30 Years Without Yair Rosenblum: 50 Stories Behind the Songs We All Know

'Four in the Afternoon' (Arba Ahar HaTzohorayim). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The first song created by Yoram Taharlev and Yair Rosenblum for the Nahal Band in 1966. 'Unlike many composers who would suggest I write a text for a ready-made melody, Yair would say, "I must have a text in front of my eyes, and then I sit down to compose it,"' Taharlev recounted. 'This approach, which was already applied in the song 'Four in the Afternoon,' I liked very much. That is, the text was important to him, and in that, I felt he was a person after my own heart.'

'There Are Girls' (Yeshnan Banot). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. 'The song is written in the first person feminine, where the speaker pretends not to be like those girls — but ends up behaving exactly like them,' Taharlev said about the humorous song performed by the Nahal Band with soloist Shula Chen in 1967. 'The song reflects the reality of the 60s. The girls who would go crazy over Cliff Richard, and the line 'And Cliff is the King of Israel' expressed exactly the crazy admiration that existed for him in the country at that time.' In 1994, the song was recorded by Dana International.

'Hallelujah'. Lyrics and Music: Yair Rosenblum. The first song Rosenblum wrote and composed for the Nahal Band in 1967 dealt with his optimistic dream of peace and the end of wars, in light of the euphoria that prevailed in the country at the end of the Six-Day War.

'I Was a Youth' (Hayiti Na'ar). Lyrics: David Atid, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song 'I Was a Youth' was written by David Atid following the post-trauma he suffered after serving as a fighter in the Nahal and being wounded twice, once during his regular service in 1954 and a second time during the breakthrough to Jerusalem in the Six-Day War. Shortly after the end of the war, while recovering, he went to an interview evening at the 'Hamam' club in Jaffa with Dan Ben-Amotz, who brought a shell-shocked soldier to the stage. 'Then David understood the meaning of post-trauma and shell shock, and decided to describe it in a song and wrote 'I Was a Youth',' says Aviva Benou, who first performed the song together with Shalom Hanoch and Moti Fleischer as part of the Nahal Band in '67. 'At first, David brought the text to his friend from the kibbutz, Shalom Hanoch, so he would compose it, but Shalom liked to write and compose himself,' Benou says. 'Shalom passed the song to Yair Rosenblum, who created a rhythmic and catchy song in the bossa nova style. During the recordings, I cried and found it difficult to sing. Not only that, at a certain stage, I also entered the singing in one of Shalom and Moti's parts because it felt right to me. I thought Yair Rosenblum would be angry with me at the end of the recording, but he liked it, and my part remained in the recording.'

'Everyone Is Smart, Everyone'. Lyrics: Yaron London, Music: Yair Rosenblum. A real pop opera composed by Rosenblum, which includes rock and roll, oriental melismas, and cabaret and theatrical sounds. It fit like a glove to the vocal range of the HaGashash HaHiver trio, which performed it in their program 'Cinema Gashash' (1967). Yaron London wrote the text out of a feeling of disgust and personal loathing towards the culture of gambling and the pursuit of easy money in Israel of those days.

'What Shall I Bless' (Ma Avrech). Lyrics: Rachel Shapira, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song, considered an inseparable part of the canon of Memorial Day songs, was first performed by the Navy Band with soloist Rivka Zohar in '67. It was the first song by lyricist Rachel Shapira, then a special education teacher at Kibbutz Shefayim. 'Yair Rosenblum was exposed to me by chance,' Shapira says. 'He was injured in a motorcycle accident and came to rehabilitate at the Shefayim convalescent home. During his stay there, he found a memorial book in the lobby, and in it a poem I wrote in memory of my childhood friend, my classmate, Eldad (Dadi) Kruk, of blessed memory, who was killed in battle in Shuafat in the Six-Day War. I think that this moment, when Yair read 'What Shall I Bless' for the first time, had a decisive influence on my life. He decided to compose it, and the rest is history.'

