Almost gone

We're really almost gone now. One of our favourite bands, My Terrible Friend, have published their new EP I Tried To Be Kind late last fall. It's got the absolutely fitting song on it.

so here it is: Almost Gone

See You in the Spring

We'll be gone to the far far South really soon now, so a hello, goodbye is in order.

But not as the term might suggest, for in fact and very generously sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison in the guise of court yard hounds and still carrying on with the dixie chicken spirit have hired American poet Dylan's second son Jakob to see me off and also comfort all of you staying back here with this nice music.

See you in the spring!

In schā'a llāh

J'ai vu l'Orient dans son écrin avec la lune pour bannière et je comptais en un quatrain chanter au monde sa lumière

Mais quand j'ai vu Jérusalem coquelicot sur un rocher j'ai entendu un requiem quand sur lui je me suis penché

Ne vois-tu pas humble chapelle toi qui murmure paix sur la terre que les oiseaux cachent de leurs ailes ces lettres de feu : danger frontière

Le chemin mène à la fontaine tu voudrais bien remplir ton seau arrête-toi Marie-Madeleine pour eux ton corps ne vaut pas l'eau

In schā'a llāh, in schā'a llāh in schā'a llāh, in schā'a llāh.

Et l'olivier pleure son ombre sa tendre épouse son amie qui repose sous les décombres prisonnière en terre ennemie

Sur une épine de barbelé le papillon guette la rose les gens sont si écervelés qu'ils me répudieront si j'ose

Dieu de l'enfer ou Dieu du ciel toi que te trouve où bon te semble sur cette terre d'Israël il y a des enfants qui tremblent

In schā'a llāh, in schā'a llāh in schā'a llāh, in schā'a llāh.

Les femmes tombent sous l'orage demain le sang sera lavé la route est faite de courage une femme pour un pavé

Mais oui j'ai vu Jérusalem coquelicot sur un rocher j'entends toujours ce requiem lorsque sur lui je suis penché

Requiem pour six millions d'âmes qui n'ont pas leurs mausolées de marbre et qui malgré le sable infâme ont fait pousser six millions d'arbres

In schā'a llāh, in schā'a llāh in schā'a llāh, in schā'a llāh.

In my circles the guy is forgotten, even more so than Roy Black and Freddy Quinn. But in my childhood this Italian Belgian was big. And in '67 one could still make and sing songs like that and be immensely popular.

Or take, for example, this one by Naomi Shemer, melody adapted and extended from a Basque lullaby, that already all tank-drivers in the land of Israel sang and peacenik Ury Avnery tried more than once to make the new hymn of the country.

And though the song is still very popular in all Jewish communities of the wide world, outside of Israel its original singer Shuli Natan (Video from '68) is as forgotten as Salvatore Adamo in my circles and probably outside of Belgium. Moments lost in time like tears in rain. And, may we add, it still holds that while there is a soul in prison, we are not free.

Finally, as now we are still in need of a bit more of consolace and hope, here's a link to an older post of ours about a stroll to Caeserea and the essentials of this earth, the lyrics of which had been made before or during the biggest war of them all. Sholem, in schā'a llāh!