first listen to the song, than we will go through the lyrics and learn them
and if you prefer the original quiet version by Meir Banay and his brother Evyatar Banay, here it is:
the name of the song:
Etzlekh Ba-Olam אצלך בעולם
في العالم الذي تعيشون فيه
In your world
Performer: اليهود - The Jews - Ha-Yehudim - היהודים
Writen by: مئير بناي - Meir Banay - מאיר בנאי
Lyrics:
Kol Ha-Layla Hayinu - כל הלילה היינו
All the night we were
كل ليلة كنا
Tahat Kishuf - תחת כישוף
Under a spell
تحت تعويذة
Kol Ha-Layla Gilinu - כל הלילה גילינו
All night we discovered
كل ليلة وجدنا
Sodot Shel Ha-Guf - סודות של הגוף
Secrets of the body
أسرار الجسد
Chorus:
Tni Li Yad, Tni Li Makom - תני לי יד תני לי מקום (x2)
Give me a hand, Give me a Place
أعطني يد(ك) , تعطيني مكانا
Etzlekh Ba-Olam - אצלך בעולם
In your world
في العالم الذي تعيشون فيه
Tni Li Yad, Tni Li Makom - תני לי יד תני לי מקום (x2)
Give me a hand, Give me a Place
أعطني يد(ك) , تعطيني مكانا
Etzlekh Ba-Olam - אצלך בעולם
In your world
في العالم الذي تعيشون فيه
Ha-Shedim Shel Ha-Layla - השדים של הלילה
The demons of the night
شياطين الليل
Yotzim Kvar LirKod - יוצאים כבר לרקוד
Going out already to dance
الخروج بالفعل على الرقص
Hem Nogim Bi Nogim Bakh - הם נוגעים בי נוגעים בך
They touch me, they touch you
انهم تلمسني ، أنها تمس لك
Nogim Od Va-Od - נוגעים עוד ועוד
touch more and more
لمس أكثر وأكثر
Chorus:
Tni Li Yad, Tni Li Makom - תני לי יד תני לי מקום (x2)
Give me a hand, Give me a Place
أعطني يد(ك) , تعطيني مكانا
Etzlekh Ba-Olam - אצלך בעולם
In your world
في العالم الذي تعيشون فيه
Tni Li Yad, Tni Li Makom - תני לי יד תני לי מקום (x2)
Give me a hand, Give me a Place
أعطني يد(ك) , تعطيني مكانا
Etzlekh Ba-Olam - אצלך בעולם
In your world
في العالم الذي تعيشون فيه
Zeh Ani Menagen Lakh - זה אני מנגן לך
It is me playing for you
هذا أنا يلعب للك
Menagen Lakh Nigun - מנגן לך ניגון
Playing for you a tune
يلعب للك لحن
Zeh Ani She-Lokeakh - זה אני שלוקח
It is me that takes
هذا أنا يأخذ
Otakh Le-Tiyul - אותך לטיול
you to a walk
يأخذك إلى المشي
Chorus ....
Now we will go through the lyrics to learn the words:
Kol Ha-Layla Hayinu
Kol = All (Same as in Arabic)
Ha = The. in hebrew you glue this word to the begining of the next word, just like "Al-" in Arabic.
Layla = Night (Same as in Arabic)
Hayinu = we were, this word consist of 2 parts, the root and the relation. the root of the word is Haya (was) and the relation is "Nu" (rlated to us, we). you can relate every verb in hebrew to who did it.
for example, if I wanted to say "I was" I would say "HayiTi", because the postfix "Ti" is relating the root to me. here are more examples:
- I was = HayiTi
- You (male) were = HayiTa
- You (female) were = Hayit
- You (male plural) were = HayiTem
- You (female plural) were = HayiTen
- He/It was = Haya
- She was = HayTa
- They were = Hayu
- We were = HayiNu
Tahat = Under (Same as in Arabic)
Kishuf = a spell, a Magic.
so the first to lines are telling us that all night we were under a spell. lets continue.
Kol Ha-Layla Gilinu
We already know what is Kol Ha-Layla. but we have a new word in this line:
GiliNu = we discovered.
Do you remember what the postfix "Nu" is telling us? it means that We dicovered. not me, not you, we did.
