Monday, June 08, 2020

The background behind another song that is used for Israeli folk dancing

The story that I told in a blog a few days ago reminded me of a similar story. Every weekday for at least 40 years, the Army radio broadcasts at 4 pm a programme normally composed of 'classic' Israeli songs. Sometimes these songs are well known but frequently they are lesser known (at least, to me). I don't listen to this program frequently - I would only hear it when I had spent a day in Tel Aviv and was returning home with a colleague in his car.

One day a song was played that I recognised as it is used as the tune for another Israeli folk dance (which also I learnt in the early 80s), 'Nahal Naaran'. Hearing the song in the relative quiet of a car (as opposed to the distorted version played when dancing) enabled me to listen to it properly and I was most appreciative of it.

Once at home, I found the song on You Tube (as referenced above) and started to read about its background, primarily who sung. I could identify the man who seemed to be the lead singer but I was also mildly interested to discover who the others were. To my great surprise, I discovered that the female singer in the song is a member of my kibbutz!

Of course I had to write a gushing message that evoked an interesting response. Since then, the singer (who is probably now approaching the age of 80 and not someone with whom I have much contact) has become a friend of mine.

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