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I've Been Working on the Railroad/Hinei Rakevet
This song is a combination of the American folk song about railroads and
the childrens' song from Israel that is translated as, "Here is a train, it
goes around, on wheels. Chug chug, Ding a ling toot toot. Believe me, the
Hebrew version isn't quite so silly. But it isn't exactly serious either.
Elohai Nitzor
This music was written by me. The text translation comes from the Reform
Jewish prayerbook, The Gates of Prayer (p.47). The words mean, "O God, keep
my tongue from evil and my lips from deceit. Help me to be silent in the face
of derision, humble in the presence of all. Open my heart to Your Torah, and
I will hasten to do Your Mitzvot. Save me with Your power; in time of trouble
be my answer, that those who love you may rejoice."
Hinei Mah Tov
This is a medley of two versions of Hinei Mah Tov, the meaning of which is,
"How good and how pleasant it is for brothers (and all people implied) to
live together in peace."
Sim Shalom
This Jewish folk song means, "Grant peace and happiness and blessing."
Bim Chiri Bam
The first part of this song is a "nigun" or "melody" in English. In this
case, the melody is in the form of the syllables without meaning, "bim bam"
and then the words "Shabbat Shalom" or "Sabbath Peace". The second part of
the song is called "Chiri Bim" and includes Yiddish lyrics that mean, "As
I sing, Lecha Dodi (Enter my beloved) You sing Likrat Kallah (Welcome the
Bride). Chiri Bim Bam are nonsense syllables in the tradition of nigunim or
songs without words, only melodies.
Yism'chu
The translation of this song that is sung on Shabbat is "Those who keep the
Sabbath and call it a delight shall rejoice in Your deliverance. All who make
the seventh day holy shall be gladdened by Your goodness. This day is Israel's
festival of the spirit, sanctified and blessed by You, the most precious of
days, a symbol of the joy of creation."
Honor, Riches
Moving away from strictly Judaic content, this song is a wedding song that
comes at the end of Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. The song is intended
to wish blessings upon those who are marrying. I wrote the music for this.
Come Unto These Yellow Sands
This was written along with Honor, Riches out of the Shakespeare Riverside
edition. This song is from The Tempest and has a kind of irony in that
the gently music I wrote clashes with the rather morbid text of fish eating
the remains of the character's father. This is often referred to as Ariel's
Song
Treehouse
This song is simple song I wrote about sometimes wishing to escape to a treehouse
just to be away, but to still remain in contact with others. I may be separated,
but I am still present and enjoying my time on earth. Simply a fantasy.
Differences
This was written when I lived in Canada. There is a kind of feeling in Canada
that these are the main differences between Americans and Canadians. Americans
don't seem to think about Canada much, but when they do, it seems they only
consider that which is superficial. Canada is much the same as the U.S., but
there are differences. I try to include some concrete reasons that Canada
is also a nice place to live.
Down By The Riverside/Lo Yisa Goy
This last song is a combination of the Spiritual, Down by the Riverside
and the text "Lo Yisa Goy" which is closely related to the spiritual. The
Hebrew text means, "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither
shall they know war anymore."
I have many influences present in the above songs.
