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Lyrics of Patriotism: From Woodstock to Jerusalem
by Dan Hazony, Boston University
In August 1969, a 26-year-old rock star by the name of Jimi Hendrix performed at the Woodstock Festival in New York in front of half a million people. At $18,000, he was the highest paid performer at the festival, which featured all of the musical stars of that decade. Hendrix rocked the crowd with his now famous performance of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It was the first widely accepted alternative rendition of the American national anthem, then a 155-year-old song to which no one at that festival could possibly relate.
A few years earlier, in May 1967, half a world away, a young Israeli songwriter by the name of Naomi Shemer wrote the words to what became her best known song—“Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,” which translates to “Jerusalem of Gold.” Several weeks later, the Six-Day War broke out between five neighboring Arab countries and Israel. Shemer’s ode to the Holy City remained the same; however, a new stanza was added to the end to praise Israel’s miraculous triumph and share the joy. Originally performed by Shuli Natan, many reinterpretations have been created ever since.
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“Yerushalim Shel Zahav” was heard and sung everywhere.
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“Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” was heard and sung everywhere. While it was not the new official anthem of Israel, although it was suggested as such by Member of Knesset Uri Avnery in 1968, it became the anthem for a war won by demonstrated might and a miracle. The majority of the people fighting this war of existence were between 18 and 22 years old; these brave soldiers were fighting to save the country that their parents’ and grandparents’ hands had built a generation or two earlier.
So what did Hendrix and Shemer have in common? Their styles were not the same; neither were their locations; and even not their language. But they did have one strong similarity—both represented the end of a generation’s responsibility to run a society. Following the Woodstock era, American society started being run by people who grew up knowing what it means to have civil rights, and for whom segregation was a thing of the past. After Shuli Natan’s tours of the trenches, where she sang Shemer’s songs, the soldiers went on to fight a war inflicted upon them. They then knew that it was time for the founding fathers of Israel to allow room for them to have a greater part in shaping the young and vulnerable, yet powerful, Israel.
Between violence, anticipated peace, and the frustration caused by both, history is being written all the time in Israel. Stemming from a very lyrical Jewish tradition, Israeli music tries to help the masses deal with the raw emotions that its citizens must face on a daily basis. All viewpoints are represented in the music: religious and secular, left-wing and right-wing, moderate and extreme, old ideas and new ones, and anything else that a musician can put to paper. While each artist uses his or her own creative abilities, great musical masterpieces are written in diverse forms of music—from classical to rap. For many, the choice of what music to write or listen to is a way to relieve the stress that can come with the danger and tension of living in Israel.
While Hendrix’s performance definitely earned his place in rock and roll history, all he did was modify a tune for electric guitar. Both were extremely patriotic, yet Shemer’s song was on the lips of an entire generation; it is still known today by every Israeli. It was the end of the era of Israeli ballads and the dawn of more modern music, whose great influence was felt by many groups and singers from the United States and Europe, probably even including Jimi Hendrix.
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The lyrics and ideas behind Israeli music bring all Zionists and Israelis together.
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Throughout the country’s existence, one thing in its music has not changed—it never lost its patriotic foundations. The topics covered in the music are what people are thinking and feeling, “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” being no exception. Writing about Naomi Shemer in the periodical Azure, Yishai Haetzni wrote that we “look to [Israeli musicians and poets] for their vision, and their ability to affirm that which is good in our world, as well as to give voice to our longings.”1 The wide variety of Israeli music today is evidence that everyone feels that his or her vision is accepted and not unusual. The idea of acceptance is one that the Jews sought for many years, so they do whatever is possible to ensure that in their own homeland it is a reality.
It is widely understood that Israelis tend to be attracted to the patriotic style of lyrics because this patriotism needs to be remembered every day, or the country’s existence would be at risk. With such realities, variety allows for everyone to partake in the relatively new Israeli lyrical tradition. Artists’ styles range from the acoustic strums of David Broza to the rap styles of Subliminal and the TACT Family. The immense variety allows there to always be something for everyone.
