Aya Korem - We Don't Sing Songs About Us | An Imagined Conversation with Natan Alterman

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Nathan Alterman, one of the greatest Hebrew writers—if not the greatest—passed away 55 years ago, leaving behind an endless list of unforgettable cultural treasures: “An Endless Meeting,” “Parking Night,” “Urban Evening,” “Eliphelet,” “Anemones,” “The Melody Will Return,” “Song of the Valley,” and many, many more.

His work is so deeply rooted in the history of local culture that it sometimes seems unclear which defines the other—Alterman, the Hebrew language, or the reverse.

In a new performance, Aya Korem not only performs many of those beloved songs, but also responds to them with new, original songs of her own: a contemporary female answer to beloved songs, some of which were written nearly a century ago.

Korem is responsible for the lyrics—songs that engage in dialogue with those earlier works, offering a new perspective or a bold female response to Alterman’s deeply masculine monologue about love, life, and death. The music and arrangements are by Adam Ben-Ami, Korem’s longtime partner in life and creativity.

The performance “They Don’t Sing Songs About Us” includes “conversations” between the old and the new: “An Ancient Melody” receives a chilling response from the woman inside the burning house, alongside an updated version of “Parking Night”—this time from the perspective of the women who remain on the home front, the ones no one will write songs of praise and battlefield camaraderie about.

Korem and Ben-Ami have created a performance that is also—but not only—a beautiful nostalgic tribute to the old and good Land of Israel. It is intended not only for everyone who longs for that time, but also offers something from the here and now: Israel in 2026, with all its love and beauty, pain and grief.

The performance is part of the “Words and Spirit” series.