'Ammunition Hill' (Givat HaTahmoshet). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. After the conquest of Ammunition Hill by the IDF in the Six-Day War, Yoram Taharlev was asked to write a song about the battle for the Central Command Band. 'At that time, a special supplement of the military newspaper 'BaMahane' was published with personal stories and interviews with those who received citations in the war,' Taharlev told me. 'We read about the paratroopers who fought at Ammunition Hill, and I decided that the song I would write would deal with this battle. Later, I thought to take the testimonies of the fighters who described in their own words the experience they went through, and combine them into the song — and that's what I did. When I finished writing, I presented the text to Yair Rosenblum, who composed it in a dramatic way in just one day.' The band recorded the song in '67, and the testimonies in it are recited by band members Hilik Tzadok, Gideon Amir, and Kobi Recht.

'Carnival in the Nahal'. Lyrics: Lea Naor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. One of the biggest hits of the Nahal Band was recorded by it in '69 with soloists Moti Fleischer and Miri Aloni. 'During the War of Attrition, the Nahal turned 20, and Yair Rosenblum asked me to write a festive song for the occasion,' Lea Naor recalls. 'I tried to mention in the song all the Nahal outposts of the period, from north to south. Yair's melody turned the song into a huge hit. Because the song was so successful, they wanted to call the program 'Carnival in the Nahal,' but because it was a time of war, the commanders thought it was inappropriate.'

'In a Red Dress' (BeSimla Aduma). Lyrics: Ruti Safroni, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Ruti Safroni, then a Haifa creator and singer, wrote the song on August 3, '68. 'I even remember what time the song was written and what the weather was like, it was a very hot, scorching day, at three in the afternoon,' she recalls. 'I showed the song to Yair Rosenblum at a cafe in Tel Aviv, after he told me he was looking for songs for a new program for the Nahal Band. Yair looked at the song. The original opening line was 'The world held its breath.' Yair suggested I change to the catchier words 'In a red dress and two braids,' I agreed to his request and that's what I did. In retrospect, he was of course right, and the rest is history.' The famous song of the Nahal Band opens with an unforgettable solo line by Moti Fleischer and has since received many cover versions, including by Shashi Keshet in the movie 'The Band' and by the Dr. Casper's Rabbit Show Band.

'Tranquility' (Shalva). Lyrics: Avi Koren, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song, identified with the voice of Nahal Band soloist Ofira Gluska, was initially published as a melody in an image film intended to encourage youth to enlist in the Nahal Corps. 'The film was directed by a South African director and it wasn't something, to put it mildly,' Avi Koren told me in the past. 'The only thing in it that captivated my ear was a flute melody that Yair created for the film. I told Yair that I must write words to this melody, but he refused and claimed that it was a melody that should be without words.' The one playing the flute was a 15-year-old boy named Yadin Tannenbaum. On October 7, '73, Tannenbaum, who served as a gunner, fell in battle and he was only 19. In '69, when the Nahal Band was working on a new program, Rosenblum asked Koren for texts for songs. 'I arrived with a song called 'Tranquility',' Koren said. 'Yair was satisfied and asked me as usual: 'Which melody sounds suitable to you for the text?' I told him that I wrote it according to the flute melody from the film. Yair went to the keyboard and sang the song I wrote to that flute melody, and noticed that the text fits exactly to the melody. Yair played the song for the band members. Silence was heard. 'Suddenly one of the band members, Menachem Zilberman, got up and shouted: 'Shit song.' When Menachem remembered that Yair could decide if he would get a solo line or not, he tried to correct himself and said that the melody wasn't bad but the words were shit. In any case, the band recorded the song, and Menachem even received a solo line in it: 'And we solved crosswords incessantly'.'

'The Beautiful Life' (HaHayim HaYafim). Lyrics: Yaron London, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song was written in '68 for the radio program 'For You for a Short Hour' and was first performed by actor Oded Teomi. A year later, Rosenblum brought the song to the Nahal Band and chose Moti Fleischer to perform it alone. 'When Yair played the song for me, I told him that color was missing in the song because it was only in my performance accompanied by an accordion,' Fleischer recalls. 'So the brilliant Yair chose to compose a high vocalise section and chose Ofira Gluska to accompany me in it. It gave the song attention and turned it into a huge hit.'

'There Is No Way Back' (Ein Kvar Derech Hazara). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. 'I tried to convey in the song in a nutshell the history since the Biluim, for those who don't know it,' Taharlev explained in the past. 'I wish we had such songs today so that the guys wouldn't be ignorant of the history of the State of Israel.' The song, performed by the Navy Band in '68, was later included in the soundtrack of the movie 'The Band.'

