Thursday, April 8, 2010

Numbers

Ok ok, I give up. There's no way I can do any kind of justice to the topic of shirim ivri'im with a daily installment for three weeks. Three years, mit a-kvetch. So I suppose I'll continue longer.

One of the essential parts of the canonical shirim is that they've withstood the test of time and are still around. This means we can't say with certainty which of today's songs will survive to join the canon. Still, there's lots of creativity going on. So, when Achikam came home this afternoon from his military unit, I told him about this little project, and asked his advice on the contemporary scene. He whipped out his iPod, connected it to some speakers, and started a concert; I opened a dozen windows of You Tube to watch their video versions. Some of them were less convincing, others more so. Here's one.

Hadag Nachash is a popular band. Their moniker means "The Fish Snake", which means it doesn't mean anything. This particular song, from 2001 apparently, is about numbers and what they mean to contemporary Israelis; it also has the advantage of bilingual subtitles, so one link gives all the needed information:

5 comments:

Michael W. said...

I love this song, as well as many other Hadag Nachash songs.

Avram said...

FYI - the name is a play on 'Nahag Chadash' (new driver for those who don't speak Hebrew).

Yaakov - can you do a Yehoram Gaon song? How about "me'al pisgat har ha'zofim"? Or "Ha'Sar montifiore"?

Oh ... and Shecharchoret by Ofra Chaza ... What a voice that lady had.

Anonymous said...

Yaacov,

I told you that this would generate a lot of interest. You're in real trouble now :).

Avram,

If Yaacov is going to do Shecharchoret, he should also do the more traditional version by Esther Ofarim:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ8eLTb5Shw

The above is a special long version. There are others on Youtube.

There is also a spectacular version by the young Ladino and Hebrew singer Mor Karbasi. Her version has all the verses in Hebrew with one verse repeated in Ladino. You can purchase her music as a CD or for download from amazon.com or amazon.co.uk. If you buy the CD you get her picture. Since her voice is celestial and she is as pleasant to look at as to listen to, this might be a major plus.

David E. Sigeti

Anonymous said...

I am tremendously enjoying this thread. Wish I had more time for searching Youtube!

Thanks
Nycerbarb

Anonymous said...

A very clever song. Sad, too. Is there a significance to 24-7-12 months?