Shalom

After not being able to sleep (see previous post), I went and purchased Shalom Hanoch's "Exit" - a double CD acoustic live performance. I've been listening to it on repeat ever since. Now I'm cleaning the old flat, listening to "Road Song". It describes driving through a landscape which recalls the Galilee, while clouds gather in the sky in preparation for a heavy rainstorm. Somehow, it's a love song.

The road winds,
an Arab village,
fig trees on the slope,
a man wearing a kafiyah, women in black,
herders have already gathered in the goats.
I'm flying to you like a bird,
no need for a vehicle.
Coming home - very soon
I know you won't leave me outside.

I've always appreciated Hanokh as a pioneer of rock music in Israel (he was part of the groundbraking "Tamouz" outfit in 1976). I was never a fan. Why do I like his stuff so much right now? Perhaps, for the first time, I actually identify with it. My dialogues with Israel, with the Hebrew language, with the American musical heritage, with the idea of manhood and with the Tel-Avivian life style, all have changed over the recent while. now the match is good, and "Exit" is a good album.

At 61 years of age, Hanoch gives knockout live shows which often start at 2:00 AM. Youtube features not a single bit of decent relevant footage. The nearest thing is this performance that's split into two clips, featuring blues guitarist Roni Peterson. It may not sound that way, but the song describes a homosexual experience. It is a classic - enjoy.

Can't Sleep Now

Can't sleep on this cloudy night, and it's almost dawn. What better to do at a time like this than translate a Hebrew rock ballad from the 70s?

It is by Shalom Hanoch.

//////////////////////////

Can't sleep now.
Outside - the shivering dog
barks at a moon
that stopped at my window.

A horse-drawn cart passes,
advancing towards morning
among pale-walled houses
and windows shut like eyes.

Soon rain will fall
in honour of the farmers.
My fingers are aflame
to touch the string,
to strum a chord.
If I appear in someone's dream tonight
it may be because she
had vanished from my memory.

Can't sleep now.
I listen to the wind - mind blowing
returning to the room,
to consult my clock.

Had she whispered to me
to come and be between her sheets
between her eyes
between her teeth
between her legs,
clouds...

Soon rain will fall
in honour of the farmers.
My fingers are aflame
to touch the string,
to strum a chord.
If I appear in someone's dream tonight
it may be because she
had vanished from my memory.