'Paratrooper's Song' (Shiro Shel Tzanhan). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The great classic of the Central Command Band from '69 was almost shelved. The then-Command Commander, Rehavam Ze'evi, arrived at the band's rehearsals and was not satisfied with the chorus 'Let it open on me, let it open, I will forget the whole world,' because it was implied from the words that the paratrooper is begging for his parachute to open. Taharlev argued that the rhythm of the melody is adapted and built specifically according to the structure of the words. After long discussions, the song was published, when one small letter, 'Kaf', made the difference. 'When it opens' replaced 'Let it open,' and thus it is implied that the parachute will surely open, the question is when. The song reached the radio, and then another problem arose. The Academy of the Hebrew Language responded that the word 'Mitznah' (parachute) is not standard, and asked that the singers say 'Matzneah.' The change in the song required re-recording, but this time the band did not fold, and the radio ignored the mistake.

'I Love You' (Ani Ohev Otach). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. A parody written by Yoram Taharlev on love songs received a romantic and serious melody by Yair Rosenblum, was performed by the Twins Trio, and topped the charts in '69.

'On His Palms He Will Bring' (Al Kapav Yavi). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The first incarnation of the song is in a version from '67 with a different text written by Avi Koren under the name 'Little Red Riding Hood.' The song, performed by singer Dalia Oren, was not played on the conservative radio of the time as the words 'LSD' and 'hashish' were mentioned in it. A year later, Koren wrote other words for the song, a romantic text this time. But the song, which was named 'I Wanted You' and recorded by singer Nira Gal, did not manage to soar either. A year later, Rosenblum wanted to submit a song to the Song Festival and turned to his friend Yoram Taharlev to write a text for the same melody. Taharlev wrote the song 'On His Palms He Will Bring' inspired by his meeting with a Ramle carpenter who showed him a magnificent chair he created for the coming of the Prophet Elijah. The two submitted the song to the Song Festival committee, which did not notice that it was a song that had already been published in the past, which according to the regulations would have led to its disqualification. It was performed at the festival by Rivka Zohar, reached fourth place, and won the title 'Song of the Year' for '69.

'Oriana'. Lyrics: Natan Alterman, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song, originally performed by Rivka Zohar, was born for the successful revue 'Tzatz VeTzatza' ('69) which was entirely dedicated to Natan Alterman's songs. Some believe that the song's name stems from an Alterman-esque wordplay that includes the combination of 'Ori' (my light) and 'Ana' (from the word: where to?). Another opinion claims that the song's name stemmed from the nickname that English court poets gave to the Queen of England, Elizabeth I.

'If I Were a Pirate' (Lu Hayiti Pirat). Lyrics: Yaron London, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The hit of the HaShloshrim from '69 was born following an approach by Benny Amdursky, a member of the band, to Yaron London and Yair Rosenblum to write a song for the trio. 'I wrote 'If I Were a Pirate' inspired by the legendary pirate figure that ruled many thoughts that ran through the minds of children of my generation,' London says. 'Originally I wrote the song for another trio that was born after the Six-Day War, 'The Terrible Tiger,' in which Danny Litani sang, but for some reason it didn't come to fruition and the HaShloshrim turned the song into a classic.'

'Beautiful, Beautiful' (Yafot Yafot). Lyrics: Nissim Aloni, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song of the HaGashash HaHiver trio from '69 was written after, during the breaks between rehearsals, the Gashashim made a remark to their program's director, Nissim Aloni, about the many beautiful women passing by them and disturbing them from concentrating.

'Song for Peace' (Shir LaShalom). Lyrics: Yaakov Rotblit, Music: Yair Rosenblum. 'I met Yair at Ivy Nathan's California Cafe immediately after the Six-Day War, in which I lost a leg in the battle for Jerusalem,' Yaakov Rotblit recounted. 'In a moment of decision, he decided to join me on a trip to England, where we wrote the song in a small kitchen.' Originally, Rosenblum intended the song for the Navy Band, but since the band's musical director, Benny Negri, refused Rosenblum's demand to process the song himself, Rosenblum passed it to the Nahal Band. 'The song opens with a guitar intro by Danny Sanderson, in his first-ever playing solo, which was all rock and roll,' recalls Miri Aloni, the song's soloist. 'There were factors in the army like Rehavam Ze'evi, Central Command Commander, and Ariel Sharon, Southern Command Commander, who demanded to boycott the song, but it didn't help them. Originally, Rotblit wrote the line 'Sing a song for love and not for victory,' as a protest against the celebrations after the Six-Day War and the ignoring of the heavy losses it took, but in the end, it was decided to replace 'not for victory' with 'not for wars'.' The song, which will forever be remembered in the performance of the Nahal Band with soloist Miri Aloni, was published in December '69 in the program 'Carry Peace.' 'In the first years after its release, the song was the second anthem of the country,' she says. On November 4, 1995, Aloni performed the song at the peace rally at Kings of Israel Square together with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, minutes before Rabin was murdered. Since then, the song has been linked to the traumatic event and has become a symbol of the struggle against violence and hope for peace.

