Natati La Khayay
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"Natati la khayay" ( he, label= Hebrew script, נתתי לה חיי; translation: "I Gave Her My Life”, however the translation used by the band is “She looked me in the eye”) is an Israeli song performed in
Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
by band Kaveret, conveying both romantic and political message. The song is 's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1974 which was recorded in several other languages including a cover by internationally known Joe Dassin. A musical featuring Kaveret's songs which ran at Israel's national theatre
Habima The Habima Theatre ( he, תיאטרון הבימה ''Te'atron HaBima'', lit. "The Stage Theatre") is the national theatre of Israel and one of the first Hebrew language theatres. It is located in Habima Square in the center of Tel Aviv. History ...
, is titled after the song. A cover version by one of Israel's most popular singers
Sarit Hadad Sarit Hadad ( he, שרית חדד, ) (born on September 20, 1978) is an Israeli singer. In October 2009, the Israeli Music TV Channel (Channel 24) named Hadad "best female singer of the 2000s". She represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contes ...
resulted in controversy of feuds over music styles and ethnicity, involving one of the band members, other artists and Israeli parliament figures. The original version topped Israel's national Hebrew chart in 1974 as song of the year.


Lyrics and political context

Typically for the band, the lyrics are full of unusual imagery. With humour and irony, the song deals, at least in part, with the power of love and its failure, as in lines such as "if she refused / there's no hope", and “Someone says that his sky is ending/When there’s enough air for a a nation or two”. It has been first suggested, and since confirmed by band member
Danny Sanderson Danny Sanderson ( he, דני סנדרסון; born November 30, 1950) is an Israeli musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist. In 2005, Sanderson received a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Israeli music. Biography Sanderson was ...
, that the song also contained a veiled political protest against the reign of then-prime minister
Golda Meir Golda Meir, ; ar, جولدا مائير, Jūldā Māʾīr., group=nb (born Golda Mabovitch; 3 May 1898 – 8 December 1978) was an Israeli politician, teacher, and ''kibbutznikit'' who served as the fourth prime minister of Israel from 1969 to 1 ...
, and in favour of the creation of a
Palestinian state Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state located in Western Asia. Officially governed by the Palestine Liberation Organization (PL ...
alongside Israel. A double-track record containing the song with English Lyrics under the title "She Looked Me in the Eye", and another very successful song of the band in an English cover, was released to the European market. Internationally known French singer Joe Dassin recorded and performed a French version entitled "Le service militaire" which deals with the experience of Army service.


Eurovision Song Contest

The members of "Kaveret", the Hebrew-meaning for "beehive", performed under the name Poogy for the occasion as well as on their other performances abroad, after their nickname to band drummer, Meir Fenigstein. As Kaveret included seven members while the rules of the competition allowed a maximum of six performers on the stage, the band's keyboard player Yoni Rechter served as the orchestra conductor. The song was performed sixth on the night, following 's Marinella with " Krasi, Thalasa Ke T' Agori Mu" and preceding 's Korni Grupa with "
Moja generacija The Eurovision Song Contest 1974 was the 19th edition of the annual Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Brighton, United Kingdom and was organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and host broadcaster British Broadcasting Corpor ...
". At the close of voting, it had received 11 points, placing seventh in a field of 17. It was succeeded as Israeli representative at the 1975 contest by Shlomo Artzi with "
At Va'Ani AT or at may refer to: Geography Austria * Austria (ISO 2-letter country code) * .at, Internet country code top-level domain United States * Atchison County, Kansas (county code) * The Appalachian Trail (A.T.), a 2,180+ mile long mountaino ...
".


Sarit Hadad cover controversy

Sarit Hadad Sarit Hadad ( he, שרית חדד, ) (born on September 20, 1978) is an Israeli singer. In October 2009, the Israeli Music TV Channel (Channel 24) named Hadad "best female singer of the 2000s". She represented Israel at the Eurovision Song Contes ...
, one of Israel's most popular singers and also the country's representative, at the 2002 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest, covered the song in 2018 in a different music style, which resulted in feuds between one of the band members and other artists and Israeli parliament figures who spoke against him. Hadad was approached with the idea to renew an Israeli classic, and thought it needs to be something from Kaveret's repertoire. A
Caucasus Jew Mountain Jews or Caucasus Jews also known as Juhuro, Juvuro, Juhuri, Juwuri, Juhurim, Kavkazi Jews or Gorsky Jews ( he, יהודי קווקז ''Yehudey Kavkaz'' or ''Yehudey he-Harim''; russian: Горские евреи, translit=Gorskie Yevrei ...
, Hadad focuses her performance and recording in
Mizrahi ''Mizrachi'' or ''Mizrahi'' ( he, מזרחי) has two meanings. In the literal Hebrew meaning ''Eastern'', it may refer to: *Mizrahi Jews, Jews from the Middle East * Mizrahi (surname), a Sephardic surname, given to Jews who got to the Iberian P ...
-eastern styles, including her cover version for the song, which incorporates instrumentation of clapping and
goblet drum The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; arz, دربوكة / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-s ...
ming with vocal of
trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware custom ...
timbre, focusing on oriental
dissonant In music, consonance and dissonance are categorizations of simultaneous or successive Sound, sounds. Within the Western tradition, some listeners associate consonance with sweetness, pleasantness, and acceptability, and dissonance with harshness ...
arrangement compared to the Kaveret's original. The cover received both positive and negative views. Kaveret member Efraim Shamir opined by comparing it to the militant Sunni Islamist group, saying: "Disgusting, Isil with a song", added that she "ruined the song" and mocked that the medical situation of another Kaveret member, Yitzhak Klepter "may have deteriorated after hearing this atrocity". Following previous remarks of Shamir dismissing Israeli eastern styles, his reaction to Hadad's version caused uproar across the Israeli music scene. Soon after the publication of his views, many Israelis went out to Hadad's defense, as well as Minister of Culture and Sports, Miri Regev who claimed that Shamir is "racist and embarrassing" while adding that Hadad's interpretation is "perfect". Shamir replied to Regev: "You are an uncivilized, loudmouth, liar and a proud vulgar". On the other hand, Kaveret's other Member,
Danny Sanderson Danny Sanderson ( he, דני סנדרסון; born November 30, 1950) is an Israeli musician, singer-songwriter and guitarist. In 2005, Sanderson received a lifetime achievement award for his contribution to Israeli music. Biography Sanderson was ...
opined that "the interpretation of Hadad is neat. Respect".


Chart positions

Natati la khayay was voted the most popular song in Israel in 1974, as it topped the official
Israeli annual Hebrew song chart Israeli annual Hebrew song chart (Hebrew: מצעד הפזמונים העברי השנתי) (''Mitz'ad hapizmonim'') is an annual Israeli Hebrew song contest. History ''Mitz'ad hapizmonim'' has been broadcast every year since 1963. There are two ...
, on the radio channel Reshet Gimmel which was operated by Kol Yisrael.


Year-end charts


References


External links


from Diggiloo Thrush
{{authority control Eurovision songs of Israel Eurovision songs of 1974 Kaveret 1974 songs