I was a young boy - הייתי נער

The targets have been neutralized	היעדים מטוהרים והרוסים
The snow on mount Hermon is melting in the sun	שלגים על החרמון מול שמש נמסים
And in a ghost-town in its heights	ובעיירת רפאים על הרמה
A lone donkey strays as a sign that war is over.	חמור בודד תועה כבטרם מלחמה.
The summer returns to its old ways.	הקיץ שב למשלטיו הישנים
But your face, my sweetheart, remains changed.	אבל פניך, נערי, נותרו שונים.
The curtains were removed, and the tape scraped	הוילונות הוסרו והנייר גורד
The town chief locked the bomb shelter	פקיד העירייה נעל את המקלט
The grass lawns are climbing and growing	שלוחות הדשא מטפסות ומעלות
Fresh green on the scars of trenches.	ירוק טרי על צלקות התעלות.
The grenades returned to the market stands.	הרימונים חזרו לשוק לדוכנים.
But your face, my young boy, remains changed.	אבל פניך, נערי, נותרו שונים.
I had a sweetheart, in love, I had a sweetheart,	היה לי נער מאוהב היה לי נער,
Clear was his voice, and clear were his eyes	צלול היה קולו צלולות היו עיניו
The war ceased, and again he’s close to the gate	הקרב נדם ושוב קרב הוא אל השער
But his stature is heavy, and his face is marked	אך הילוכו כבד וחתומות פניו
We shaved our faces and folded our uniforms	גילחנו הזקן קיפלנו המדים
We sat silently with friends in coffee shops	שתקנו סביב ספלי קפה עם ידידים
Our way of life is slowly returning to normal	העניינים שבים אט, אט למסלולם
We learn not to mention those who have fallen.	לומדים לא להזכיר את אלה שאינם.
We learn to get back to our old habits.	לומדים לחזור להרגלים הישנים.
But your face, my sweetheart, remains changed.	אבל פניך, נערי, נותרו שונים.
Again electricity sparkles in the streets at night	שוב החשמל בוהק בלילה ברחובות
Neon lights sell falafel and hopes	שלטי האור מוכרים פלאפל ותקוות
In the sidewalks, between market tables	על מדרכות בין שולחנות בירידים
The mini-skirt takes back control of the uniform.	המיני שב להשתלט על המדים.
Tunes are again playing on the radio waves.	על גל האתר צועדים הפזמונים.
But your face, my sweetheart, remains changed.	אבל פניך, נערי, נותרו שונים.
I had a sweetheart, in love, I had a sweetheart…	היה לי נער מאוהב היה לי נער…
Stand at the gate, my young girl, stand at the gate	עימדי בשער נערה עימדי בשער
I’m returning to you from the dirt paths	אני חוזר אלייך בדרכי עפר
I was a young boy, my young girl, I was a young boy,	הייתי נער, נערה, הייתי נער,
Now smile at me, familiar and beautiful.	עכשיו חייכי אלי מוכרת ויפה.
But his stature is heavy, and his face is marked…	אך הילוכו כבד וחתומות פני...
Now smile at me, familiar and beautiful…	חייכי אלי מוכרת ויפה...

This song highlights a different, sad aspect of war, one that is not always considered. Many war songs are centered around those who passed, but this war song is centered about someone who survived, but even their life is forever different.

The song fundamentally follows a young soldier who survived a war, and is now trying to return back to his previous life. While many of the physical aspects of his life are slowly returning, and it seems like life is returning back to the way it used to be, it's clear to the listeners that things are not going to get back to the way they used to be.

Sure, the soldiers shaved, took of their uniforms, visually look the same way as they did before the war. The shelters are closed, songs are playing again in the radio, and the grass has started to grow where the fighting happened. The soldier is hopeful, saying they are learning to avoid mentioning those who have lost—but it's clear to us, and the soldier, that avoiding their names won't make them come back. The neon lights are lit up again, preaching hope, but the soldier is skeptical, his stature is heavy.

The girl can see the changes that happened to the boy. In the song, the boy sings the lines where he says how everything is returning to how it used to be, and the girl is saying that the boy has changed. The boy is trying to convince the girl, and himself, to see how everything has returned back to normal, that life is returning back to its old ways, but the girl looks at the boy and sees that his face has not returned back to the way it was. His face remains different. She explains to us about how things were, about how they used to be in love, how innocent and carefree the boy was, and how the war is finally over, and the boy is finally returning home—but the boy has come back marked by the war.

What causes me personally to tear up a little bit is how adamant the boy is. He argues again and again, how everything is coming back to normal, trying to convince the girl, trying to convince himself, despite him knowing that his life is not the same as it was before. 

But his final plea is so sad. He gives up trying to say that everything is the same. He knows it's different. But he pleads to the girl to still stand at the gate, that he's coming back home. He knows he might not be a boy now, but he pleads to the girl to remember that he used to be a boy, he used to be a boy. All he wants is for her to stand there at the gate, smiling at him familiarly, as though nothing has changed.