'Sabbath Song' (Shir Shabat). Lyrics: Avraham Shlonsky, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Avraham Shlonsky, one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Harod, first published the song in 1927 in a collection of poems called 'Gilboa.' Yair Rosenblum composed the song for an evening of Shlonsky's songs held in '71 in Ein Harod, where it was first performed by Moti Fleischer. 'When Yair played the song for me on the piano, I asked him to invent a possibility of choir voices for the song to give it interest, color, and variety,' Fleischer says. 'When Yair invited me to the recording, he raised the song by a tone and played for me in the studio the recording of the song with choir accompaniment of the Nahal Band. When I heard the vocal arrangement for voices, I was moved to goosebumps. I felt a spiritual uplift.'

'I Have a Lover in the Haruv Commando'. Lyrics: Haim Hefer, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The first song that publicized Shlomit Aharon as a soloist of the Central Command Band in '70, was born following the wish of the Central Command Commander, Rehavam Ze'evi, that his band would have a commando song. The program director Danny Litai agreed to include such a song in the program on the condition that there would be two peace songs in it, in response to Ze'evi's protest against the ban on playing the Nahal Band's 'Song for Peace' in his command area. Ze'evi agreed and 'I Have a Lover in the Haruv Commando' became a hit.

'People of Silence' (Anshei HaDmama). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song, recorded by the Navy Band in '70, told about the frogmen, the divers of Flotilla 13. 'At that time, to write songs, the various commands would send us, the writers, to the field to experience the soldiers,' Taharlev said. 'At that time, the Flotilla was so secret that it was forbidden to mention its name. That's how they were called in the song 'People of Silence'.'

'When I Grow Up' (KsheEhiye Gadol). Lyrics: Rimona Di-Nur, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The band's director, Danny Litai, turned to Rimona Di-Nur and asked her to write a song for the Navy Band. According to Di-Nur, she imagined a child sitting in a bathtub and commanding a fleet of rubber ducks. Litai passed the text to Yair Rosenblum, who composed it in just one hour. The song, which was also called 'Sail My Ship,' was given to Shlomo Artzi and was his first solo song and the one that turned him into a star.

'Around the Campfire' (Misaviv LaMedura). Lyrics: Natan Alterman, Music: Yair Rosenblum. In May '48, Natan Alterman published the song in his column 'The Seventh Column' in the newspaper 'Davar' in honor of the seventh anniversary of the establishment of the Palmach. Decades passed, and in '71 Rosenblum composed the song on his own initiative, intending it for the Nahal Band's program 'The Palmachnik,' which was in the spirit of 30 years of the Palmach. 'Yair was a musical genius who left behind unforgettable songs, but on the other hand, there was also a rigid side to him,' says Yardena Arazi, who served then in the Nahal Band as a soloist. 'At an unreasonable late night hour we were in the rehearsal room at the Nahal Command in Jaffa, working on the vocal arrangement of 'Around the Campfire.' The soloist is Gidi Gov, and we are all singing with him in a spectacular vocal arrangement. We are exhausted. An insulting remark to someone that Rosenblum throws no longer passes quietly. We are tired of the humiliations, we refuse to accept his authority at this crazy hour, and answer him in the same spirit. A revolutionary precedent. Rosenblum threatens that he will get up and leave, someone answers him: 'So go,' and he really got up and left us and didn't return. Benny Negri replaced him. He passed the song to the Central Command Trio and the Paratrooper Brigade Troupe with soloist Dorit Reuveni, who turned it into a hit, and to this day when I hear it on the radio I remember the amazing performance of Gidi Gov and the beautiful voices we did for him, and it gives me a squeeze in the heart.'

