October 7th Two-Year Vigil - Songbook

Poem - The Nation of Children

Yael Globerman (after Wislawa Szymborska, “Vietnam”) 

Child, why are you running? — I’m running away.

What are you running away from? — Don’t remember.

What’s your name? — I forgot.

Where did you come from? — From the smoke.

Are you a refugee? — I don’t know.

Where are you going? — From here, far away.

And where do you live? — Not anymore.

Where are your parents? — They stayed home.

Where is home? — Back there, in the hole.

In what religion do you believe? — Don’t understand.

When you’re afraid and asking for help, do you prostrate, cross yourself, or sway? — I cry.

To what nation do you belong? — I’m a child.

Are you an enemy? — I’m hungry.

שחמט

מילים: חנוך לוין, לחן: אלכס כגן

לאן הלך ילדי

ילדי הטוב לאן

חייל שחור מכה חייל לבן

לא יחזור אבי

אבי לא יחזור

חייל לבן מכה חייל שחור

בכי בחדרים ובגנים שתיקה

המלך משחק עם המלכה

ילדי שוב לא יקום

לעולמים יישן

חייל שחור מכה חייל לבן

אבי בחשכה לא יראה עוד אור

חייל לבן מכה חייל שחור

בכי בחדרים ובגנים שתיקה

המלך משחק עם המלכה

ילדי שבחיקי עכשיו הוא בענן

חייל שחור מכה חייל לבן

אבי בחום ליבו

עכשיו ליבו בקור

חייל לבן מכה חייל שחור

בכי בחדרים ובגנים שתיקה

המלך משחק עם המלכה

לאן הלך ילדי

ילדי הטוב לאן

נפלו חיל שחור וגם לבן

לא יחזור אבי

אבי לא יחזור

ואין חייל לבן ואין שחור

בכי בחדרים ובגנים שתיקה

על לוח ריק רק מלך ומלכה

Chess

Lyrics: Hanoch Levin, Music: Alex Kagan

Where did my child go, my little good child?

A black pawn captures a white pawn.

My father won’t return, never will he come.

White pawn captures a black pawn.

Tears in all the rooms, and silence in the gardens,

The king is playing with the queen.

My child will never rise, forever he will sleep,

Black pawn captures a white pawn.

My father in the dark, will never see light again,

white pawn captures a black pawn.

Tears in all the rooms, and silence in the gardens,

The king is playing with the queen.

The child that’s in my lap, now he’s on a cloud

black pawn captures a white pawn.

My father’s heart was warm, now his heart is cold

white pawn captures a black pawn.

Tears in all the rooms, and silence in the gardens,

The king is playing with the queen.

Where did my child go, my little good child?

Black and white pawns are dead.

My father won’t return, never will he come,

and there’s no white and black pawns.

Tears in all the rooms, and silence in the gardens,

on an empty board, only a king and queen stand.

לאורך הים

מילים ולחן: איילה אשרוב

תגיד לי איך לעצור את הדמעות

תגיד לי איפה יש עולם אחר לחיות

תגיד לי למה אין אמת, רק הזיות

אז למה לנסות ולהמשיך עכשיו לבכות?

לאורך הים

אין גלים יש עולם

שנשבר לרסיסים על המזח.

תגיד לי איך לעצור את הדמעות

תגיד לי איפה יש עולם אחר לחיות

כשאנשים רצים אל תופת כמו אל ים

אני ארוץ אל תוך האש אם יחזרו משם.

לאורך הים

אין גלים יש עולם

שנשבר לרסיסים על המזח.

תגיד לי איך עם המוות אתה חי

מסתיר הדמעות בכל לילה תגיד לי עד מתי

האש שקוראת לי לא נמצאת שם באמת

וזה שנעלם, האם יחזור או כבר מת?

לאורך הים

אין גלים יש עולם

שנשבר לרסיסים על המזח.

תגיד לי איך לעצור את הדמעות

תגיד לי איך.

Along the Sea

Lyrics and Music: Ayala Ashrov 

Tell me how to stop the tears

Tell me where there is another world to live in

Tell me why there is no truth, only illusions

So why try, and why continue crying?

Along the sea

There are no waves, only a world

That shatters into fragments on the pier.

Tell me how to stop the tears

Tell me where there is another world to live in

When people run into the inferno like into the sea,

I’ll run into the fire if only they return from there.

Along the sea

There are no waves, only a world

That shatters into fragments on the pier.

Tell me how you live with death

Hiding tears every night, tell me until when

The fire that calls me isn’t really found there, 

And the one who disappeared, will he return or is he already dead?

Along the sea

There are no waves, only a world

That shatters into fragments on the pier.

Tell me how to stop the tears.

Tell me how.

Poem - General

Bertolt Brecht

“General, your tank is a powerful vehicle

It smashes down forests and crushes a hundred men.

But it has one defect:

It needs a driver.

General, your bomber is powerful.

It flies faster than a storm and carries more than an elephant.

But it has one defect:

It needs a mechanic.

General, man is very useful.

He can fly and he can kill.

But he has one defect:

He can think.”

The war will end

Mahmoud Darwish

The war will end

The leaders will shake hands

The old woman will keep waiting

for her martyred son.

That girl will wait for her beloved husband

and those children will wait

for their heroic father

I don't know who sold our homeland

but I know who paid the price.

Hallelujah 

Lyrics and Music: Leonard Cohen

Now I've heard there was a secret chord

That David played, and it pleased the Lord

But you don't really care for music, do you?

It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth

The minor falls, the major lifts

The baffled king composing Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Your faith was strong but you needed proof

You saw her bathing on the roof

Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her

She tied you to a kitchen chair

She broke your throne, and she cut your hair

And from your lips she drew the Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

You say I took the name in vain

I don't even know the name

But if I did—well, really—what's it to you?

There's a blaze of light in every word

It doesn't matter which you heard

The holy or the broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Now, maybe there’s a god above, 

As for me all I've ever learned from love

Is how to shoot somebody who outdrew you

But it's not a crime that you're here tonight

It's not some pilgrim who claims to have seen the Light

No, it's a cold and it's a very broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Well people, I've been here before

I know this room and I've walked this floor

You see I used to live alone before I knew ya

And I've seen your flag on the marble arch

But love is not some kind of victory march, no

It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah

Now I've done my best, I know it wasn't much

I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch

I've told the truth, I didn't come here just to fool you

And even though it all went wrong

I'll stand right here before the Lord of song

With nothing, nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

Hallelujah, Hallelujah