCD, and PTSD. Netta Barzilai and her ex-boyfriend, Guy, have been courageously open about Guy's struggles with PTSD after being called up to serve in Lebanon during the war, and their struggles as a couple, an all too familiar reality in this country. 

From Netta: "If there's a word that has been used too easily in the last three years, it's 'post-trauma'. 'The society is in post-trauma', 'the country is in post-trauma'. No, first and foremost, it's the people, and for them too, this word is a sticker or title, not something that scratches the complexity and the coping or the depression and the mental crisis that are an inseparable part of it.

We live in a visual, flat world. Sometimes what you don't see doesn't exist. And this damage is transparent. There are no visual signs.

I loved one person, but so many people around us are standing before the abyss during this time, and so many people who love them are standing before them helplessly - like me."

Netta's new seven-song album was made to be heard and seen in one sitting, track by track. For 21 minutes and 52 seconds I encourage you to join Netta's journey as she learns to breathe instead of drown.

 

Serenada

I can count 

On one hand, the times that

You said it was hard for you

But I see it all

Don't lie to me, tell me when

Because it burns me to see

You consciously

Hurting 

Yourself a bit again

It hurts me, my heart hurts

I can't 

See you like this

And hopefully

Someone will stop the

Serenada

All the demons, the ghosts, now

They are all singing

We stayed up at night

We heard in our heads the

Serenada

All the good words that turned into songs

We were already happy

I don't know anything

Just to love you like this

And to try to give you

Everything I can

And then to cry in the shower

Because it burns me to see

You consciously

Hurting yourself a bit again

It hurts me

My heart hurts

I can't see you like this

And hopefully

Someone will stop the

Serenada

All the demons, the ghosts, now

They are all singing

We stayed up at night

We heard in our heads the

Serenada

All the good words that turned into songs

We were already happy

Oxytocin

It's best if we get back to routine

Deep sleep

We'll wake up to the birds

Breathing, not speaking

Even when we do everything by the book

And it's impossible to say okay

Yes, we can say we're trying

Oxytocin

Let's hug and wait

Until we feel close

Oh my love

Let's inhale and exhale

Air from the lungs

Something's not going through the indicators

It's stuck between the heart and the uniform

And to tell you honestly, I don't have the strength for a high alert

Because you already left and you're still inside

Oxytocin

Let's hug and believe

Until it feels good here

Oh my love

It scares me too

Between darkness and light

Air to the lungs

Until dawn we'll wait together, I have patience

Even Rome wasn't built in a day so patience

Brick by brick we'll build an empire of gentleness

I sing all the way

Rounds

Talking is taboo

So I got a tattoo

About things that touched me

I life I had

Just so they wouldn't suspect

Emotions were robbed

The demons that burned in me

Dreams I had

The conclusion suddenly drips down on me

Anemones won't bloom in a cotton field

And you can't live a life without intention

I know

Just rise up, up

To release what's not mine, not mine, what's mine?

And the road is not easy, not easy

Holding tight during all the rounds

It's a necessary change

Fate insists

A bowl turned upside down

Walking on the border

Between the good and the forbidden

Between the gray and the clear

I'm not satisfied

And I'm not holding back either

Without floats, I jump into the abyss

Giving up on yesterday for today

To be swept away by the violence of the imagination

Not afraid

Just rise up, up

To release what's not mine, not mine, what's mine?

