INTRO

After I heard a Dylan playlist for about two days (I heard Desolation Row about 20 times in a loop), I felt like writing an eternal love song. Suddenly, this country song-story about a Bonny & Clyde like couple of criminals who fall in love.

 

The tune came from the very first words. Just popped up. Having said that, I had to rewrite this story quite a lot to turn it into a song.

 

It’s a love song, but unlike Gift, it’s a fictional love, passionate and filled with rapture that is not bound by trivial things such as time and death. 

​

LYRICS

Hey, hey, I’m not too sentimental, but seeing Lady in her pink continental, 

I knew then and there, I’d already lost my heart. 

Started looking for an angle to help get me and Lady entangled, 

I woo-woo-woo-wooed her with all of my heart.

Knew that me and Lady gonna part. 

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.

 

By dinner we were veteran lovers, we shared and cared for each other, 

And by midnight I knew every inch of Lady by heart.

Finding a soul-mate's really rare, me and Lady, the perfect pair, 

We inked our chests with each others' hearts.

Knew that me and Lady gonna part. 

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.

 

We left Vegas just before dawn 'coz Lady’s credit was also outdrawn, 

Two lucky losers running with love in their hearts.

We drove endlessly all the time hustling by on petty crimes, 

Spending hours and centuries in heart to hearts.

Knew that me and Lady gonna part. 

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.

 

Then one day as was expected the law won and our hide-out was raided,

I caught Lady’s bullet straight through my heart.

And as I faded into a haze, couldn’t help smiling as Lady got away, 

Knowing I'd live forever in her heart of hearts.

Knew that me and Lady now apart. 

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.

 

Waiting in Hell, spinning rhymes, on the look-out for Lady all of the time, 

To finally laugh and cry with all my heart.

Now me and Lady together again, Hell ain't so bad when you got a friend, 

'Coz our souls are damned to eternity to never part.

Me and Lady never gonna part. 

Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na.

 

We're never gonna to part.

We're never gonna to part.

We're never gonna to part.

We're never gonna to part.

 

Me and Lady never gonna part.

INTRO

This song emerged on a night where I couldn’t fall asleep. I had just binged on a whole season of Succession in 3 days. I barely worked, barely functioned and when I went to sleep on the third night, I felt that I wasn’t living my life but the lives of the characters in the series.

 

I started humming myself a lullaby but instead it came out more bluesy, more threatening. But here and there, I heard an angelic voice which soothed me. At the end I fell asleep hearing the tune of the chorus.

 

From here, I thought about other similar moments for me and for people I love. Moments which seem endless. Moments which are opposite the wonderful fluidic disappearance between consciousness and sleep. But at the end we always fall asleep. Here the angelic voice is my middle daughter’s Lanuel. Somehow, she manages to light up this song with hope. 

​

LYRICS

So now, now I lay me down to sleep,

I’m floating like an angel, yeah feeling like a creep.

My mind is in a fuzzy haze,

'Coz I watched three seasons in three days.

By episode one, we were blood friends, 

But by day two, I just needed it to end.

 

I just wanna say,

Survived another groundhog night,

Following a groundhog day.

I’m fading away, away, away, 

Living lives that aren’t mine,

Wasting my life away.

I just want to say…

 

And now, now I lay me down to sleep,

Living in my dark room, yeah for three weeks.

I’ve barely eaten in three nights,

Feeding by thumbing through people’s lives.

My world is turning but I am still,

I’m losing my life, already lost my will.

 

I want to play,

I really need you by my side,

To help dull this awful pain.

Looking for a way, a way, a way,

To outshine the sunshine’s light,

Just like my golden days.

I just want to play…

 

And now, now I lay me down to sleep,

Feeling kinda lonely, yeah feeling kinda weak.

We’re together and yet we’re apart,

Oh baby, we’re breaking our own hearts.

I just want to reach out and touch you too,

To laugh and dance like we used to do.

 

So, babe please stay, 

Don’t want to be alone tonight,

I’m feeling kinda small today.

Then we connect, OK, OK,

I think we're gonna be alright,

And I’ll finally feel whole again.

 

I just wanna say, 

Can't help but love and fight,

The demons inside our brains.

