Yael Deckelbaum-Song Banishes the Darkness

What a fitting song for Women's Day-I personally find the "holiday"which was marked here with sales on cosmetics to be a bit ridiculous but I guess it does raise awareness and discussion of where we are in society. I'm well aware that I tend to post much more songs by male singers and songwriters and it's probably because for whatever reasons there are much more well known male musicians and also because I tend to be much more critical towards female singing. This song is part of a newly released tribute album for Chava Alberstein and apart for a few songs here and there, a lot of the versions made me want to return to the originals, but I guess it's always like that with these kind of tribute albums. But this song is different. It's a perfect choice to end the album with and it breathes new life into Chava's original which I wasn't familiar with before (a possible reason why I like it so much). Chava took a Georgian folk tune (Gogoli Gogo) and added her own lyrics to it. In Hebrew, like in many other languages, there's a grammatical difference in how you speak to men and women-for example when you say "you" to a boy it's "ata" and to a girl it's "at" (and of course even if there is only one boy in a group of girls you'll automatically say "atem" instead of "aten" which is just for girls). In this song the singer sings directly to a woman which gives it a strong sisterly effect-in the translation the singer could be singing to anyone,making it more universal but also much less, dare I say, empowering. I love the singer's "get yourself together" attitude and how it's not at all aggressive or righteous-just straightforward. There are two versions by Chava and I can't decide which I like more. The very original, from '91, sounds like some kind of spiritual folk chant-especially with the drums and fast tempo. A newer version is taken from Chava's concert in 2008-it's much more soothing and peaceful: "you have a voice and a guitar so sing" is said as an encouragement, and it sounds much more personal-as if speaking to a close friend or family member. And then there's Yael Deckelbaum's version which highlights her unique voice and also conveys some sort of progress throughout the song-as if she herself is getting stronger with each verse.
I first came across Yael  at the 2007 Jacob's Ladder Festival when she joined the reunion of "The Taverners" the Jerusalem folk group founded in the 70s by her father Dr. David Deckelbaum together with Shay Tochner and close friends. My friends and I were heartbroken a few years later when we came to the festival and heard that he had passed away a few months after suffering from a stroke. It was heard to grasp because when we saw him he was so...alive with his terrible jokes and carefree disposition. He was also a pretty amazing banjo player. In the meanwhile Yael had become a household name with the very successful group "Habanot Nechama" with Karolina and Dana Adini. In 2010 she released her first solo album, "Ground Zero" with songs in English. A year later she was about to record her second album, which was supposed to include songs in Hebrew and English, as well as collaborations with other artists, but on the first day of recording she got the news that her father had passed away "From that day, I was thrown to a new path. I started a new journey, which brought me to create a Hebrew album, unlike my debut album which was entire in English". -(Translated from this interview in Hebrew from 2011). Later in the interview she's asked to choose between Hebrew and English and answers "It's like asking 'Which one of your children do you prefer' or 'which song that you wrote do you feel most connected to'. It's two entities that exist inside me, when each time a different one takes a place and is expressed. There's something in English, which brings me to a more imaginative place. My songs in English, it's as if they come from a different dimension. In Hebrew, it's more here and now".
At first I wasn't sure how the Hebrew album would be-I was used to hearing her sing in English and I felt at the time that maybe the switch to Hebrew was an attempt to connect with a wider audience-at the expense of her artistic abilities. But today I heard "Joy and Sadness" and it feels so personal and mature-it's really beautiful  from start to finish. Here's an IndieCity clip of one of my favorites: "A free man".
Towards the end Yael says something which I find very insightful: "I deal less with 'what' and more with 'how'. How I experience myself when I'm writing a song, or teaching, or when I go see a concert, or when I'm sitting in a van, or waiting backstage, or when I'm going to the bank, or even when I'm calling Social Security, it's 95% of life. Those moments on stage, it's a really small part. Because of that I try to give it the right weight. Ultimately, I believe that all of these things come to play into my art. After all, the person you, is the artist you are".
These days Deckelbaum is performing new material together with songs from her previous albums. Earlier this year Alberstein released the excellent album 'And How are You' which you can buy here. She also sings together with Shlomi Shaban in his latest single (and one of his best) "Exercise in Awakening".

He won't return and you see already
You have no reason to keep crying
He won't return and you're not a child anymore
It's time to stop waiting
You have no reason to keep crying
It's time to stop waiting

Don't turn sadness into a home
Don't get addicted to longing
Get up and go out the world is before you
It will compose for you different songs
Don't get addicted to longing
It will compose for you different songs

Song banishes the darkness at night
Song strengthens the heart in difficult times

Love wanders on the way
A gypsy who got lost
She has hair the color of the burning sun
You'll easily recognize her
A gypsy who got lost
You'll easily recognize her

Don't stop her let her go
Follow her wherever she'll go
Go after her go after her
She'll override obstacles for you
Go after her wherever she'll go
She'll override obstacles for you
You have a voice and a guitar so sing

Song banishes the darkness at night
Song strengthens the heart in difficult times

She'll teach you she'll tell you
You'll understand the language of birds
What happened to you and what will happen to you
You'll learn to turn into songs
Understand the language of birds
You'll learn to turn into songs
You have a voice and a guitar so sing

Song banishes the darkness at night
Song strengthens the heart in difficult times