[HANASHIR:13899] Re: singable English lyrics to (older) Israeli songs

[Jeff Klepper <jeffklepper...>]

These sing-able English verses could be helpful to many of us.

Now that Purim Parody Mania has died down for the moment, perhaps Adrian
could open up a link on http://uahc.org/hanashir/ for submissions of Israeli
song translations. As if you didn't know, it's hard enough translating
Hebrew for the printed page, but when it is going to be sung, something has
to suffer, either the faithfulness of the translation, or the smooth flow of
the lyric.  The great Israeli poet Chaim Nachman Bialik once said that
reading poetry in translation is like kissing through a veil....

In any event,  remember that the Israelis (and others) in your audience will
expect the Hebrew versions, so make sure you have a coupe of Hebrew verses
ready to sing.  I'll never forget when "Poogy" first performed in New York,
(c. 1975) when they launched into English versions of their Israeli hits,
the Israelis in the audience were VERY vocal in their displeasure.  Gidi Gov
got them to quiet down only by promising that at the end of the concert they
would repeat their songs in Hebrew, and that's what they did!

Here's my own version of Y'hiye Tov:

Yihiye Tov
by David Broza and Yehonatan Geffen;
English lyrics: Jeff Klepper (copyright 2003)

Oh I¹m looking out my window
And it makes me sad my friend
The spring is nearly over
Will it ever come again?
When the clown becomes a ruler
When the prophet was a clown
I forgot where I was going
But as long as you¹re around

    Yihiye tov, yihiye tov, kein
    Though I know it¹s hard to smile
    Az halaila, oh, when the night comes
    I¹ll stay with you awhile

When our children join the army
They are answering our call
A call that's never ending
With no answer there at all
Everybody lives with tension
And sometimes it¹s hard to breathe
When we wake up in the morning
There¹s a reason we believe (chorus)

Oh I¹m looking out my window
And I can¹t believe my eyes
There¹s a lamb and there¹s a lion
There¹s a rainbow in the sky
Then a bullet breaks the silence
Oh, how many can we stand?
Till the day we find an answer
Please don¹t let go of my hand (chorus)

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