It’s just a maze, a maze, a maze,

How we manage all our frights,

‘Coz when we play, we gotta pay.

 

So now, now I lay me down to sleep…

Now I lay me down to sleep...

Now I lay me down to…sleep.

INTRO

This is actually the first song which awakened my interest in writing and creating music.

​

It’s the day of atonement (Kippur). 12:15 at night. I am sick of watching another series on Netflix.  I’m sick of this feeling of copy-pasting my life and of my desire to change which never becomes a final decision of act.

 

I leave my house and decide to walk to the beach. On the way, I listen mostly to Leonard Cohen and a bit of Bob Marley. I make it to the beach after about forty minutes. I’m alone and lonely, exposed and vulnerable and I am thinking of the people I want to apologize to and to forgive but there’s no one to talk to. And most of all I want to apologize to myself and to forgive myself that I gave up on myself.

 

And then, I heard within the sound of the waves the chimes of bells which probably came from Leonard Cohen’s Anthem:

Ring the bells that still can ring, forget your perfect offering.

There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in.

 

In  my case, these were bells which heralded the time to decide for myself. I started writing and humming. On the way back home, most of the song was done.

 

Part of the essence of this song is that I have to sing it. It’s a small but significant change. I have done hundreds of presentations and lectures in my life but I never dared to sing. The change starts with a goal to sing this song in front of others or at least in front of friends and family.

 

Having said that, I had this distant feeling that I wasn’t really changing anything.

​

LYRICS

It’s the chosen night to atone, to apologize and to forgive.

I’m beach-side, I'm all alone, no one to take nor to give.

It’s just me, only me, looking back into myself.

And I don’t like what I see, I’m just aching for someone else.

Then sea breezes embrace me and I’m crying out for help.

A cry meant for only me, to hear the bells of change.

 

The bells of change, those swells of change,

I gotta change, I gotta change.

And ain’t it strange, ain't it strange,

I only have myself to blame.

I’m defeated by my own games, ignoring those bells of change.

 

I wish I could be, just be, not some prisoner from my past.

Not a wannabe me of me, to float where the waves may cast.

No perils in front of me, living each moment to the last.

And then I think of family, of she, she, she and she.

Each suffering in her own way, their pain-pain-paining me.

No, it’s not enough to hope and pray, gonna ring the bells of change. 

 

The bells of change, those swells of change,

I’ve gotta change, I'm gonna change. 

And ain’t it strange, ain't it strange,

How loved ones created my frame. 

And purpose ignited my flames, to ring out the bells of change.

 

Yep, this time, I’m gonna change, this time I’ll tap into my well.

Of the man within the child in me, this time I'll ring my own bells.

I broke a loop, walked far for me, broke a loop, got home way past three.

Well, some loops joined me by the sea and some stayed there as well.

Timing's right, it’s a different scene, time to leave my golden cell.

Sing these words and set me free, singing my bells of change.

 

My bells of change, my swells of change,

I’m gonna change, I'm gonna change. 

And ain’t it strange, ain't it strange,

This time I'll play it sane.

I'll love me more, much less shame, ringing out my bells of change.

 

My bells of change, my swells of change, Hallelujah, I just changed.

And ain’t it strange, aint it strange…my song remains the same.

And my song remains the same, my song remains the same.

And our songs remain the same, our songs remain the same.

Our song remains the same, our song remains the same.

INTRO

I once asked someone I met in Greece what her tattoo meant: loosely translated it’s “I thank my scars because they remind to never forget who I am”. The meaning behind this was that scars prove and remind her that she is a survivor, not a victim and that they are inseparable from who she is today. She told me a bit about some of her scars and she really did go through a lot.

​

I decided to focus the stories in this song around two women who are very close to my heart: one was raped and another suffered social exclusion which triggered her anorexya.

 

Then I started to think about all the scars that we all have, that I have. Failures in love, rejection, betrayal, violence, failures, losses…all those hurt parts within us who are trying to protect us from getting hurt again. Sometimes they strengthen us and sometimes they weaken us.

