The stars were barely shining and the moon was just a dull disk in the sky
The heat was rising and the air was anything but mild
Bob Seger was playing "Night Moves" on the radio and I gave a heavy sigh
These Jerusalem nights in the summer sometimes they get real wild
The tourists were discussing the deals they made in the Old City
Though after ten minutes walking they had to get back to the hotel
Take a picture, Harry! It’s so ethnic! Well ain’t it all pretty?
Enjoy it now ‘cause one day your fools’ paradise will be gone
Only time and politics will tell
And everything you took for granted will be swept away
But I can feel it something big is gonna hit any day
The Messiah never showed his face
The Messiah never telephoned
The Messiah must have lost his tokens somewhere along the line
Well I believe with a full belief
That The Messiah will put in an appearance soon
And I’ll sit tight and wait for him though he might take his time
Well he might be the class clown or the four-eyed nebbish next door
For all I know he’s just another exile from the Jersey Shore
He might be the old rebbe in the long white beard and black hat
Or the ex-premier of Israel at that
He could be anyone here you see
But wouldn’t it be dangerous
If he would be me …
The Messiah never showed his face ...
Now people are thinking that families are a bore
And others don’t know the difference between dark and light anymore
When our “cousins” feed the world a line and the world eats it up
And we can barely afford to keep from getting beaten up
But no one really feels it and the world keeps on turning
And the nightlife in Jerusalem keeps on burning
And everything we held onto will be swept away
But I can feel it something big is gonna hit any day
And when that day comes
They’re all gonna face up to the truth
The Messiah never showed his face ...
©2023 The Hesh Inc.
This was one of my "piano power pop" tunes that I wrote in 1985, during the first part of my service in the IDF. It is based on a lot of social-political observations I made during my time hanging around Jerusalem; all the bullshit that I saw going on around me led me to the conclusion that there is to be one final cataclysm culminating in what I believe to be an era of final redemption ... an idea not lost on the Jewish prophets of old. They were not wrong; I saw it all playing out in front of me every day in the Holy City and Holy Land.
The chorus is based on two elements: the Shalom Hanoch hit of early 1985, in which he tells the story of the Israel financial crash of the year before, expecting some redemption to come from somewhere but which never arrives ... and Maimonides' 12th Principle of the Faith, that of believing in the eventual arrival of the messiah, no matter how long it may seem to take.
Musically, the song goes back and forth between Bob Seger's "Night Moves" (name-checked in the first verse) and Laura Branigan's "Spanish Eddie," by way of the Pretenders' "Back on the Chain Gang." If none of this makes sense, well, hopefully I'll put it out soon in a collection of my piano-power-pop tunes from the pre–Soul In Exile era. And when I do, I'll be sure to update the chorus so that it no longer reflects the obsolete Israeli telephone technology of the 1980s (which itself was little changed from the early days of the state).
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