cellio | Hebrew music

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Hebrew music

A recent issue of Moment magazine came bundled with a CD of new Jewish music -- a sampler, but full tracks and not just teases, so it's something I enjoy listening to. (Yeah, there are a couple tracks I skip, but there are some I like a lot.)

One song that I think is really pretty is "Min Hametzar" by Neshama Carlebach. I find myself understanding some phrases and occasional words, but not being able to put it together. But I think I could probably translate it if I could see it instead of hearing it. For one thing, written text is just easier. For another, I can't quite make out all the words, and anyway I might misspell when trying to write them down, and spelling matters. One thing that particularly trips me up when listening to foreign languages being spoken (or sung) is that I can't always tell where the word boundaries are because people slur text sometimes. For example, until I checked the CD I thought this song was probably called "mi nametzar". And for the longest time I thought the title phrase of "Ivdu et Hashem b'simcha" began with the word "ivduet" (I hadn't yet begun to actually learn the language at that point), which brought me no joy when trying to apply a dictionary.

I've been unable to find the lyrics of Min Hametzar by googling, which doesn't surprise me much. Even if I did find them, they'd probably be in transliteration instead of actual Hebrew, so the first thing I'd try to do is write out the Hebrew and fake it with the ambiguities of transliteration. But I don't think I'll get that far, unfortunately.

(I found an article about the song here -- down toward the end. Aha, it's a compilation of source texts -- so if I had citations I could reassemble it, maybe, but I don't so I can't. Oh well.)

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"In another line from the Psalms (118) which is part of Hallel, it says: (min hametzar karati Ya-H, anani bemerchav Ya-H ) "from my narrowness, distress, I called out to God (Ya-H), God (Ya-H), answered me with expansiveness." "

-from http://www.angelfire.com/pe/ophanim/Olam3.htm

Thanks. That's part of it, and there's stuff from B'reishit (that I actually recognized) in there, and there's other stuff.

The only sung versions of this I know have more of the Hallel psukim. Any recognizable snippets from the other stuff?

See my comment to

chaos_wrangler.

Of songs in general, I like being able to look most (unfortunately not all, yet) lyrics on the internet. With my hearing loss I find I can't always understand the words. When I can look them up and read along with the song once or twice, I enjoy the music much, much more.

Yeah, there's way too much stuff out there in English that's hard to understand! When did enunciation, articulation, and breath support become bad words?

"When did enunciation, articulation, and breath support become bad words?"

"In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" by the Iron Butterfly

Oh come now... "Louie Louie" by the Kingsmen, at least four years earlier.

LOL How could I'd've forgotten the Kingsmen!

I've been unable to find the lyrics of Min Hametzar by googling, which doesn't surprise me much. Even if I did find them, they'd probably be in transliteration instead of actual Hebrew, so the first thing I'd try to do is write out the Hebrew and fake it with the ambiguities of transliteration. But I don't think I'll get that far, unfortunately.

It sounds like it's mostly/all fairly well known tanach verses, so if you can give it to me in transliteration, I can probably give you citations which you can look up Hebrew/English. (I *like* my concordance. *g*)

Thanks! Ok, this was educational. After accounting for repetition there weren't as many lyrics as I thought, so here's what I got. Note: here I'm transcribing it as I heard it; see the notes for commentary.

[1] vay'hi b'yom ha-shlishi, u'mei'ot ha-bokeir, vay'hi kollot [something]

[2] v'anan? kavedah? m'kol shofar chazak me'ot?

[3] vayecheil ot kol ha-am

[4] min ha-metzar kalloti?? kal anani ma-menchafkar???

[5] sh'ma koleinu Hashem Elokeinu v'rachaman u'darcheim? aleinu v'kabel [something-u'im?] uv'ratzon l'tefilateinu

[6] o ki yatzar shomea t'filiot kol pei

----

1: Sure looks like the third day from B'reishit, through "bokeir"; is the rest from there too, or is she grafting verses here?

4: Looks like magid has this one pegged, though I'm having trouble figuring out what she did with it. (Kal? She's obviously eliding or modifying names of God, but even so I can't figure out what she's doing there.)

5: Ok, this is obviously "sh'ma koleinu" from the intermediate blessings of the weekday t'filah, though even knowing the text I had parsing problems here.

As for the other sections, I think I know many of these words and that I've mis-heard others. And that I'd get whole passages if I could look at the Hebrew. This doesn't look like hard stuff, but there are just enough problems in my hearing of it to mess things up. Thanks for your help!

My guess is that it's not Breishit, but something else that happens after 3 days (giving of the Torah?). I don't believe "kollot" occurs in the Creation story.

In [2], the last word is likely "me'od" (very), since I know there's a phrase from high holiday davening (taken from somewhere else, of course) about the "voice/sound of the shofar was very strong/loud".

In [3], the first word is likely "vayechi", and the second word is likely "et".

In [5], the [something-u'im] is likely "b'rachamim".

[6] sounds like something at the very end of Amidah, after the final paragraph said aloud during repetition.

My guess is that it's not Breishit, but something else that happens after 3 days (giving of the Torah?).

Good point. Matan torah definitely involves a three-day wait, so that could be it.

I don't believe "kollot" occurs in the Creation story.

This is what made me suspect grafting of verses. But I'll try looking up your suggestion.

Thanks for the other guesses!