'The Ballad of Hedva and Shlomik'. Lyrics: Yehonatan Geffen, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The theme song of the first television drama in Israel 'Hedva and Shlomik' ('71) was performed by Miri Aloni immediately upon her release from the Nahal Band. 'At the end of the military service, Yair Rosenblum called me, sat down at the piano, and played for me 'The Ballad of Hedva and Shlomik',' Aloni says. 'He asked me if I liked the song, and of course I answered yes. He also asked if the scale he played it in was comfortable for me, a thing he never asked during my service in the band. It was a sign that I was released from the IDF.'

'To Be Alone' (Lihyot Levad). Lyrics: Yehonatan Geffen, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Another song from the series 'Hedva and Shlomik' performed by Miri Aloni. 'Originally Moti Fleischer, my friend from the Nahal Band days, was supposed to perform the song but for some reason he refused and it passed to me,' Aloni reveals. 'In later years even the great Zohar Argov renewed this song.'

'Mika'. Lyrics and Music: Yair Rosenblum. In 1971, Yair Rosenblum was the partner of Mika Meridor, whom he met when she was a singer in the Central Command Band during the period he served as its musical director. 'I sat in my rented apartment in Ramat HaSharon, and then I broke up with a girlfriend, with a great love, and that verse played for me that was almost taken from me, but I managed to write in time: 'Mika, Mika, who is like you, who is like you with me',' Rosenblum recounted. 'I sat down at the piano, and wrote the song. I picked up the phone to my good friend Efraim Shamir and said to him: 'Efraim, come, you have a hit, let's surprise Mika'.' 'Yair was in love with Mika and asked that I be his spokesperson in the song because he wasn't a singer, and I saw it as a great privilege,' Shamir says. 'That same Mika later became Mika Bashan, the wife of the late Yigal.'

'Come to the Sea' (Bo Ity El HaYam). Lyrics: Dan Almagor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. At the end of the 60s, the Navy Band used to perform a song every program that would encourage young people to enlist in the corps, and this was also the reason Dan Almagor wrote in '71 a song lacking military characteristics that invites listeners to join the Navy.

'Reply Speech to an Italian Captain'. Lyrics: Natan Alterman, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Natan Alterman wrote this Aliyah song as part of his 'Seventh Column' in the newspaper 'Davar' on January 15, '46. Rosenblum composed it in '72 for the Nahal Band with soloists Efraim Shamir, Gidi Gov, and Reuven Gvirtz. 'This is one of the songs I performed as a soloist in the Nahal Band,' Shamir says. 'It was an experience for me because I was a new immigrant and didn't know anything, and every such meeting was for me a piece of history from my new homeland.'

'Night of Parking' (Leil Haniya). Lyrics: Natan Alterman, Music: Yair Rosenblum. After the War of Independence, Alterman wrote 'Night of Parking' and first published it in his collection of poems 'City of the Dove' in '57. The song was pulled from the shelf in '73, after Yehoram Gaon contacted Rosenblum and asked if he had a song he could perform at the Song and Chanson Festival. Rosenblum composed the song in one night and passed it to Gaon, who decided to give it up. Rosenblum gave the song to the Armored Corps Band, but the recording was shelved for some reason. Rosenblum turned to three of his protégés in the Nahal Band — Hanan Yovel, Efraim Shamir, and Yardena Arazi, who were already civilians, and suggested they perform it at the Song Festival. 'The song, which there is no performance I don't perform it, describes a camp held for a night parking, to get up the next morning and prepare for war,' says Hanan Yovel. 'This wonderful military poem was written by Alterman from his short military experience. Yitzhak Sadeh, who recruited Alterman to the army, met him one day at the base in Lusa, and found that he serves as an assistant to the mortar bomber. 'What danger stands before the national poet,' Sadeh said and sent Alterman straight home.' The song did not rank in high places at the festival, but became a classic.

'The Eternity of Israel Will Not Lie' (Netzach Yisrael Lo Yeshaker). Lyrics: Dan Almagor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. In '73, singer Ruti Navon was supposed to participate with this song in the Song Festival, and perform it accompanied by two trios: 'Chocolate, Mint, Mastic' and 'Nose, Ear, Throat.' A day before the festival, Navon was in a serious car accident. Since she was unable to participate in the festival, the two trios performed the song themselves.