​

At the end of the day, our scars are integrated into our lives and in the way we tell our stories. All these scars have made us who we are. All these scars have turned us into victims or into survivors. The path from victim to survivor goes through our ability to forgive the ones who gave us the scars as well as forgiving ourselves and taking responsibility for our actions and feelings in the past, the present and the future and doing what needs to be done to not be a victim of this type again.

 

I hope that this song will support victims to rewrite their narratives as survivors.

​

LYRICS

Yeah, I got scars, these deep-deep scars,

From this cute boy I went upstairs,

For a see, then he turned hard, so uglily hard.

He made me his disposable

Fantasy, jerk, I was crying out in shame not ecstasy, yeah, I got scars.

And it’s sad but what's not so sad, 

I now know how to say no, decisively, na, na, na, na, yeah, I got scars.

 

Gotta thank my unlucky scars,

They remind me that I should never
Forget, my unlucky scars, 

Scar-livin' proof, I survived another

Test, my unlucky scars, 

They remind me that I should never
Forget, my unlucky scars, 

Scar-livin' proof, I survived another test.

 

Yeah, I got scars, these deep-deep scars,

From these childhood friends who made me

Feel free, 'til they turned hard, so icily hard.

Until they stopped to even say

Hi to me, I was collateral damage, no apologies, yeah I got scars.

And it’s sad but what's not so sad,

I learned the hard way that im eini li, mi li, na, na, na, na, yeah, I got scars.

 

Gotta thank my unlucky scars,

They remind me that I should never
Forget, my unlucky scars, 

Scar-livin' proof, I survived another

Test, my unlucky scars, 

They remind me that I should never
Forget, my unlucky scars, 

Scar-livin' proof, I survived another test.

 

Hey ho, was a victim, now a survivor (yeah, I got scars).

INTRO

As you might understand from its name, this song is made up of quotes from songs and artists I respect & admire. The list of the 27 quotes follows the lyrics. Here and there, I changed some of the words to adapt them to my story.

 

There probably is a copyright issue here but it’s quite obvious that if there is, this could actually be an opportunity. I’ve shared a presentation I prepared for this song - I envision a video in which iconic animations of these artists sing their own lyrics.

 

It’s a love song for my wife from two moments in my life when I missed her terribly and an event in which I sang this song for her. It’s a love which spans 33 years filled with vulnerability, partnership, friendship, hope and commitment. 

​

LYRICS

Hello darkness my old friend, just let it be, 

'Cause there's someone in my head, and it's not me.

Don't try too hard to think, don't think at all,

What the hell am I doing here? I wish you were here.

Suddenly I'm not half the man I used to be,

And it's hard to get by just upon a smile. 

Let it be, let it be, let it be, let it be.

 

And there ain't a woman that comes close to you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

This could be heaven and my aim is true,

My gift is their songs and this one's for you.

For you, for you, for you, for you. For you, for you, for you, for you.

 

It's been seven hours and fifteen days,

And this loneliness won't leave me alone.

Oooh stand by me, it's just a kiss away.

Cause I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough,

And I'll be there, yes I will, you've got a friend,

And every little thing’s gonna be alright!

Fifteen days, fifteen days, fifteen days, fifteen days. 

 

And there ain't a woman that comes close to you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

This could be heaven and my aim is true,

My gift is their songs and this one's for you.

For you, for you, for you, for you. For you, for you, for you, for you.

 

From this broken hill, I will sing to you,

I'm a dreamer, the little child inside the man.

When you ain't got nothing you got nothing to lose,

And we could be heroes just for one day,

I'm gonna ring the bells that still can ring,

And any day now, we shall be released. 

Sing to you, sing to you, sing to you, sing to you.

 

That there ain't a woman that comes close to you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

This could be heaven and my aim is true,

My gift is their songs and this one's for you.

 

And there ain't a woman that comes close to you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

This could be heaven and my aim is true,

My gift is their songs and this one's for you.

 

And there ain't a man that comes close to you,

I wish nothing but the best for you, too.

This could be heaven and my aim is true,

My gift is their songs and this one's for you.

INTRO

This song was born in death. Didi, someone I knew and was friends with, died suddenly at an early age. I used to work with her and her husband, Yoni, for quite a few years and I liked them both - in fact they met because I hired Yoni. But for some reason, we hadn’t really seen each other in about 15 years apart from accidental meetings followed by “let’s meet”.

