Turns out, a war can have a playlist

As part of a very moving exhibit at Tel Aviv's ANU museum, a playlist of many of the songs that have become almost liturgy in this fraught period.

Ask anyone here—it’s just a grind.

Gaza is quiet(er) (at least at this very moment)—there’s plenty of fighting going on, but to everyone’s relief, the papers of late have not had nearly as many photos of soldiers we’ve lost on the front page. The north hasn’t exploded—it may or may not. Soldiers and civilians continue to be killed (the parents of three teenage children were killed a few days ago when their car took a direct hit), but it’s become a game of “chicken” (residents of the north are of course seething). It’s not clear what we want, it’s not clear what they want, and it’s not clear that anyone will get what they want.

The West Bank (Judea and Samaria) is simmering, but it’s not out of control. The government is teetering, but it hasn’t fallen. The protests continue, but they’re not tipping any scales. Israel tried to kill Mohammad Deif— and either did or didn’t succeed (if it was a direct hit with a bomb that size, there could well be no body left to ID).

And the hostages—the number still alive remains unclear—are stuck in a living hell none of us can begin to imagine. Is Netanyahu scuttling a potential deal for his own political ends? Depends on whom you ask.

Welcome to the grind of the Summer of ‘24.

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As we’ve mentioned, we’re going to focus a bit in the next few weeks on the ways in which the war is being represented in the arts—drawing and painting, museum exhibitions, poetry. And as we often do, music.

Today, a quick look at what I thought was a stunningly powerful exhibit at ANU: The Museum of the Jewish People, in Tel Aviv. The exhibit includes art created in response to the horrors of October 7th, as well as a spell-binding series of stills projected onto a large wall (you can see a bit of it in this ANU-produced video below, at 00:23, 00:35-00:49, 1:16-1:55).

It’s all deeply moving, but it’s worth going for the “slide show”, if nothing else. Without being graphic in any way, it’s heartbreaking. It’s stunning how much we’ve forgotten since October 7, how inured we’ve become to horrors we can now discuss as if they’re normal.

If you live here, or you’re one of the very, very few tourists here this summer, it’s a must.

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Unusual for a museum exhibition, perhaps, but also very powerful—there’s a playlist to the exhibit. You can hear some of the clips on this Spotify link:

Many of the songs can be heard/seen in full online. A few highlights (this section prepared by Haley Weinischke):

1. Dance (7.10.23) by Osher Cohen / Tirkedi

This song came out in November and is dedicated to all those murdered at the Nova festival in Re’im and in the kibbutzim. In the YouTube video above, the names of all those murdered by Hamas on October 7 appear. Click here for the English lyrics.

2. Come Back by Idan Raichel and Roni Dalumi / Tachzor

This song came out on October 31, 2023 and is dedicated to the hostages and those killed on October 7. When the song was released, Idan Raichel said the country was bereaved, but that we “will rise and flourish” again. Click here for the English lyrics. Here is the song performed by Raichel and Dalumi at Hostage Square, Roni sings, “come back, come back today, I so wanted you to come back, I wish you’d come without telling me.”

3. We Don’t Need by Shlomo Artzi / Anachnu Lo Tzrichim

This song was written by Avi Koren and released during a different war in Israel’s history, the War of Attrition. Koren wrote the song for his friends who were killed in battle and as a prayer for the safe return of his friends fighting in the Six Day War. Shlomo Artzi chose the song when he started to create his debut album in 1970. It was played at many memorial events for fallen soldiers. It’s one of those songs, like so much these days, that could’ve been written today: “Give us rain when the time is right, and in the spring sprinkle flowers around us, and let him return to his home, we don’t need more than that”. Click here for the English lyrics. And, here is Shlomo performing the song with members of Israel’s TV show, Eretz Nehederet.

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Even if you don’t understand all the lyrics or know the stories behind all the songs, there’s something about the collection that captures the soul of this country—the haunting sounds of the voices are in some ways even more important than the words.

On the wall of the exhibit, ANU provided at list of the songs in Hebrew and English, plus a QR code that you can scan and (if you have the right kind of Spotify subscription), download and listen to whenever you listen to music.

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