'Hebrew Is a Difficult Language' (Ivrit Kasha Safa). Lyrics: Dan Almagor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. In the second joint program of Yossi Banai and Rivka Michaeli, 'Marriage in the Style of Divorce,' which went up in '73, the two performed 'Hebrew Is a Difficult Language.' In the song, the two play new immigrants who communicate between them in broken Hebrew. 'Once a friend came to me, a new immigrant from the United States, and told me about his Hebrew learning experiences in the Ulpan,' Dan Almagor recounted in the past. 'He complained about the fact that in the Ulpans where new immigrants from the same country of origin learn, the learning is less effective, as the students talk between them in their mother tongue, while in other Ulpans the only way the students communicate is in Hebrew. So an idea was born in me to write a song in which two participate: he and she, who don't understand each other, mangle and change the order of words in the sentence. Yair composed the song in a day.'

'Benjamin Ze'ev'. Lyrics: Yaakov Rotblit, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song was born in the early 70s as a satirical text that Rotblit published in his column 'Play It' in the newspaper 'Haaretz,' and in it he conducts a poignant dialogue with Herzl's portrait appearing on a 100-lira bill and confronts the Zionist vision with the Israeli reality. Two years later, in the summer of '74, the text was composed by Rosenblum for Rivka Michaeli, who presented it in a cabaret style of spoken singing.

'I Had a Friend, I Had a Brother' (Haya Li Haver, Haya Li Ach). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. 'During the Yom Kippur War, Yair Rosenblum was asked to work with us on a program that would suit performances at outposts,' recalls Natanaela, soloist of the Air Force Troupe, who performed the song in '74. 'After the first rehearsal where Yair heard me, he took me aside and told me that he had a song that he thinks will suit me. When I arrived at the 'Beit HaHayal' for a meeting with him, Yair was already sitting at the piano. He played the song, and from the first hearing I liked it very much.' Rosenblum told Natanaela that he wants to record the song within a few days. 'There was no time to learn it properly,' she describes. 'Only in the studio Yair taught me the voices and we immediately recorded the song. Because the war was going on in the background, I didn't think such an optimistic song could catch on in moments when soldiers are being killed. It was a surprise.'

'Must Continue to Play' (Muchrachim Lehamshich Lenagen). Lyrics: Oded Feldman, Music: Yair Rosenblum. On June 6, '74, a few months after the Yom Kippur War, a party was held at the Ramat David base in honor of the Air Force pilots who returned from captivity in Syria. The Air Force Commander, Major General Benny Peled, spoke at the party, and referring to the heavy losses of the Air Force in the war, said that despite the heavy price they continued to carry out their missions, because 'this melody cannot be stopped, must continue to play.' Lieutenant Colonel Oded Feldman, head of the Culture and Education Branch in the Air Force, took this metaphor as the basis for his song 'Must Continue to Play,' which Yair Rosenblum composed and the Air Force Band performed in '74.

'If My Star Falls' (Im Yipol HaKochav Sheli). Lyrics and Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song was written and composed by Rosenblum in memory of his friends who fell in the Yom Kippur War and was performed by Ilanit in '74 as part of the Song Festival. Rosenblum bet with a friend that if he writes and composes a song that will be performed by Ilanit and in which there will be lines that repeat again and again, the song will win one of the first three places. And indeed, the song reached second place.

'At Night on the Grass' (BaLayla Al HaDeshe). Lyrics: Esther Nitzav, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Originally Rosenblum wrote the song's melody as a theme for the soundtrack of the movie 'Charlie and a Half' ('74). In '76, Esther Nitzav composed the song's words in memory of Shlomo Arad, her classmate from Kibbutz Beit Zera, who was killed in '75 in a Hercules plane crash in northern Sinai. The one who performed the song in '77 was the Northern Command singing group with soloist Varda Goren, which launched it to the top of the hit parade.

'The Melody Always Rises' (Tamid Ola HaMelodia). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. In '74, Rosenblum was asked to compose songs for the HaGashash HaHiver trio. One of the melodies was intended for a text written by Yossi Banai called 'Between the Times,' but the Gashashim decided that the melody was not suitable for their needs. Rosenblum passed the melody to Yoram Taharlev who wrote 'The Melody Always Rises,' a song to raise morale after the Yom Kippur War. It was performed by the Air Force Band in '75 and became a hit.

