Hebrew Lyrics

K'she'eemah ba'ah hena yafa utzeirah
Az abba al givah banah lah bayit
Chalfu ha'avivim, chatzi me'ah avrah
V'taltalim hafchu seyva bintayim

Aval al chof Yarden, kmo me'umah lo karah
Otah hadumiyah v'gam otah hataforah
Chorshat ha'ekaliptus
Hagesher, Hasirah,
V'reyach hamaluach al hamayim

M'ever la'Yarden ra'amu hatotachim
V'hashalom chazar b'sof ha'kayitz
V'chol hatinokot - hayu la'anashim
V'shuv al hagivah hekimu bayit

Aval al chof...

Translation

When mother came here, pretty and young
Then father built a house for her, on the hill
The springs passed, half a century
And the curls turned grey

Chorus
But on the Jordan bank, nothing seems to change
The same silence and the same decor
The eucalyptus grove, the bridge, the boat
And the Saltbush's fragrance on the water

The cannons thundered on the other side of the Jordan
And then - peace returned when the summer ended
All the babies grew up
And again built a house on the hill.

ALTERNATE TRANSLATION
(from "To Live Another Summer, To Pass another Winter")
(singable)

When first my mother came here, a young and lovely girl,
My father built a simple little cabin.
And fifty summers later, their hair has turned to grey,
The cabin is a house, so much has happened.

But down beside the Jordan, certain changes never came,
The calmly flowing water and the setting still the same.
The grove of eucalyptus, the bridge, the wooden boat,
The scent of mint that floats above the water.
The grove of eucalyptus, the bridge, the wooden boat,
The scent of mint that floats above the water.

The guns begin to thunder beyond the further bank,
But peace has come again by early autumn.
And all the little toddlers are women now and men,
All building homes the way their parents taught them.

But down beside the Jordan, certain changes never came,
The calmly flowing water and the setting still the same.
The grove of eucalyptus, the bridge, the wooden boat,
The scent of mint that floats above the water.
The grove of eucalyptus, the bridge, the wooden boat,
The scent of mint that floats above the water.