Arik Einstein: A Few of My Faves (with Translation)

Image by Haaretz

Arik Einstein 1939-2013 Image by Wikimedia Commons
It’s tough picking out the best, the most representative and my own favorites, so I went with my favorites and then narrowed it down. If you want a few more, try this selection from Haaretz or, if you don’t need translation, just check out YouTube (though if you don’t need translation there’s a pretty good chance you know the stuff anyway). Anyhow, here are my top eight:
Ani ve-Ata (You and I will change the world)
Words: Arik Einstein / Music: Miki Gavrielov
You and I will change the world / You and I, and then they’ll all follow / They’ve said it before, but that doesn’t matter / You and I will change the world.
You and I will try from the beginning / We’ll have it rough / But that doesn’t matter. It’s not so bad / Others have said it before, but that doesn’t matter / You and I will change the world.
x x x x x
Yachol Lihiyot Shezeh Nigmar (It could be it’s all over)
Yehonatan Gefen / Shem Tov Levy
They say things were happy here before I was born / And everything was wonderful until I arrived / A Hebrew watchman on a white horse in darkest night / On the shores of Lake Kinneret, Trumpeldor was a hero.
Little Tel-Aviv, red sands, one Bialik / Two sycamores, / Beautiful people / Full of dreams.
We came to the Land / To build and to be built, / Because this land is for us, for us, for us.
Here, where you see the grass, / It used to be only mosquitoes and swamps. / Once, they say, there was a wonderful dream here / But when I came to look, I didn’t find a thing.
It could be that it’s all over / It could be that it’s all over.
They say things were happy here before I was born / And everything was marvelous until I arrived / Palmach, campfire, black coffee and stars / The English, the underground and ‘The Palmach Pack of Tall Tales’ / A mustache and wild curls, a kafiyah ’round the neck, The Tales of Yaron Zahavi / (Natan) Alterman, The Adventures of Tamar, beautiful girls and short pants,
They had a reason to get up in the morning / Because this land is for us, for us, for us.
Here, where you see the grass, / It used to be only mosquitoes and swamps. / Once, they say, there was a wonderful dream here / But when I came to look, I didn’t find a thing.
It could be that it’s all over / It could be that it’s all over.
x x x x x
Uf Gozal (Fly, little bird)
Arik Einstein / Miki Gavrielov
My little birds have left the nest / Spread their wings and flew away / And I, an old bird, remained in the nest / Really hoping that everything will be alright.
I always knew the day would come / When we’d have to part / But now it came to me so suddenly / So what’s the wonder that I’m a bit concerned.
Fly, little bird / Slice the sky / Fly to wherever you want / Just don’t forget / There’s an eagle in the sky / Be careful…
We are now alone in the nest / But we are together / Hold me tight and tell me yes Do not worry, it’s fun to grow old together
Fly, little bird…
I know that it’s just nature / I also left a nest / But now when he comes the moment / I get choked up / I get choked up…
Fly, little bird…
x x x x x
Sa L’at (Drive slow) (en route to a concert at Kfar Aza, 1974)
Arik Einstein / Miki Gavrielov
We’re driving in the old car through the wet night / The rain got heavy again and you can’t see a meter ahead / Drive slow. / Zvi says rain like this hurts the farmers / And I think how warm it is at home / And the poor soldiers lying in the mud right now. / Drive slow, drive slow.
On the radio, a routine by the Gashash and suddenly the news comes on / Tonight there’ll be heavy hail. My windshield-wiper just died / Zvi says his head is getting cold, close a window / And I think, Hapoel lost again, and the poor fans eating their hearts out / Drive slow, drive slow.
Let your thoughts run free. They won’t start without us. / Drive slow, drive slow.
We’re driving in the old car through the wet night / Tomorrow I’ll get up early, you’ll see – it’ll be alright / Zvi says it’s hard for him to breathe and his drops ran out / And I think, I think about you and how you know how to spoil me. I love you / Drive slow, drive slow
Do you remember when we drove to Eilat / We went down to the water / Everybody was on the same wavelength / We sang Beatles in harmony /
We’re driving in the old car through the wet night / The rain got heavy again and you can’t see a meter ahead / Zvi says they discovered a planet with life on it / And I think, we’re getting near (G)Aza / And just don’t let some grenade come flying and blow us to Azazel (Hell) / Drive slow, drive slow
Let your thoughts run free. They won’t start without us. / Drive slow, drive slow.