'Songs Are Friends' (Shirim Hem Haverim). Lyrics: Ehud Manor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. 'My father wrote a lot about his childhood and youth period,' says Dr. Gal Manor, daughter of Ehud Manor. 'He always said that the songs are for him a real therapy, and in 'Songs Are Friends' he literally says how the songs relieve loneliness, and how music has the power to create change. This song talks about the mental and spiritual support that music gives us.' The song was performed by the 'Chocolate, Mint, Mastic' trio at the '75 Song Festival.

'Song of a Weekday' (Shir Shel Yom Hulin). Lyrics: Rachel Shapira, Music: Yair Rosenblum. 'In '76, they decided at Kol Yisrael that there would no longer be a Song Festival but a Song Celebration, and they turned to all kinds of writers to write beautiful songs for the event,' says Ilanit, the original performer of the song. 'Luckily, Yair Rosenblum and Rachel Shapira turned to me and asked that I sing it. That's how I won one of the most beautiful songs that exist in the Hebrew singing repertoire. I remember that I came to Yair's house and we worked on the song. He was a very strict person, who insisted on every syllable and every comma, and then passed it to someone else to do the initial arrangement. Shlomo Tzach, my agent, told him: 'Yair, you wrote the song, why don't you be the one who writes the arrangement?' And indeed, the arrangement in the original song, which to this day is so relevant, is Yair's own. He did it the most beautifully in the world, and everyone who sings it uses the structure and chords that are in his beautiful arrangement.'

'Good Days' (Yamim Tovim). Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The theme song of Ze'ev Revach's first film as a screenwriter and director 'Only Today' ('76) was performed by his younger brother, singer Uri Revach. 'I met Yair Rosenblum in '74, when I performed the theme song of the movie 'Charlie and a Half' which he composed,' says Uri Revach. 'When Ze'evik worked on a new movie, Yair, on Ze'evik's advice, supported me and invited me again.'

'Last Rain' (Geshem Aharon). Lyrics: Ehud Manor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Ehud Manor composed several songs in memory of his younger brother, Yehuda (Yehudale) Weiner, of blessed memory, a soldier in the Armored Corps, who was killed in Sinai during the War of Attrition and he was only 19. The song 'Last Rain' was composed by Rosenblum for the movie 'Lupo in New York' ('76), and it was sung for the first time by Hanan Yovel. In the same year, the song received a cover version by Varda Noga, soloist of the Northern Command singing group.

'Inside' (BeToch). Lyrics: Yael Tevet, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The story of the song begins with a ride that Rosenblum, then the musical director of the TV program 'Aley Koteret,' gave to one of the program's employees and her friend, the writer and lyricist Yael Tevet. 'Yair took me home, and with arrogance that has no equal and it's not clear at all where from, I said to him: 'Well, writing lyrics is really not a problem. Poetry — that's complicated',' Tevet said. 'He wasn't confused by the young and stupid girl who sat next to him and said: 'Okay, if it's such a 'not a problem,' then write for me.' I said to him: 'There is no problem, I will write for you.' Yair didn't react when he read the text. After a week he called me and said to me: 'The song was accepted to the Song Festival'.' The one who performed the song at the '77 Song Festival was the Air Force Troupe with soloist Dafna Armoni as well as Danny Bassan, David Broza, and his sister Talia. 'Yair turned to me, then as a soloist of the Air Force Troupe, and said that there is a song he wants me to sing at the Song Festival,' Armoni recalls. 'He said that because I am a soldier, from the point of view of the festival producers I cannot perform the song. Yair insisted and told the producers that there were military bands that performed at the Song Festival, so what's the problem? 'Air Force Troupe with soloist Dafna Armoni.' That's how it happened.'

'The Melody Is What Determines' (HaMelodia Hi SheKoveat). Lyrics: Yossi Banai, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The text for the brilliant and melancholic nonsense song performed by the HaGashash HaHiver trio in '77 was written by Yossi Banai. He wrote associations, images, and lines that have no logical connection between them like 'A rhyme without connection runs in the vicinity' or 'A girl with a ribbon, blind fate, a salary slip, a pale clerk.' For Rosenblum, who was known as a strict composer whose texts always guided his melodies, this song was a challenge. He composed a harmonious, sweeping, and touching melody, which turned Banai's jumble of words into a cohesive and moving work.