 

When I heard of Didi’s death, I immediately thought about Yoni, the three children, her parents, her loved ones…But then I thought about my loss of not knowing her more because we each went our separate ways in life.

 

This loss of not being with her while she was alive really got me down because I understood that I had detached myself from many people I had liked but in her case, the detachment was final. Dead twice: the death of our relationship which could have been reborn if I had just invested a bit more and now, her physical and final death. The song is dedicated to Didi but in a way, it is really meant for Yoni and for myself. 

 

During the time that Didi died, a close friend of mine, Dida, was battling cancer and had been given a year to live. While I wrote this song, I thought of Dida as well - the similarity in their names and the fact that they were both too young to die. And she did die. So this song is dedicated to Dida and her husband Oren as well.  It’s a song about sadness but also one of hope: loss can and should be prevented before it is final. The tune was born within 2 days of Didis’s death and  since then hasn’t really changed. The repetition of words began as an accident but then I thought that it was an integral part of this song. 

​

LYRICS

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late,

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late.

 

It's getting late, yeah, late in the night and in my life.

Amends I'll make you for letting us down from so high.

It's all in my mind, I can't stop, stop me from coming here,

It's all in my eyes, I see us like, like we were in those years…can’t stop the tears, yeah. 

 

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late,

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late.

 

Can't seem to fake it, my world is still spinning 'round.

Can't seem to shake it, I'm just sitting here, sitting down.

Light up my way 'cause I don't, I don't know where to go,

Don't know what I really want, yeah, but I want it so… and I gotta let go, yeah.

 

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late,

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late.

 

There's so much waste, yeah, friends I don't see any more.

So then I blame me 'cause I swam, I swam to my shores.

And now Didi’s gone and I’m sing singing her song,

Aching to go back to before things went wrong…I gotta be strong, yeah.

 

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late,

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late.

 

Sometimes I hate it, I hate sticking to this plan.

I just want to wake up, wake up as a superman.

They say that life goes on for those, those who didn’t die,

So why do I feel a little dead although I'm still alive?...I’m still alive, I’m still alive,

And I’m still alive, yeah.  

 

Time for emancipation, gotta focus on love and on good will.

I'm gonna save us, save us from loop-looping downhill.

Most people think that heroes gotta do something great,

I think it’s more heroic to simply embrace your fate…yeah, it’s getting late, yeah. 

 

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late (and it’s alright).

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late (and it’s alright).

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late (and it’s alright).

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late (and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late (and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting late (and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

It’s getting late, yeah, it’s getting…(and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

(and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

(and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

(and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

(and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

(and it’s gonna be alright / and it’s alright).

INTRO

On October 7th 2023, Hamas terrorists invaded Israel from Gaza and went on a brutal rampage which included kidnapping, killing, executions, raping, torturing, pillaging and dismembering thousands of innocent Israeli civilians. 

 

The terrorists targeted Israeli settlements near Gaza and, by what seems to be a pure fluke, they also raided the Nova trance festival where they killed 364 young festival goers and kidnapped 44 - 14 of them are still (dead or alive) in Gaza today. The survivors of the festival not only lost their friends and loved ones: most were traumatized to the core as the terrorists hunted them down as they hid and ran for their lives.

 

While I personally support the Palestinians’ efforts to establish their country, this was not the acts of “freedom fighters” and the horrific actions of these terrorists on that day will be remembered in infamy forever.

 

This song is dedicated to the victims of the Nova festival and to their friends and loved ones.

 

On October 7th 2024, a memorial service was held for the victims. This song begins there as I tried to get into the heads and hearts of the survivors.

​

LYRICS

The weary white-blue flags stutter,

And a million yellow butterflies flutter,

Yeah, they’re coming alive, in the ever-changing wind.

Our lifeless seeds are buried far away, 

And rains of tears, they hope and pray,

To resurrect life, on the pregnant wind.

 

And it all looks so peaceful now,

And it's so hard to imagine how,

But listen closely, this I vow, 

Yeah, he lives on in the wind.

 

October winds, yeah they tease at my soul,

Freeing heavy thoughts, they lose control,

Yeah, they’re whisked away, by the merciful wind.

