1948: War of Independence
"Han Afshar" | Lyrics: Haim Hefer Music: David Zehavi
Singing: The Cheesebatron
Although the song "Bab al-Wad" is remembered by everyone from the War of Independence, the biggest hit at the time was "Han Afshar" (lyrics: Haim Hefer, music: David Zehavi), sung by the cheesebatron band, mainly because of the optimistic tone conveyed by the song: "They may have roared in the jeep that passed – guys roared because it was over." The song has been recorded in 142 different versions and is on 93 different records.
1956: Sinai
War "Facing Mount Sinai" | Lyrics: Yechiel Moher
Music: Moshe Wilensky. Sarah: The Nahal Band
The Nahal Band, photo: Wikipedia, A. Cohen
The song is better known to the public for its opening lyrics, "Not a fairy tale, my wife". It was written and composed within hours of the outbreak of the Sinai War in 1956. The Nahal band members were flown from the front to Tel Aviv, arrived at Moher's home and after learning the song were flown back to Sinai to perform for the fighters. The song has 65 different versions and appears on 39 records.
1967: The Six Day
War"Jerusalem of Gold" |
Music and lyrics: Naomi Shemer. Sarah: Shuli Natan
Shuli Natan, Photo: Srugim website
The idea for this song was born with Teddy Kollek, the legendary mayor of Jerusalem, who approached the poet and composer Naomi Shemer and asked her to create a special song about Jerusalem in honor of the sixth Song and Chorus Festival, scheduled for May 1967. Shemer chose 20-year-old Shuli Nathan, whom she happened to hear in a competition for young talent broadcast on Reshet A, as the one to sing. The rest, as they say, belongs to history: the song became one of the three best-known Israeli songs in the world (along with "Hallelujah" and "Hava Nagila"), it was recorded in 515 different versions (!) and is on 491 records*. In the few weeks between the 1967 Song Festival and the outbreak of the war, it was carried by all, and when the war broke out, the soldiers made it its anthem, and many even thought that it should replace the anthem "Hatikvah".
1969: The War of Attrition
| Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev
Music: Yair Rosenblum. Sarah: Rivka Zohar
Rivka Zohar, Photo: Public Broadcasting Corporation
This song is also a product of the Song and Chorus Festival. The source of this poem, according to its author, was a chance visit made by Taharlev to a carpentry shop, where he expressed his impression of a luxurious chair, and heard from the carpenter that the person ordering the chair never returned to collect it. "I am saving the chair for the day when Elijah the prophet arrives," he said. This song sounds like a direct continuation of the atmosphere of mystical wonder into which the people of Israel slid after the Six-Day War, and perhaps this is one of the reasons why it became such a big hit immediately upon its release, in the middle of the War of Attrition. In 1969 it won first place in the annual song charts of Kol Israel and Army Radio. Over the years it has been recorded in 143 different versions and is on 77 records*. A large part of the success of the song "On His Shoulders Will Bring" is, of course, thanks to the singer who sang it in a rare bell voice, 21-year-old Rivka Zohar, who was a graduate of the Navy Band.
1973: Yom Kippur
War"Boots of Baruch" | Music and lyrics: Alon Oleartchik, Menachem Zilberman
and Danny Sanderson. Singing: Kaveret Band
Kaveret Band, Photo: Kaveret PR 1974 and according to section 27A of the Copyright Law 2007
This song was one of the greatest hits of the Kaveret band, which conquered all possible titles in Hebrew singing in 1973, including "Band of the Year" in both charts (Kol Israel and Galei Tzahal). The song "Baruch's Boots" won first place in both annual song charts. Kaveret was a band that played melodic rock combined with nonsense humor, and that was exactly what the oppressed people needed in the year of the terrible Yom Kippur War. The song, written by Olearczyk, Silberman and Sanderson who also composed, has been recorded in 64 different versions and is on 44 records.
1982: Peace for Galilee War"Friday
" | Lyrics: Yaakov Gilad
Music by: Yehuda Poliker. Minister: Yehuda Poliker
Gasoline band, photo: courtesy of Reuven Castro
This song by the band "Gasoline", whose lyrics were written by Yaakov Gilad and Yehuda Poliker composed, reached the airwaves in 1982, coinciding with the Peace for Galilee War. In Israel's 66th year, the song clearly presents the path taken by the Hebrew singer in its content, in his journey from the establishment of the state in 1948 to the 80s, in the transition between focusing on national values and vision to shuffling and focusing on the personal self on the one hand, and the culture of confusion and inaction on the other. What interested the young fighters of the Shalag War, which was getting longer, was to leave Lebanon, get home safe and sound, and spend time at Friday parties, with joy and fun.
30 years after the song's release, Yehuda Poliker, the band's lead singer, said of it: "It's a sad and depressing song, the opposite of happy. What's sadder than a person who only has Friday in his life, and everything else is a boring routine?"
David Sela is Chairman of the Council for the Advancement of Israeli Heritage and editor of the Nostalgia Online website * Thanks for helping Eran Litvin, curator and collector, and Yoram Siman Tov, editor of the "Ministers in Uniform" website * According to ACUM data
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us