The song is an extended prayer that begins with the biblical creation of light and telescopes out over several places in our modern world, returning repeatedly to the plea - made in modern Hebrew to a female God - "She yihiyeh or," "Let there be light." The prayer is also a call to action: If we want to make the world safer for our children, we need to bring light everywhere, including the darkest places. Ancient Middle Eastern text and modern commentary in a North American folk/pop setting.
Or, vahehi or
vayar she ha'or hu tov v'
hevdeil bein or u'vein chosech
Or, she yihiyeh or
she yihiyeh or,
she yihiyeh or
Or, vayehi or,
And You saw the light was good, and
divided light away from darkness
Or, she yihiyeh or
she yihiyeh or,
she yihiyeh or
Or zoreach
ad she ein al ma l'hitpalel
Or aleinu
v'al kol yoshvei, yoshvei teivel
Or, she yihiyeh or
she yihiyeh or,
she yihiyeh or
Or, t'ni lanu or
Please see the light is good, and
shine some light into the darkness
Or, she yihiyeh or
she yihiyeh or,
she yihiyeh or
Light that shines on us till there is
nothing left to pray for
Light that shines on all the creatures
that this world was made for
Or, she yihiyeh or
she yihiyeh or,
she yihiyeh or
In our cities
and in our forests
and on our streets
and in our gardens
and in our lifetimes
and in our coal mines
and in our prisons
and on our children
Light that shines on us till there is
nothing left to pray for
Light that shines on all the creatures
that this world was made for
Or, she yihiyeh or
she yihiyeh or,
she yihiyeh or ...
credits
from EZUZ,
released May 26, 2020
Music, Lyrics, Arrangement, Lead Vocals, Guitar, Glockenspiel: Jessi Roemer
Support Vocals: Meara Lebovitz, Naeemah Maddox, Karinne' Andonian
Flute: Eve Friedman
Percussion: Joseph Tayoun, Jim Hamilton
Drum Kit: Jonathan Singer
Bass & Keyboards: Loren Gildar
Recorded, Engineered, Mixed and Mastered at Rittenhouse Soundworks, PA by Jim Hamilton and Brian Boland
Originally sung by Holocaust survivors in Yiddish, Polish and French, this moving album is now available in a gorgeous LP package. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 11, 2022
