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 taken captive 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

Tamouz - I Don't Know How to Tell You

I was very sad to hear today about Meir Israel's death at 73, after battling cancer. Meir was one of the country's leading drummers and was a member of the legendary rock band Tamouz, together with Shalom Hanoch, Ariel Zilber, Yehuda Eder, and Ethan Gedron. I immediately thought of this song and how the drums play such an important part here, echoing tense heartbeats.

I don't know how to tell you

Words cannot express

I am simply a boy who sings to you

Songs will not say anything.

I don't know what is eternity

Words cannot express

I am simply one who surely

Doesn't know anything

Maybe tonight there is no way

There is just injury and pain

I don't know how to tell you

How much I love you

Don't know what happened to me

Words cannot express

And I am alone and sad

And you don't say anything

I am sitting here, waiting for you

Waiting for you and writing

Because I don't know how to tell you

How much I love you.

Thank you Moshe Kaye for the translation.

It's day three of the war with Iran, and I have a feeling we have many more days ahead. I'm still getting used to the new but familiar reality of living with the sirens, but I'm hopeful that this is the storm before the calm, and that there is a chance that we will have a safer reality on the other side of this.

Matti Caspi - A Place for Worry

Rest in Peace Matti Caspi, you are already dearly missed.

Matti's talent for composing shines in this timeless and haunting song, written by Yehonatan Gefen after the Yom Kippur War.

At the edge of the heavens and the desert

there's a far place full of wild flowers

a small place, wretched and insane

a far place, a place for worry.

Over there they tell what will happen

and think of all that has happened.

God sits there and sees

and guards over all that He created.

It's forbidden to pick the garden flowers

It's forbidden to pick the garden flowers

and worrying, terribly worrying.

Translation from Hebrewsongs.com