And the road is not easy, not easy

Holding tight during all the rounds

Alone alone alone

We did everything

We tried to go with the wind

We drowned in the sand

When we stopped to rest

All night climbing up the walls

Don't turn on the lights I want to cry

You and I

We were a perfect chaos

Yell at me again that it's not for me

It was real

That's what I wanted

You left yourself when you left me

Alone alone alone

Alone alone alone

Alone alone alone

Small in the world

Not anyone's

Keeping my distance

Paving a new, safe path for me

I tried hard

Not to bite the apple

All the dreams I left behind

Sad to be alone

Sadder to return

You and I

We were a perfect chaos

Yell at me again that it's not for me

It was real

That's what I wanted

You left yourself when you left me

Alone alone alone

Alone alone alone

Alone alone alone

Small in the world

Not anyone's

Leftovers

The cheese in the past few days

Has been packing up all its belongings

It said goodbye to the peppers

And to the apple, which they ate a bit of

There are three slices left

Slowly rotting away

Poor thing, they opened it and didn't finish

See what it has to offer

And they exhausted the idea

Everyone wants to be the first

You're not so pretty without the nylons anymore

Leftovers, you're just leftovers

Everyone ate from you

You're all marks and traces

Get yourself outside

There's something a bit sour about you

And say hello

To the cats

They once told you that you were pleasant

Smooth and comforting

They skipped a beat

They messed with you from all directions

And you let them take

Because you thought they were giving

You're sorry you gave up the lid

And because you were so hurt

You covered yourself with a hard crust

You told the cats

And you kept asking

If I'm so delicious then how come they didn't finish everything?

This too will come

Something in me below is dying

Something in me above is dying to be with you

If I had anything to give

Everything I had was already yours

In bright lights

You wanted it all

Begging, wait

With time

This too will come

I'm a new person tomorrow

I promise

I promise you

I'll manage

To love you

Just as you deserve

As you deserve

We had a nice ride

I have nothing to worry about you, you'll be happy

I didn't want you to see this

One day I'll manage to ask for forgiveness

In bright lights

You wanted it all

Begging, wait

With time

This too will come

I'm a new person tomorrow

I promise

I promise you

I'll manage

To love you

Just as you deserve

As you deserve

Elevator

Not yet

I promise that you don't have to worry about him yet

Still afraid to drive a car

It's too early to talk about the past

Motto

There aren't many fish in the sea anymore

Hold on tight

Not giving up easily on the game, no

Because if I won, I'd still have love

Take the weight and put it on me

You don't feel it underwater

Let's talk without thinking twice

I won't wait two days for you

Come

I'm tired of climbing the stairs

I, too, have scars you haven't seen

And even if I wasn't where you were

I'm shouting asking

You to come

Climb with me up to all the dreams

From the depths you've already swum

I cried everything you didn't cry

And then I saved a place for you

In the elevator

Elevator

Elevator

Elevator

Why did you elevate in my mind

So hypothetically

In a perfect world

I solve an equation and the fear disappears

Everywhere I looked

You were there

You were there

You would

Place my head on your shoulder

Tell me the world is just exhausting

It's lucky I have you, alone it's no fun

The head has loosened

The fear is burning

I'm getting out

Of here

Well

Come on

I'm tired of climbing the stairs

I, too, have scars you haven't seen

And even if I wasn't where you were

I'm shouting asking

You to come

Climb with me up to all the dreams

From the depths you've already swum

I cried everything you didn't cry

And then I saved a place for you

In the elevator

Elevator

Elevator

Elevator

Why did you elevate in my mind

Shye Ben Tzur - Like a Wildflower

 

This stunning cover of Chava Alberstein's classic was released a few months ago as part of Beit Avi Chai's Song of Hope series. The song starts at 5:00, but I highly recommend listening to Shye Ben Tzur (there are English subtitles in the video). He says that he felt that something inside him wrote the song, and I can really feel in his performance the connection to Rachel Shapira's beautiful lyrics, which have brought comfort to so many people. 

Shye's much-anticipated new album with Jonny Greenwood and The Rajasthan Express will be out next week and in the meantime you can see the video for Shemesh, a gift that couldn't have come at a better time. ♥  

Zehu Ze and T-Slam - The Face of the Nation

 

I used to like watching the torch-lighting ceremony marking the beginning of Independence Day celebrations, but I felt like I couldn't see it last night. In the past few years, it has become so political, organized by Transport Minister Miri Regev, with constant camera cuts to her seated next to Netanyahu and his wife. I heard that Netanyahu gave an election-style speech, in which he talked about returning all the hostages from Hamas captivity, without differentiating between those who were returned alive and those whose bodies were returned. I thought of the moving interview I saw with Rachel Goldberg-Polin, whose son Hersh was kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th and was executed in August 2024, along with five other hostages. In the interview, Rachel talks about the day of the funeral and how she saw people in the streets carrying signs reading the word "sorry". I remember the anguish during that time. It wasn't just "we are sorry for your loss", it was "we are sorry that we didn't bring Hersh back sooner, before it was too late". We will always have enemies, but he should never have been kidnapped from a security-cleared music festival within Israel's borders.