We’re driving in the old car through the wet night.
x x x x x
Yeladim Shel Hachayim (Children of life)
Shalom Hanoch / Shalom Hanoch
My eyes are open without seeing the sky / Without seeing the blue of the sea, the green of a tree / Without hearing lovely melodies as I did before / Without seeing things as they are.
Little children / Big children / Good children / Bad children / You know, Mother / We’re all children of life.
I breathe, I’m wrapped in your arms / I see in you a warm home and a family / And a clear light in the windows that you open / I’m free, but I have no rest.
Little children…
The doctor is already speaking about the end of the road / But I can put an end to fear / My eyes are open to see the sky / To see the blue of the sea, the green of a tree.
Little children…
x x x x x
Ohev Lihiyot Babayit (I love to be home)
Arik Einstein / Miki Gavrielov
There are people who climb mountains / And people who jump from airplanes / There are people who ride horses / And those who burn up the miles.
But I love to be home / With tea and lemon and my old books / Yes, I love to be home / With the same old love and the same old habits / I love to be home.
There are people who hunt tigers / And people who dive for pearls / There are people who build towers / And those who fast for months.
But I love to be home…
There are people who are always searching / And people who are always discovering / There are people who walk tall / And never give up and want it all.
But I love to be home…
x x x x x
Yatzanu At (We went slowly out) (A song of 1948)
Haim Hefer / David Zahavi
We went slowly out / The night was pale / In the distances the lights shimmered / And you were as beautiful as your eyes / At that moment that you held back the tears.
The jackal howled and you went to the vineyard / And your tear flowed, burning like an angel’s wing / And you remembered the hours before / We followed the narrow path out to battle. (x2)
And you remembered our laughter, so like a stream / And you remembered the harmonica and the dance / And you remembered the haystacks / And the touch of the hand of the only one.
And if you’re left behind and loneliness closes in / And you step slowly through the vineyard / You’ll wait, then, so quietly. / We parted, gazing, with a smile. (x2)
x x x x x
Yesh Li Ach Katan (I have a little brother)
Arik Einstein / Shem Tov Levy
I have a little brother who just came into the world / Doesn’t talk, doesn’t walk, a little brother. / He has blue eyes that laugh and cry / a button nose, golden curls much loved.
And everybody loves him and plays with him / They don’t seem to know that I’m still little. / Everybody loves him and forgets about me / Because I’m a little too grown up for the grown-ups.
I have a little brother who doesn’t go to kindergarten yet / He just plays all day, just so / I can fly a balloon and I finish kindergarten today / Tie my own shoelaces and build houses much faster than a baby.
And everybody loves him …
I have a little brother who just came into the world / Button nose, golden curls, a much-loved brother.
x x x x x
Ve’ulai (And perhaps) (A remembrance of Degania)
Rachel Bluwstein / Yehuda Sharett
And perhaps these things never were / And perhaps / I never rose at dawn to the garden / To work it by the sweat of my brow / Never, on long days, on long, hot days of harvest / From high atop a wagon loaded with sheaves / Did I raise my voice in song / Never did I wash in the peaceful blue, and the innocence / Of my Kinneret / O, my Kinneret / Did you exist, or did I dream a dream?
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 2
Fast Forward The invitation said, ‘No Jews.’ The response from campus officials, at least, was real.
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Fast Forward Columbia staff receive texts asking if they’re Jewish, as government hunts antisemitic harassment on campus
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Trump nominee Ed Martin, who praised a Nazi sympathizer, also compared Biden to Hitler
-
Opinion RFK Jr. and Trump are talking about an ‘autism registry’ — this sounds disturbingly familiar
-
Fast Forward Heavy police presence blocks anti-Israel protest in Brooklyn from reaching Jewish neighborhood
-
Yiddish קאָקני־ייִדיש“: אַ פּאָדקאַסט, אַ לשון און אַ שטײגער לעבן‘Cockney Yiddish’: A podcast, a language and a way of life
צװײ לאָנדאָנער היסטאָריקערינס לעבן אױף דאָס ייִדישע „איסט ענד“ אין אונדזער פֿאַנטאַזיע
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.