Track 02 of United Kingdom of Racism · 2007
Ivrit Daber Ivrit
“Hebrew, speak Hebrew”
A note before the lyric
Antithesis’s love letter to a dead language brought back to life. The opening verse is the story of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the lexicographer who taught his son the first words of modern Hebrew and started a movement. Verse two is the report card: Hebrew won, Yiddish and Ladino didn’t. The closing verse is written in Hebrew itself, the artist arguing with himself in the language he has just spent four minutes celebrating, about why he cannot stay in the diaspora.
iVerse one
A guy called Ben-Yehuda, thought that he knew the
best thing to do for all the tribe of Judah
a way to improve the communication to the
other Jews around the world we could all speak through the
holy language of our forefathers
a forgotten tongue, for us to once again master
a man with a plan, a man with a vision
a part of the new movement of Zionism
trying to break Jews free from their thousand-year prison
the rebirth of the nation it was all of their mission
he would sit all day studying, finding roots
take them and plant shoots hoping to see their fruits
after many long hours, he finally did it
a brand new language was fashioned and finished
his family all spoke it as dugma ishit
soon all the man began to speak Ivrit
Hook
To all my peeps on the street who like to rock the beat,
next time you’re gonna speak
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
And from my man down the way to across the UK,
if you got something to say
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
To all my girl looking yat with the style to match,
next time you gonna chat
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
Antithesis, bruv I be spittin it,
so if you’re listenin then
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
iiVerse two
The language grew, and the language spread
these guys had revived what had once been dead
forget Yiddish and Ladino we got Ivrit instead
whole new generations, were born and bred
on this new ish, all proud to be Jewish
many didn’t get involved cos they thought it was all foolish
but they’ve been proved wrong, they’ve all moved on
Ivrit stays strong, where have the others gone?
But yo, I don’t mean to be standing gloating
just wanna educate you on how my eyes were opened
wanna make sure that you’re gonna be noting
what the final verse of this track is gonna be wrote in
I’m stoking the flames for the future
hopin that I can inspire, all of you to
learn the Jewish language cos there is only one
Hebrew, Ivrit, known as the holy tongue
Hook
To all my peeps on the street who like to rock the beat,
next time you’re gonna speak
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
And from my man down the way to across the UK,
if you got something to say
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
To all my girl looking yat with the style to match,
next time you gonna chat
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
Antithesis, bruv I be spittin it,
so if you’re listenin then
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
iiiThe verse in Hebrew, transliterated
Transliteration on the left, plain English on the right. Read across — every pair is one line of the song.
Az ten li et hamaik ze ha tor sheli
So pass the mic, it’s my turn
la’asot hip-hop b’lashon ha’Ivrit
to drop hip-hop in the Hebrew language
na’im me’od, korim li gam Sami G
nice to meet you, they call me Sami G
v’gam Antiteiza, ani harapper hachi
and also Antithesis, the best rapper
tov she’haya v’afilu she’yihiye
that has been and that will ever be
kol ha’acherim pochdim lifto’ach et hape
all the others are afraid to open their mouths
ki yodim mamash tov et ma she’po yikre
cos they know only too well what will happen here
im mishehu lo ose et ma she’ani rotze
if someone doesn’t do what I want
ani asape lachem et hachalom sheli
I’ll tell you my dream
ligmor ta’limudim v’linso’a le’artzi
to finish my studies and travel to my country
ki im ani be’emet rotze lihiyot tzioni
cos if I really want to be a Zionist
i’efshar l’hisha’er po v’lichyot k’yehudi
I can’t stay here and live as a Jew
ein po atid, v’ein po tikva
here there’s no future, here there’s no hope
ken yesh gam bitachon, v’gam kalkala
sure there is security and a good economy
aval ka’asher machlitim l’garesh otanu
but when they decide to expel us
yesh ba’olam makom echad shehu shelanu
there is only one place in the world which is ours
Hook
To all my peeps on the street who like to rock the beat,
next time you’re gonna speak
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
And from my man down the way to across the UK,
if you got something to say
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
To all my girl looking yat with the style to match,
next time you gonna chat
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
Antithesis, bruv I be spittin it,
so if you’re listenin then
Ivrit, daber Ivrit