Okay, here's my best guesses based on your transliterations:

I think Magid's right about [1] but that [1] & [2] are actually one item: shemot 19:16. I'm not sure if [3] could also be part of this - vayecheil ot kol ha-am doesn't match the rest of the pasuk very well (vayecharad kol ha'am asher bamachaneh) but I couldn't find anything useful re "vayecheil" in my concordance and the rest of the that phrase is just way too common, so maybe...?

[4] sounds like tehilim 118:5 to me too (Magid gets it again *g*). The standard way that I know for dealing with the repeated yud-he in that verse is to replace each yud with a kuf, and that may be what the singer's doing.

[5] and [6] look like prayer rather than tanach, and my concordance seems to back that up by being less than helpful.

I'm not sure I would have gotten [5] so I'm glad you did. *g*

re [6]: I looked at the line Magid suggested, but I don't think it matches well enough (y'hiyu l'ratson imrei fi v'hegayon libi l'fanecha hashem tsuri v'go'ali)... is it possible that this is a continuation of [5]? That doesn't match too well either but it matches better.

Thanks for helping to fill this in!

I think you're right that [1], [2], and [3] are all Sh'mot 19:16. Given some of the slurring, I could believe that I heard vayacheil instead of vayechar -- and then parsed the rest of the word (ad) as as a separate word, ot. (And then it stops before asher.)

I'm not sure I would have gotten [5] so I'm glad you did. *g*

So the "shema koleinu" was easy, but then it took me the longes time to recognize the next two words as such. I say that prayer regularly, but not with those substitutions. :-) So I had some cognitive dissonance, and I thought maybe what I had here was a source for the prayer text rather than the prayer text. Oops.

So [6] is still unidentified, but it looks like we've got the rest. Thanks to you and

magid!

I wonder if [5] is part of a different but similar prayer, and [6] is the next part of it...

Btw, Magid is also correct that [1-3] appears in the high holiday davening - it's towards the beginning of "shofrot" (the 3rd middle bracha of the rosh hashana musaf amidah).

I like that CD as well. I was just listening to it the other day.
I really like Lenny Solomon's song - the Shlock Rock song "Ani Yehudi."
I also really like the ones by Blue Fringe and Yom Hadash.

I like "Ani Yehudi" and "Elohai Neshama" (Yom Hadash) too. I also really like Danny Maseng's "Sim Shalom", and I like "Harini" and "Har'ini" (are those supposed to have a common root?). And some others too, but I'm not trying to do a full review right now. :-)

I have trouble understanding sung English! Sung German is nearly impossible. Portuguese (even back when I was fairly fluent in Portuguese) is flat out impossible. Believe it or not, even sung American Sign Language is more difficult. Even there, the singers often slur words to make the words more rhythmical and improve the flow from one word to the next.

My uncle, who knew many languages, couldn't follow a song in Spanish. I remember being shocked by this when I was a child; as an adult I understand.

In high school French class the teacher played a French song and had us work out the lyrics. Passages were played over and over and over... Hard stuff.

Somehow, the most disturbing part of that to me is that ASL has slurred words. What's next -- garbled subtitles/closed-captioning? Gah.

MIN HAMETZAR

Vayehi bayom hashlishi,
bih'yot haboker
vayehi (re'amim) u'vrakim

Ve'anan kaved al hahar,
vekol shofar chazak meod

Va'yecherad kol ha'am

Min hametzar karati H',
anani bamerchav H'

Shma koleinu Hashem Elokeinu,
av harachaman rachem aleinu

Vekabel berachamim uveratzon et t'filateinu,
ki ata shome'a t'filot kol peh

FROM THE DEPTHS

And it was on the Third Day
as morning dawned,
there was (thunder) and lightning.

And a heavy cloud was on the montain,
and the sound of the shofar was very strong

And the nation trembled

From the depths I called upon G-d,
G-d answered me from his heights.

Hear our voice, Hashem our G-d.
Compassionate Father, have mercy on us.

And accept our prayers with mercy and good will
for it is You who hears the prayers of every mouth.

Exodus 19:16

טז וַיְהִי בַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בִּהְיֹת הַבֹּקֶר, וַיְהִי קֹלֹת וּבְרָקִים וְעָנָן כָּבֵד עַל-הָהָר, וְקֹל שֹׁפָר, חָזָק מְאֹד; וַיֶּחֱרַד כָּל-הָעָם, אֲשֶׁר בַּמַּחֲנֶה.

English: And it was on the Third Day as morning dawned, there was thunder and lightning. And a heavy dark cloud was on the mountains, and the sound of the shofar was very strong, and the nation trembled.

+ Blessing Sixeen: Kabbalat Tefillah of Shmone Esrei (Eighteen Prayer)
From the depths I called upon G-d: G-d answered me from His Heights. Hear our voice, Hashem our G-d. Father of Compassion, have compassion on us, and accept with kindness and good will, our prayer, for it is You who hears the prayers of every mouth.

these are linked for it is as if one had fasted 3 days and was asking in humility for a bit to eat. these words are also found in the prayer for a safe pregnancy

shows me as anonymous and of course this is 5 or 6 years after the posts -- Gil Chaim

Thank you! I had completely forgotten about this entry until I got the LJ email. I appreciate you taking the time to post, and particular thanks for the explanations.

I did eventually get a copy of the music (wow, was my ability to hear words off when I wrote this!) and performed it in a congregational talent show this year. This entry has more about that.

(I hope you see this reply, since LJ won't notify you and I don't know your email address.)

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Hebrew music

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Understanding Lyrics

Re: Understanding Lyrics

Re: Understanding Lyrics

Min Hametzar (From the Depths

Re: Min Hametzar (From the Depths