This song was written in 1990, in response to Shimon Peres's attempt, and failure, to form a narrow government with the ultra-orthodox parties, in what became known as "the dirty trick". Reading the lyrics, this could have been written today, and it's not a surprise that Zehu Ze chose to perform it on their show last week, together with T-Slam, who are still rockers to their core.

He went out in the morning of a tiring summer's day
Kissed his wife, crossed the road

An elegant car, a skillful driver

Galloping to the capital - a new day for the small businessman

Places a call during the trip - party business

And worries about his part of the slice of the cake

The conversation streams, things were promised to him

For many years now, he hasn't represented those who voted for him

Documents for review, budgets for development
And cigar smoke out the open window

He says to a member of the party, "Just a moment 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 is reflected in the window in the corner

His face is

The face of the nation...

The halls of power and the floors of bureaucracy

Budgets for Yeshivas at the cost of inflation

He cut in a minute three factories

And four hundred workers were made unemployed

Driving south in his car - bluish window blinds

He stopped for a visit to bereaved parents

He forgot he advocated for war

His face is

The face of the nation

He's important and well-connected and will continue, come what may

He is the one who will decide if there will be a war

He is the one who will determine your children's education

He is the one who will set procedures, and you'll lose your temper

In a fiery speech to an emotional crowd

Redeeming ground with sickle and scythe

Vote correctly and I implore you...

Give me power

Let me scream

Whatever I desire

Because I had

A land of milk and honey

Play music now...

And I don't understand what changed

If I'm the only idiot in the country,

Who is anxious about tomorrow and dreams of olive leaves

And wants to feel that my home is here

I caress your face, look out the window

And you smile within a dream

I love that you are like this and don't change

Your smile is

The face of the nation

Thank you to Moshe Kaye for the translation.

Ilanit and Doron Talmon - A Song for an Ordinary Day

 

Passover is the holiday of freedom, and to mark the holiday, the Kan 88 radio station aired three special programs, each one curated by a former hostage, giving them complete freedom to play whatever they wanted. Each show gave so much insight into their inner world. I loved Amit Soussana's picks with deep cuts that don't usually make it to the radio, and I was deeply moved by Yarden Bibas's selections. Yarden shared that the songs he chose have helped him in the past year, expressing emotions that he hasn't been able to describe in words. It was especially emotional to hear him say he would play Zakk Wylde's "I Thank You Child" on family car trips, and Ariel knew it was 'their song'. He played the song at the funeral of Shiri, Ariel, and Kfir, and lyrics from the song are inscribed on their tombstone: "It was you who made living all worthwhile, oh lovin' you it's the best". We will never forget them.

While Amit and Yarden stuck to specific genres, I loved how Guy Gilboa Dalal took us on a genre-spanning musical journey. He shared how Avenge Sevenfold's Buried Alive gave him strength during his captivity, and I can't help but shiver when I hear the lyrics "Hold on to faith as I dig another grave", knowing the hell he has been through and survived. Later in the show, he dedicated Avenge Sevenfold's Gunslinger, to his older brother, who had introduced him to the band when he was a kid. They had gone to the Nova Festival together with friends, and Guy knew before he was taken hostage that his brother was injured. "I didn't know what happened to my brother, I didn't know if my brother was alive, but I had faith. The song is about war, about the hardship, the loneliness, and the strong desire to return home to the person you love. When I got home, I discovered that my brother had the meaning of the song tattooed on his leg, as a symbol of our bond". In February 2025, when Tal Shoham and Or Wenkert were released from captivity, Guy had asked them to send songs to his family members, each song with its own special meaning and significance. He sent Gunslinger to his brother, Liad Meir's Sunglasses to his sister, Damien Jr Gong Marley's Medication to his dad, and Ilanit's A Song for an Ordinary Day to his mom. I was familiar with the classic song, but never really stopped to listen to the lyrics, beautifully written by Rachel Shapira. This moving performance is from last year and was dedicated to the families of the hostages. With all we've been through, I am comforted by the fact that our hostages have returned home, and it is always possible to find and to share the small joys of an ordinary day.

