The Raichel Project at Yarqon Park: If You Go
For the first half of this, it was just... Idan Raichel showing off at the keyboard, and trying to make this live version Different of the iconic recording version.
But then the vocals kick in, and my hand flew to my mouth for two reasons.
One is how different those songs sound when sung by the men who wrote them, and not the women they gave those songs to. And it's always - not "not the love songs" but not the romantic songs. "And who will hold me like this, if you go? Who will hear me out at the end of the day? Who will comfort and sooth me like only you know. And on whom will I wait at the window, if you go - who will ever hold me like you did, once when you returned home."
This song made it Memorial grade maybe months after coming out. Because it's young, because it's that screaming longing, because it's the fear when someone "goes" and you don't know what sense of the word that's going to be - and maybe they only left to buy groceries, and in Israel of 2003 that could easily be the last time you saw someone.
And in Israel, where a teenaged boy can say of another "How can you not be in love with him?" and mean it and in a way that has nothing to do with sex - when a man reminds you he wrote this, even though he'd given it to a woman because that's easier to hear - that right there is a punch.
The second punch is the audience. This wasn't a sold concert, it was a soldiers' concert: show your military ID and enter. Those are kids who were in elementary school when this song came out; I remember being weirded out at hearing new songs on the Memorial playlist, and to them it's a classic.
And they sing it. Every last word. "I will walk in the sun-golden field every day, while you're gone, and the moon will shine on my face which dream only of you. And when you return you will carry me from the field to the river, wash my face with both your hands and speak to me like only you know how."
And Idan Raichel, who's been a huge-ass popular musician for over a decade, who's not new at this, still has the moment of "Are you fucking kidding me" at the complete lack of hesitation over every last word.
This entry was originally posted at http://hagar-972.dreamwidth.org/2577801.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
But then the vocals kick in, and my hand flew to my mouth for two reasons.
One is how different those songs sound when sung by the men who wrote them, and not the women they gave those songs to. And it's always - not "not the love songs" but not the romantic songs. "And who will hold me like this, if you go? Who will hear me out at the end of the day? Who will comfort and sooth me like only you know. And on whom will I wait at the window, if you go - who will ever hold me like you did, once when you returned home."
This song made it Memorial grade maybe months after coming out. Because it's young, because it's that screaming longing, because it's the fear when someone "goes" and you don't know what sense of the word that's going to be - and maybe they only left to buy groceries, and in Israel of 2003 that could easily be the last time you saw someone.
And in Israel, where a teenaged boy can say of another "How can you not be in love with him?" and mean it and in a way that has nothing to do with sex - when a man reminds you he wrote this, even though he'd given it to a woman because that's easier to hear - that right there is a punch.
The second punch is the audience. This wasn't a sold concert, it was a soldiers' concert: show your military ID and enter. Those are kids who were in elementary school when this song came out; I remember being weirded out at hearing new songs on the Memorial playlist, and to them it's a classic.
And they sing it. Every last word. "I will walk in the sun-golden field every day, while you're gone, and the moon will shine on my face which dream only of you. And when you return you will carry me from the field to the river, wash my face with both your hands and speak to me like only you know how."
And Idan Raichel, who's been a huge-ass popular musician for over a decade, who's not new at this, still has the moment of "Are you fucking kidding me" at the complete lack of hesitation over every last word.
Click to viewThis entry was originally posted at http://hagar-972.dreamwidth.org/2577801.html. Please comment there using OpenID.