Tuesday, July 10, 2018

He didn't know her name - הוא לא ידע את שמה

He walked one day on the way to Be’er Sheva,
הלך הוא יום אחד בדרך לבאר שבע,
The ocean breeze pet the bushes,
הרוח מן הים את השיחים ליטף,
Next to an old tree she averted her gaze,
ליד אילן זקן היא את ראשה הסבה,
And her braid hung from her shoulder.
וצמתה ירדה ירוד מן הכתף.


The troop continued to march, and he marched with them
הגדוד המשיך לצעוד, ועם הגדוד הלך הוא
And both the wind and the sun met his face.
ואת פניו נשקו גם רוח, גם חמה.
But when they stopped for the night he realized-
אבל בחניה לילית אחת נוכח הוא -
He realized that he forgot to ask for her name.
נוכח הוא כי שכח לשאול אותה לשמה.


He didn’t know her name,
הוא לא ידע את שמה,
But the same braid
אבל אותה צמה
Went with him along his whole journey,
הלכה עמו לאורך כל הדרך,
And he knew, that one day
והוא ידע, יש יום
They’ll suddenly meet again,
בו יפגשו פתאום,
With the break of dawn, or the evening sun.
עם שחר של טללים או שמש ערב.


Another summer changed shade and color,
הקיץ השני החליף גוונים וצבע,
The military patrol returned after a night of Sivan
פטרול סיור חזר מלילה של סיון
The ambulance hurried on the way to Be’er Sheva
מיהר האמבולנס בדרך לבאר שבע
And she waited for it/him in a white gown.
והיא חיכתה חיכתה לו בחלוק לבן.


And he asked, “Do you?”, and he answered “I remember”
והוא שאל "האם?", והיא ענתה "זוכרת"
And then they talked for hours, nobody knows what about
וכה דיברו שעות, איש לא ידע על מה
And when left forever, and she remained pale
וכשהלך בלי שוב והיא נותרה חיוורת,
She remembered that he forgot to ask for her name.
זכרה היא כי שכח לשאול אותה לשמה.


He didn’t know her name…
הוא לא ידע את שמה...

This is just a very beautiful song (in Hebrew), about a man and woman who met each other in the army, and don't know if they'll ever meet each other again. It's considerably less sad than some of the other songs I analyzed.

"Sivan" is a Jewish month that falls around the start of summer.


In case you didn't understand, she was a nurse (she waited for the ambulance wearing a white gown). And he was injured (the ambulance was coming from Be'er Sheva, where he was stationed). Note that in Hebrew, it's ambiguous whether she was waiting for the ambulance, or whether she was waiting for the man in the ambulance, since they are both masculine (and it doesn't assume she knew he was in the ambulance).

It does say that he left with no return, which in a typical army song might hint that he died, I don't think that's the case in this song. The song ends with the chorus, where he's going on his way thinking about this girl and hoping that they'll meet again.

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