If I have strings, they play with vibration

If I have a worry, it is almost exposed

If I have love in me, it will speak quietly

If I have roots, they lengthen slowly

You see how suddenly I'm shivering

The wind often changes its direction

We tried to leave, but I know

That we still stay year after year

In our rooms, the sun is sketching

Lines and strips of light on the walls

Every morning, I collect for you

Small details, small joys of an ordinary day

Are you responding? Will you answer me?

Maybe my sounds get in your ears

Maybe you listen, maybe you are like me

I can see my face suddenly reflected in yours

If I have strings, they play trembling...

This ordinary day is a day of grace

And in its grace, these lines are written for you

Take my hand now, reconcile with me

On such an ordinary day, our paths meet

I used the help of this excellent translation by Boaz Lenn, featuring the original video, a timeless classic.

Vitarti - We All Lost / Your Own Drone

 

Vitarti are back! Here is what they wrote when they shared this first single from their new album back in October: "We All Lost - a new song. When we grew up in the 90s, for a moment, there was a euphoria of peace. One that was talked about, dreamed about. One that was just a touch away on the landline.

We All Lost is a lament for a childhood destroyed by a cruel reality. Cynical, painful, and sobering. One that our parents hoped to protect us from, one that we hope to protect from our children".

You promised me an olive branch by the end of the decade

Dressed up and excited, I waited in line

Peace, now

Mom, you said it wouldn't be dangerous here

Sitting, crying in the dark, calling the ERAN hotline again

What will be here, Dad? Is there a total victory yet?

I took four Clonex pills, I'll feel them soon

We are the children of Oslo 

Fall '93

A new Middle East and punk rock

You ruined my dreams

Because the dove exploded into pieces at Maxim

And I'm already used to seeing a thousand bodies on prime-time

Haim, Yavin

Mom, you promised back then that it would be great here

Sitting, crying in the dark, and ordering an expensive baguette

What will be here, Dad? Is there a total victory yet?

Getting dressed up for another evening, in the shelter

I scream but they don't hear

Time passes and there are more casualties

Bombs, tears, and fake pride

Helpless and scratching in my sleep

We all lost.

bfan.link/vitarti

Vitarti released their second single last month, about a week into the war: "A new song. Written two days ago, recorded and mixed yesterday. Not really, we're living in a two-and-a-half-year loop".

Let's fly from here to another place in time

A place where there are no more missiles

Let's fly from here, I packed on my own

But flights were canceled, I want to cry, I need an urgent rescue

Let's fly from here, but how?

And you listen to punk rock

And I to Yinon Magal

I sleep with my shoes on

And you with a light weapon

You deserve better than this, I swear, a long time ago, kus'emek already

I have a friend, Oded, a contract worker at Rafael

He organizes vacations to all the countries, the suitcases are a joke

You deserve your own drone

We'll go see Rancid

We'll live in northern Spain

Hug me around the waist

Hold my hand

Floating in the clouds

There are no more fears

On flying drones

We control its destiny

Flying to a new land

Where there is no contention and evil

Just you and me like back then

Just two bored people

bfan.link/katbam

Jimbo J - Crazy

 

It's day 28 of the war with Iran, and I keep thinking about how I've always heard that it takes about a month to form a new habit, how we've already gotten used to so many aspects of the "war routine": functioning on just a few hours of sleep, taking super quick showers, and using a setting on Waze to find the closest shelter while driving, all while life goes on. It feels like there's a general timeline of when the war with Iran will end, but the escalation in Lebanon is a whole other story. There's a very real possibility that life will go back to normal, more or less, but not in the North. This keenly relevant song is from Jimbo J's new album "It's All Good", written after he returned with his family to Kibbutz Or HaNer in the Gaza Envelope, eight months after being evacuated on October 7th. In his words, he describes in the album "the crazy day-to-day lives of small people living in the shadow of a huge war."