If you folowed my explanations in the first line you should know how to say "I discovered" or "You discovered". here are all the relations:
- I descovered = GiliTi
- You (male) discovered = GiliTa
- You (Female) discovered = Gilit
- You (male plural) discovered = GiliTem
- You (female plural) discovered = GiliTen
- He discovered = Gila
- She discovered = GilTa
- They discovered = Gilu
- We descovered = GiliNu
Sodot Shel Ha-Guf
Sodot = Secrets
Shel = of
Ha-Guf = The Body
lets talk about the word Sodot. to say in hebrew the word secret (single) you would say "Sod", and in plural you add the "ot" at the end. there are mainly 2 kinds of plural postfixes in hebrew. plural for male objects is "im" and for female objects it is "ot".
"Sod" is a male object in hebrew and it is one of the exceptions in hebrew where you use female plural postfix for a male object.
lets continue to the chorus:
Tni Li Yad, Tni Li Makom
Tni = give (when refering to a female)
Li = to me
Yad = hand (Same word as in Arabic)
Makom = a place (Very similar to Makan in Arabic)
the word Tni is a demand verb and we will use it when we ask a female to give us something. other forms of give (demand)
- you (male) give! = Ten
- you (female) give! = Tni
- you (plural) give! = Tnu
the word Li ( to me) consist of 2 parts "L" means "to" (just like in arabic) and "i" is to reffer it to me.
other forms of "To" in hebrew:
- to me = Li
- to you (male) = Lekha
- to you (female) = Lakh
- to you (male plural) = Lakhem
- to you (female plural) = Lakhen
- to him/it = Lo
- to her = La
- to them (male) = Lahem
- to them (female) = Lahen
- to us = Lanu
Etslekh Ba-Olam
Etslekh = at yours (when reffering to a female)
Ba = in the
Olam = world (similar to Arabic)
the word "Etslekh" consist of 2 parts. "Etsel" which means "at" and the postfix "ekh" which reffer it to a female in second form (you).
The word "Ba" consist of 2 parts, the fist part "B" means "in". so if you think of it, to say "in the" should be "B-Ha". well, in hebrew they decided to short it to "Ba".
Ha-Shedim Shel Ha-Layla
Shedim = Deamons, goasts
this sentence you should understand by now. it repeats many words we already know. the meaning of this line is : the deamons of the night.
Yotzim Kvar LirKod
Yotzim = going out (they)
Kvar = already
Lirkod = to dance
going out in single form is "Yotze". as we already know, adding "im" to the end makes it plural.
forms of going out in hebrew:
Hem Nogim Bi Nogim Bakh
Hem = they
Nogim = are touching (plural, they)
Bi = in me
Bakh = in you (for single female)
Nogim is touching in the present and plural. other forms:
Nogim Od Va-Od
Od = more
Va = and
This is not the end of this lesson. i will continue later
Ha-Shedim Shel Ha-Layla
Shedim = Deamons, goasts
this sentence you should understand by now. it repeats many words we already know. the meaning of this line is : the deamons of the night.
Yotzim Kvar LirKod
Yotzim = going out (they)
Kvar = already
Lirkod = to dance
going out in single form is "Yotze". as we already know, adding "im" to the end makes it plural.
forms of going out in hebrew:
- for single male = Yotze
- for single female = Yotzet
- for plural males = Yotzim
- for plural females = Yotzot
Hem Nogim Bi Nogim Bakh
Hem = they
Nogim = are touching (plural, they)
Bi = in me
Bakh = in you (for single female)
Nogim is touching in the present and plural. other forms:
- for single male = Nogea
- for single female = Nogaat
- for plural males = Nogim
- for plural females = Nogot
Nogim Od Va-Od
Od = more
Va = and
thank you SO MUCH for doing this, for writing down the lyrics and the translation. This song means a lot to me and as im trying to learn hebrew its really amazing to be able to listen to it and sing it along and read the lyrics and understand them.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU!
Shalom Tomer!
ReplyDeletethank you!
I hope you have time to continue this
I'm studying Hebrew at Copenhagen University and it's such a great way to learn more
working on a new post.
ReplyDeletethank you for your comments.
Shalom Tomer!
ReplyDeleteToda raba le lyrics shel' shir ani ohev meod!
BeAtclaha!
Akshav ani liomed be uplan be WIS.
שלום
ReplyDeletethank you so much. I'm a dutch guy from france (no jew no arab) learning hebrew thanks to your site.
i first listened to the song on my tel aviv holiday, fell in love with it and finally know more about the beautiful language it is written in ... toda raba from berlin !!
ReplyDeletewow its wonderful and i hope u continue!! i really love your way to explain!
ReplyDeleteYou have done a great job here and have made learning Hebrew a lot of fun.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate your work and thank you for sharing this. I am looking forward to your future posts!
ReplyDelete