'They Are Working on Us with Hebrew Work' (Ovdim Aleinu Avoda Ivrit). Lyrics: Yossi Banai, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The song was written by Yossi Banai for HaGashash HaHiver towards the '77 election campaign, a moment before the 'Mahapach' and the rise of the Likud to power. 'We sat, talked, and understood that in total they are working on us, promising us all kinds of things, and that's how the song was actually born,' says Gavri Banai. 'When we reached the topic of composing the song, we asked Yair for a song similar to the style of the gospel band 'Golden Gate,' and Yair did it successfully.'

'Who Is Mint, Who Is Mastic, Who Is Chocolate?'. Lyrics: Yoram Taharlev, Music: Yair Rosenblum. In '77, the 'Chocolate, Mint, Mastic' trio participated for the last time in the Children's Song Festival with two songs that Taharlev and Rosenblum wrote for them: 'The Chocolate House' and 'Who Is Mint, Who Is Mastic, Who Is Chocolate?', written as a kind of wink at the question they were often asked.

'Come with Me to the Galilee' (Bo Ity El HaGalil). Lyrics: Ehud Manor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. A song of praise to the Galilee was written at the request of the then-Northern Command Commander Rafael Eitan. The song was performed by the Northern Command singing group in '77, shortly before the disbandment of the military bands.

'The Band Song' (Shir HaLaaka). Lyrics: Ehud Manor, Music: Yair Rosenblum. The theme song for Avi Nesher's cult debut film 'The Band' ('78) was performed by all the film's actors, including Shashi Keshet, Gidi Gov, Dafna Armoni, Gali Atari, Meir Swissa, and Gilat Ankori. 'My desire was to create a musical combination of voices and not a solo,' Nesher said. 'I thought this was the essence of the film: constant disconnection and reaching a kind of harmony at the end. This is in my eyes the Israeli experience and this is the idea behind the song.'

'With the Knowledge of the Place' (Al Da'at HaMakom). Lyrics: Emmanuel Tzabar, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Corporal Yuval Harel, 20, a soldier in the Armored Corps and a resident of the Talpiot neighborhood in Jerusalem, was killed on June 8, '82, by a missile hit in the Ein al-Hilweh refugee camp near Sidon. Friends of another Yuval Harel, a private who served in the 50th Battalion of the Paratrooper Nahal and also lived in the Talpiot neighborhood, were sure that their friend was the one who was killed and broke the bitter news to his parents. Only after that did the family understand that a mistake had occurred and that their son was still alive. On June 10, '82, two days later, Private Yuval Harel from the Nahal was killed in battle in Lebanon. Emmanuel Tzabar, who served in '84 as an emissary of the Jewish Agency in London, was exposed to the tragic story of the two soldiers from the same neighborhood and their families and decided to write their story. Rosenblum composed, and the song was first performed at the Memorial Day ceremony for the fallen of Israel's wars in London that year. In '85, the song was first recorded by singer Miri Aloni and became one of the songs most identified with her. 'Shmulik Omani, my husband and agent, bought the song from Yair and said to me: 'In memory of all my friends who fell, and in memory of all the fallen, I ask you to record this song',' Aloni says. 'Yair told us that he had already offered the song to other singers before us, who refused to sing it because it is a song of bereavement, and the true story that inspired its writing is difficult. At first, I was quite deterred by the song, but Shmulik said that the song must be published and convinced me to sing it.'

'And It Gives Power' (Unetane Tokef). Lyrics: From the sources, Music: Yair Rosenblum. Rosenblum's complex melody for the Yom Kippur liturgical hymn became famous in '90 in the performance of Hanoch Albalak, soloist of the HaGevatron band. 'A few days before Yom Kippur, Yair told me that he had a melody for 'Kol Nidre' and asked that I sing it at the ceremony at Kibbutz Beit HaShita,' Albalak testified in the past. 'When I told him that I wouldn't be able to sing the words in Aramaic, he found in Pinhas Sadeh's book the liturgical hymn for Yom Kippur 'And It Gives Power,' by Rabbi Baruch of Mainz.' Rosenblum composed the song as a tribute to the members of Kibbutz Beit HaShita, 11 of whose members fell in the Yom Kippur War. Since it was released, the melody has been adopted by cantors in many synagogues.