You and I are used to turning off the news every night to not let the sorrow seep through

To live alongside reality and not to let violence pollute the water of the well in our souls

It's crazy that in the midst of all this, another season has begun

And routine is fighting as hard as we are not to give in

Almost half a lifetime has passed since the day we met 

And most of it has been spent in war

It's crazy that in the midst of all this, gel polish

And packages from Shein

Washing machine and dryer, an air conditioning technician

Shawarma Hakosem

And all the while a guitar and a piano

And a question

When will it end

And at night, I hold you and there's noise over there beyond the fence

At first, I would still wake up and ask, what the hell?

And the truth is, I don't really remember anymore

Time passes, time passes

How crazy it is to get used to it

You and I are used to dropping the kids off every morning at the kindergarten

Against a backdrop of smoke mushrooms, we are used to the questions

Of our two princesses who want to know 

What makes us so sad when we hear a helicopter

It's crazy that in the midst of all this you and I want

To watch a show and we give in to tiredness like babies

And the sun wakes us up again on the couch

We haven't had nights for many days

It's crazy that in the midst of all this, a spare key

A swimming pool in Or HaNer

A barbecue, a baby chair, and reformer pilates

Glenlivet shots

In the midst of this, what sound does a tiger make

And a question

When will it end

And at night I hold you and there's noise over there beyond the fence

At first I would still wake up and and ask, what the hell?

And the truth is, I don't really remember anymore

Time passes, time passes

How crazy it is to get used to it

It's crazy that every day I move

Between giving up and dreaming of staying

To plant roots

Every day that passes I only love you more

My love

In the end it will end

Dudu Tassa - Emmanuel

 

When the siren catches me outside, I'll take shelter either in a community shelter, a store, or in another building, whatever's available. I was walking my dog this morning when it happened, and found myself sitting next to a man with two young children, and realized that he was taking on the "Life is Beautiful" approach I've seen many parents adopt in the past few weeks, calmly saying to them "It's meet the neighbors time, and look, we have a special guest and her cute dog, how fun!" I lifted my eyes from my phone to smile at them and tried to remove any hint of worry as we patiently waited for the all-clear. I thought of this video, which was such a delight to see yesterday on my feed amidst all the posts about the war. Here is what Dudu Tassa wrote: "A new video for Emmanuel. In a chaotic world that doesn't give quiet and doesn't allow for a routine, I wanted to stop for a moment and see things through the eyes of a little, innocent girl, who looks at everything with curiosity. I hope she still doesn't feel all the wars that are happening around us."

Watching it, I think of the little girls like Emmanuel over here and in Iran, in Lebanon, in Gaza, and in the West Bank, hoping they will grow up in a much more peaceful world.

Emmanuel laughs at
A bird in the garden, at light and shadow

At the man who walks with her in the city

Emmanuel is a little girl

She doesn't remember what was

She doesn't know that the heart is fragile

Eyes open to see

A smile through the tears

And she always falls asleep

With another song

What Emmanuel dreamed of

No one will know

No one asks

And she doesn't have words yet to explain

Emmanuel

And all the windows are open

In the skies of the city of angels

Only you see them blooming slowly

Emmanuel with the sunrise

Quietly, quietly and not crying

Sees how a shadow passes over the face

Slowly reaches out a hand

One woman and one man

Sleeping deeply between the sheets

And all the windows are open

In the skies of the city of butterflies

Only you see them blooming slowly

dudutassalink.lnk.to/newalbum