[HANASHIR:13909] Here is what I could find - my English lyrics to (old) Hebrew songs

[JAH29 <JAH29...>]

        Well, chaverim/chaverot, here goes.  I don't claim to be a poet - but 
these are what I used for many years.  As I said, usually (not always) one 
English verse here and one verse there, but never singing a Hebrew song 
entirely in English.

     As I look at them again, I realize how many years ago I wrote some of 
them and with what surety then - or hubris? -  that peace was possible and, 
perhaps, around the corner.  Now it's more than 30 years later for many of 
them and I'm still singing (Ba Shana Ha Ba-a) "....for next year and one more 
will not be like before, there'll be peace, there'll be peace, no more 
fear...."

     Aura kindly offered to give me attribution on the web site and I 
gratefully accept.  Please forgive any typos.

     Julie (Hirsch)
     Congregation Mickve Israel
     Savannah, GA, USA


     SISU ET YERUSHALAYIM
          Chorus:
     All who love Jerusalem, rejoice! Rejoice!
     Peace once more is on the city, peace lies on the city.
     All who love Jerusalem, rejoice! Rejoice!
     Peace once more is on the city.

     From your walls, Jerusalem, O David's crown,
     We will guard, will guard the city.
     Day and night and night and day from hills around.
     We will guard, will guard your city.

     CHEVLEI MASHIACH

     I travel on and where I go I neither know nor see
     But in my heart, this song's refrain keeps trav'ling on with me,
     On with me.
     (Hebrew verse is:  
          Ka asher ani holech, b'li ayin u'v'li an
          Al libi k'mo kame-a, yesh li kol ha z'man, shir katan, shir 
katan.)

     EIFO HEM KOL AVOTEINU?
            (You can choose to use the English or Hebrew names...)

     Where is Abraham (Avraham), our father?  
     Of our people, the first one?
     Where is Abraham (Avraham) , our father?  
     Have mercy on Isaac (Yitzchak), his son.
     Have mercy on Isaac (Yitzchak), his son…..
     La, la, la….

     Where is sad Rachel (Rahel), our mother?  
     Crying for us through the years….
     Where is she, Rachel (Rahel), our mother?  
     Calling to us through her tears….
     Calling to us through her tears….
     La, la, la….

     Where are they, fathers and mothers?  
     Those who started on the way…
     Source of life, may we not fail them.
     May they bless those here today!  
     May they bless those here today!
     La, la, la…….

     YERUSHALAYIM SHEL ZAHAV

     The water wheel for one who thirsted....
     The empty market square....
     The golden sun that lights the future
     For all from everywhere.
     How many songs, how many stories
     These stony hills recall!
     Around her heart my city carries
     A lonely, ancient wall.

     BA SHANA HA BA-A

     In the peace that will come, we'll sit upon the terrace
     Counting birds as they wheel in the sky.
     In the fields children play, their voices rising freely
     On the air, it will be, bye and bye.....
     (Chorus)
     For next  year and one more will not be like before
     There'll be peace, there'll be peace, no more fear...
     Oh, how good it will be for our hearts to be free
     Of this wait for next year, for next year!
     La, la, la, la,........

     TIRZA

     Far, far away, on the banks of the Nile
     Tirza bends over the water and smiles.
     And, like a young girl, awakening
     She wonders what new days will bring, la, la, la, la
      And, like a young girl, awakening
     She wonders what new days will bring.

     Far, far away, a young woman-child
     Stands by her mirror the whole day and smiles
     And, like the tirza, awakening
     Wonders what new days will bring, la, la, la, la
     And, like the tirza, awakening
     Wonders what new days will bring, la, la, la, la

     (If you're looking for the Hebrew verses of this old song, they begin:
            Tirza yaffa v'ahuda - Al ha y'or omedet tz'muta
            Kol ha yom ba mayim tzofa - Choshva ma y'hei b'sofa, la, la, la..

     NEVEL MI ZAHAV  (one of my favorite songs!)

     With my knife I made a harp of finest ivory
     Wound it 'round with cords of gold that held a melody
     Then my fingers sped the song to the horizon, free
     And the echoes drifted gently, slowly back to me.

     I have forged a bell of bronze to sound beside the sea
     With its clapper swaying like a blossom on a tree.
     With my hand I rang its song to the horizon, free!
     And the echoes drifted, gently, slowly, back to me.

     (The Hebrew begins:
     Ba sakin balat gilafti, nevel mishenhav....
     Meitarim alav matachti asu-im zahav.....

     LU Y'HI   (here I did do three verses plus all the Hebrew)
     
     Against the black cloud in the distance
     See a white sail, like a dream.
     All we ask is peace, let it be.
     And in the evening windows, let it be for joy that candles gleam
     All we ask is peace, let it be.

     Chorus:
     Let it be, let it be, oh yes, let it be...
     All we ask is peace, let is be.
     Let it be, let it be, oh yes, let it be...
     All we ask is peace, let is be.

     What is that anguished cry I hear, above the shofar, sounds of war?
     All we ask is peace, let it be...
     Above the battle, keep repeating my one prayer now, as before
     All we ask is peace, let it be.
       Chorus

     And should the sun break through the darkeness
     Starlight stream from skies above
     All we ask is peace, let it be...
     Give life again to dreams of peace and ease of heart to those we love
     All we ask is peace, let it be.

     AMAR ADON KOHELET

     I see, observed Kohelet, who was Solomon the king
     That grace is vain, it's folly and beauty'S a lying thing.
     But I, great sir, the smallest of your slaves must say,
     That grace is joy and beauty is God's gift to me today!
            Chorus:
     Oh, beauty's not vanity and grace is not a lie.
     All the world's sweetness shines in Rachel's lovely eyes.
     Oh, beauty's not vanity and grace is not a lie.
     All the world's sweetness shines in Rachel's lovely eyes.

     Of course, the beauty inside must be worthy of the name
     It's not the outside charm, great king, that really is to blame
     It's lack of warmth and tenderness that causes pain
     But loving beauty, soft to touch, of that who can complain?
            Chorus

     Return, my king, and you will know what each day I see
     The wonder of my Rachel's eyes as they gaze out at me.
     And that is why the smallest of your slaves must say
     That grace is joy and beauty is God's gift to me today.
            Chorus

     (Hebrew begins - Amar Adon Kohelet, she hu Shlomo ha melech...)

     I also have some verses to a beautiful old love song, Pirchei Ha Lilach,
but I don't know if anyone would want that - strictly secular.  Also, good 
old Finjan.