In Thy Gates, oh, Jerusalem

In honor of the recently (last Thursday) past Jerusalem Day in Israel - one of the classic songs written in its praise.

In Your Gates, Jerusalem was written by Yossi Gamzo, with music by Yehezkiel Bar-On.

The lyrics are intertwined with allusions to Biblical texts regarding Jerusalem -

• "עומדות רגלינו בשעריך" is an allusion to Psalms 122 ("Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.")


• "ציון הלא תשאלי לשלום בחוריך" is quote out of Rabbi Yehuda Ha-Levi ("Zion - will you not ask for you imprisoned ones");


• "אם אשכח ירושליים" - "If I forget Thee, oh Jerusalem..." (Psalms 137);


• "איכה ישבת בדד" is the opening of the Book of Lamentations ("How the City sits solitary?");


• "מאכלת ואיל", "The Knife and the Ram" is an allusion of the Sacrifice of Isaac, of which I had already written.


• "למנצח מזמור" is an allusion to e.g., Psalms 20, "To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David." but also a pun, since in Modern Hebrew it means "To the Victorious One, A Psalm".

Probably there are several more allusions within, but being a rogue and peasant slave - those are all that I could see.
The text is extremely militant by modern standards -

איכה ישבת בדד, שסועה בין גדרות התייל
ואיך נשבענו לך, עיר מלך ונביא,
כי לא נישק נערותינו על שפתיים
עד אם נישק לכותל המערבי

Among the barbed-wired fences, how do you sit alone?
For prophets and for kings of you, we all
Have sworn, our kisses to our loved ones, we'll postpone
Until we've come to kiss the Western Wall!

(Tr. mine. apologies for the phrasing, the meter is difficult)

Performer in the recording (which is not the canonic one) is the great Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon.

Chet Atkins plays The Beatles

Chet Atkins was a wonderful American guitar performer, whose virtuoso guitar style established a new standard of popular instrumental music.

Today I stumbled on his recording of a medley of 4 Beatles songs, and I couldn't resist the temptation of putting, as I hold the Beatles among the finest authors of popular Western music of the 20th century, and Chet Atkins - among the finest of performers. Besides, the second of the songs has struck a chord with me today.



The songs are -

1. If I Fell in Love (A Hard Day's Night, track 3)


2. For No One (Revolver, track 10)


3. Something (Abbey Road, track 2)


4. Lady Madonna (released contemporarily as a single, then on Past Masters Vol. 2)

Also worth noting - Tina Turner's cameo at the end the video, and a bit of dialogue around it.

A Night, A Street, A Lamp, A Drugstore / A. Blok, [tr. to Hebrew]

נערך, 23 במאי

לילה, רחוב, אור, בית-מרקחת,
חרוט-פנס לא מהימן.
תחיה עוד דור — יהיה עוד כך,
אין יציאה. תהיה רק כאן.

תמות — אז שוב תתחיל עוד פעם,
ומחדש הכל יסוב:
הלילה, כפור מרשרש במים,
בית-התרופות, פנס, רחוב.

אלכסנדר בלוק, 10 באוקטובר 1912.

תרגום של עבדכם הנאמן.

Ночь, улица, фонарь, аптека,
Бессмысленный и тусклый свет.
Живи еще хоть четверть века —
Все будет так. Исхода нет.

Умрешь — начнешь опять сначала,
И повторится все, как встарь:
Ночь, ледяная рябь канала,
Аптека, улица, фонарь.

10 октября 1912г.

A translation to English, by Dina Belayeva.

An analysis, in Russian, may be found here.

A very amusing parody, in Russian - "Ночь. Улица. Фонарь. Аптека. / Бар. Клуб. Девицы. Дискотека...".

Image above - the poem set on a wall in Leiden, of all places.