David Broza, who sings in Hebrew, Spanish, and English, debuted in 1978 and has created over a dozen albums during his career. One of his best known songs is “Yihyeh Tov,” “It Will Be Good,” written by Yonatan Geffen. Different from Subliminal and the TACT Family not only for his musical style, Broza’s left-leaning lyrics ultimately paint an optimistic future. In his song, he lists all kind of bad situations in which Israel finds itself politically, but ultimately returns to the chorus, which states in translation:
And it will be good,
It will be good, yes.
Sometimes I break,
So this night, oh, this night,
I am staying with you.2
This song places an emphasis on the Israeli, and Jewish, will to survive. Despite all the hardships that we have endured over thousands of years, whatever difficulties are placed in front of us will be overcome this time around as well. Like “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav,” this piece has not floated into oblivion.
In fact, written for his first album in 1978, Broza’s “Yihyeh Tov” could not be a better analysis of or commentary on the current situation in Israel. Having been in Israel myself this past summer during the war against Hezbollah, I heard commentators explaining the military and diplomatic ramifications of specific actions; ultimately, they all stated that such incidents have happened before, and this too we shall overcome.
Using a much more upbeat style, Subliminal leads the TACT Family in a song called “Am Echad,” or “One Nation,” in a 2004 album entitled Mishpachat TACT, “The TACT Family.” This group’s style tends to place more of an emphasis on the needs of Zionism, as opposed to the needs of the individual seen in Broza’s song. The chorus reads:
We’re one nation, with the same dream,
Together for the future, living from day to day.
We’re one nation, with one history,
So let love have a minute to breath.
The idea of “am echad,” “one nation”—that Jews have the same destiny, with the same past and the same future as one another—is quite a strong message. The classic saying that two Jews have three opinions is a challenge that has to be overcome for the sake of solidarity against greater powers that want to see the destruction of the Jewish State.
Political parties and religious affiliations tend to blur the one, overarching goal of all Israelis and Zionists alike—to ensure the survival, safety, and well-being of a Jewish State. In the world Jewish community, ahavat Yisrael, or love of Israel, seems to bridge most differences between Jews. As something that is often unique to them in the Diaspora, this cohesion cannot be overlooked. However in Israel, where everyone, Jewish or not, has this love of Israel ingrained within him, it is more difficult to find a way to unite everyone.
By expressing messages and thoughts through music, people acknowledge the similarities between religious and secular, left-wing and right-wing, or moderate and extreme. The same way that “Shalom Aleichem,” a traditional song at the Friday night meal, brings Jews of all walks of life together, the lyrics and ideas behind Israeli music brings all Zionists and Israelis together. Even if our words or tunes might be slightly different, we are all singing the same song of hopes and dreams.
In an age when it is often seen to be imperative to defend one’s own turf, when it comes to Israel-related topics or to other issues, it is important to realize that people are working together towards the same goals. Many Israeli musicians try to use their music to break down the barriers that often divide people who have the same interests and hopes. One’s outlook on life cannot dictate what tune catches one’s ears.
Hendrix broke a patriotic barrier with his rendition of the national anthem. He gave a lesson on patriotism to a bunch of people who would never listen to or partake in singing the national anthem, and taught them a little bit about what it means to be American. Many times, Israelis and Zionists forget what it’s all about; sometimes it’s the job of the musicians to get them grounded and focused—kind of like Hendrix.
- Yishai Haetzni. “Naomi Shemer, 1930-2004.” Azure No. 19. Winter 5765/2005. Shalem Press: Jerusalem
- Cf. transcribed lyrics at mp3music.gpg.co.il/lyrics/168.html
Dan Hazony is a Mathematics and Computer Science major at Boston University, where he is a co-host of Kol Boston, an Israeli music and news show on WTBU Radio. You can hear the show online at www.wtburadio.org/show.php?id=341.
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