Jerusalem of Gold to Jamaica

Jerusalem of Gold to Jamaica

Today's post has a musical angle. I will take you from Jerusalem to Jamaica on a musical tour. But the music I will talk about has deep spiritual and political resonance for people longing to be who they are; for people seeking to escape the bondage of oppression both yesterday and today.

"Jerusalem of Gold" is a song written by Naomi Shemer. It was written in 1967, the year I was born and the year of the Six-Day War. It is a haunting melody that speaks of the longing of Jews for their Jerusalem of Gold. This Jerusalem of Jewish religious longing, the Old City, was under Jordanian control from 1948 to 1967. Jewish religious sites were desecrated and Jews were barred from the Old City and the Western Wall .

Or, so we thought that "Jerusalem of Gold" was written by Naomi Shemer. Just after Shemer died, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported that Shemer stole the "Jerusalem of Gold" melody from a Basque troubadour Paco Ibanez. When hearing of the news, Ibanez was forgiving and magnanimous. He said he was honoured that Shemer played his melody, which actually comes from a 19th century Basque lullaby. Ibanez was a man with a "heart of gold," to use the words of Canadian folk icon Neil Young.

To get a feel for this classical Israeli folk song, below here are the translated lyrics of "Jerusalem of Gold" by Naomi Shemer:

The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines
Is carried on the breeze of twilight
With the sound of bells.

And in the slumber of tree and stone
Captured in her dream
The city that sits solitary
And in its midst is a wall.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

How the cisterns have dried
The market-place is empty
And no one frequents the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Winds are howling
And no one descends to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho.

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

But as I come to sing to you today,
And to adorn crowns to you (i.e. to tell your praise)
I am the smallest of the youngest of your children (i.e. the least worthy of doing so)
And of the last poet (i.e. of all the poets born).

For your name scorches the lips
Like the kiss of a seraph
If I forget thee, Jerusalem,
Which is all gold...

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze, and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

We have returned to the cisterns
To the market and to the market-place
A ram's horn (shofar) calls out (i.e. is being heard) on the Temple Mount
In the Old City.

And in the caves in the mountain
Thousands of suns shine -
We will once again descend to the Dead Sea
By way of Jericho!

Jerusalem of gold, and of bronze and of light
Behold I am a violin for all your songs.

To hear the song performed by Shemer see:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JZT5fKD9bM

You must be wondering now how I will connect Shemer's tune "Jerusalem of Gold" with Jamaica. Well, Jamaica has produced a musical prophet for all times, Robert Marley (1945-1981). Marley longed for a Jerusalem for his own people in Jamaica, Africa, and around the world. His songs "Exodus," "Redemption," and "Iron Lion Zion" have conspicuous biblical overtones, while "War" is based on a Haile Selassie speech to the United Nations condemning racial hatred and colonialism. His one love message, universal peace, and multiracialism have inspired legions of supporters around the globe. Marley was a Rastafari, whose culture played a substantive role in the creation of reggae music. The Rastafari movement sought to overcome the oppression of blacks in Jamaica and Africa in the age of colonialism and after. Some critics have wondered why Haile Selassie, the former Ethiopian autocrat and monarch, is so venerated by Rastafarians. How can a dictator fight oppression when he is a symbol of historical oppression? His supporters reply that Selassie fought white colonialist racism and sought to imbue blacks with a necessary sense of pride, self-sufficiency, and national sovereignty.

From Israel to Jamaica and worlds beyond, music speaks to the deep spiritual and political longings of people. Sometimes it speaks to people of particular cultures, but mostly to cultures around the world and the yearning of nations, cultures, and individuals to be more free. In this sense, both "Jerusalem of Gold" and "Exodus" from two different musical traditions speak of the universal hope in our hearts for a freer, more just world.

Tamir Bar-On