I smell your perfume like a fleeting embrace,

A bittersweet moment, that time won’t erase,

Yeah, we’re briefly reunited, in love's wind.

 

And it all looks so peaceful now,

And it's so hard to imagine how,

But listen closely, this I vow, 

Yeah, she lives on in the wind.

 

The wind remembers, it will never forget,

And memories will live until the last sunset,

From that perfect day that we first met,

Yeah, for such precious moments, I’m in the wind’s debt. 

I’m in the wind’s debt. I’m in the wind’s debt. 

 

And it all looks so peaceful now,

And it's so hard to imagine how,

But listen closely, this I vow, 

Yeah, they live on in the wind.

 

Yeah, they live on in the wind (ana-na, na-na-na-na-na-na, ana-na)

INTRO

This song began from two conversations I had during the summer of 2025 in Plomari, on the island of Lesvos in Greece. Over the past few years, many Israelis began visiting and buying property in Plomari. At first, this was welcomed by the 3,500 locals but for very many reasons, some locals began to voice their criticism.

 

Some of the criticism took the form of posters and graffiti supporting Palestinians in the raging war in Gaza. I decided to connect with the Palestinian supporters in order to hear them out and to understand them better. My conversations with one man in particular were not easy because he believed that “the truth” was on his side - Israel and all the Israelis were to blame, Israeli soldiers were Nazis, it was a genocide etc…

 

Two or three days later, I hosted a dinner party at my house for a group of Israeli friends. The conversation drifted towards the criticism of people in Plomari and around the world against Israel and one friend stated vehemently that this was all anti-semitism. When I and another friend attempted to convince him that there may be other, and perhaps even legitimate, reasons for criticizing Israel (I personally demonstrated against my government many many times), he would not budge.

 

Both of these men, as passionate and as knowledgeable as they were, viewed these conflicts in black and white. There was no middle ground, no room to listen, no empathy for the pain of others, no different perspectives…only their firm understanding of their “truth”. They were right and everyone who thought differently was wrong. Us & them. Black and white with no colors in between, no middle ground to connect. The polarization of ideas fuelled by politicians who thrive on “divide & conquer” is not unique to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians. It is growing in more and more places, driven by social media which elevates the importance of short, one-sided and antagonistic messages forcing people to choose sides and to believe wholly in their version of the truth because that’s what their feed shows them.

 

This song is meant for people who can still agree to disagree while striving for common goals. It is a call to connect between people who disagree but have 80% in common. It is a plea for acceptance of people who think differently than you.

 

LYRICS

 

Getting tired of people talking

In black! and in white!.

It's like they've stopped listening,

Yeah, just wanna fight.

They preach truths while ignoring

That a shadow’s born from its light.

And even when the ship's sinking,

They’ll drown believing they’re right.

Yeah, they’ll drown believing they’re right.

 

If you see life in black! and in white!,

You’ll miss the colors hiding in plain sight.

Yeah, if you see life in black! and in white!,

You’ll fan the flames of hatred to higher heights.

Yeah, don't wanna live in black! and in white!.

No, I don't wanna live in black! and in white!.

 

Getting tired of people mocking,

And ignoring others' cries.

Call you weak for hesitating,

Or don’t choose their side.

They use exclamation marks, clinging

To ideas that ease their frights.

Satisfied to go on chanting,

“We are day and they are night”.

Yeah, “we are day and they are night”.

 

If you see life in black! and in white!,

You’ll miss the colors hiding in plain sight.

Yeah, if you see life in black! and in white!,

You’ll fan the flames of hatred to higher heights.

Yeah, don't wanna live in black! and in white!.

No, I don't wanna live in black! and in white!.

 

Come on, come on, people, 

Open your eyes to all the different colors, and colors, and colors, and colors…

(Yeah, don't wanna live in black! and in white!.)

Come on, come on, people, 

Open your ears to the cries of your brothers and sisters and brothers and sisters…

(Yeah, don't wanna live in black! and in white!.)

Come on, come on, people, 

Open your hearts to the pain of others and others and others and others…

(Yeah, don't wanna live in black! and in white!.)

 

No, I don't wanna live in black! and in white!