She met Abi Ofarim, a guitarist and dancer, in 1959 and subsequently married him. With her husband and without him she began to sing Hebrew and international folk songs.
In 1960 Esther got a small role in the film Exodus. In 1961 Esther won the Song Festival in Tel Aviv, where she sang "Saeni imcha bemachol" and "Neama". Two years later, Esther made the 2nd place at the Eurovision Song Contest with "T'en vas pas", representing Switzerland.
From then on, her duo with her then husband Abi Ofarim began take off. In 1966 they had their first hit in Germany with "Noch einen Tanz". Their greatest success in Germany was "Morning of my Life" in 1967, which was written by the Bee Gees. In 1968 the Ofarims had their international breakthrough with "Cinderella Rockefella", which hit the top of the charts in a number of countries including the UK. They played many live concerts in New York and London, and in 1969 they toured around the world.
As result of problems in both business, and personal relations, they divorced in 1970 [1] (in German).
Esther started her solo career with several albums and concerts. In 1984 she played in Joshua Sobol's piece "Ghetto", produced by Peter Zadek in Berlin (Germany). There she sang some songs, including "Frühling" and "Unter deinen weissen Sternen". The play was extremely successful, which was attributed in part to Esther's strong presence.
Since 1998, Esther Ofarim has been performing several concerts each year, especially in Israel and Germany. This includes annual concerts in the Hamburger Kammerspiele.
Ofarim's songs were prominently featured in the 2004 Israeli film, Walk on Water.
Pizmon Layakinton
Esther Ofarim Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Baprachim asher henetsu bagina
Bepirchei hayakineton
Beganeinu hakaton
Lailah lailah, mistakelet halevanah
Ve'omeret halvana la'ananim
Tnu tipa ve'od tiponet laganim
Beganeinu hakaton
Kach omeret hal'vanah la'ananim
Shar nigun 'al yiz laperach begani
V'anah hayakinton besimchah v'besason
Lamater asher tziltzil bachaloni
U'machar netzte kulanu el hagan
V'nireh sham et haprach halavan
V'likhvod hayakinton, b'ney yashir et hapizmon
V'simchah g'dol dameod tihyah bagan
The song "Pizmon Layakinton" by Esther Ofarim is a joyful and playful ode to a young accordion player. The lyrics describe a night where the moon is shining and the flowers in the garden are in bloom. The singer invites the moon to come and dance with them, as they enjoy the tunes of the accordion. The singer of the song is the young accordion player, who is referred to as "yakinton", the Hebrew word for accordion. The singer encourages the accordion player to play a cheerful song that will make everyone dance and sing.
The song is full of imagery that creates a vivid picture of the scene. The moon is described as a "mistakelet halevanah", a playful and mischievous moon, while the flowers are "baprachim asher henetsu bagina", flowers that were picked from the garden. The singer, the yakinton, is described as "hayakinton beganeinu hakaton", the small accordion in our garden. The singer also addresses the moon directly, asking it to come and dance with them, and encourages the young accordion player to play a cheerful tune that will fill the garden with happiness.
Line by Line Meaning
Lailah lailah, mistakelet halevanah
Oh night, little wandering moon
Baprachim asher henetsu bagina
In the flowers that bloomed in the garden
Bepirchei hayakineton
In the colors of the accordion
Beganeinu hakaton
In our little garden
Ve'omeret halvana la'ananim
And the moon says to the clouds
Tnu tipa ve'od tiponet laganim
Drop a drop and another on the gardens
She'ifrach hayakineton
That the accordion will bloom
Beganeinu hakaton
In our little garden
Kach omeret hal'vanah la'ananim
This is what the moon says to the clouds
Shar nigun 'al yiz laperach begani
Sing a tune and scatter it on the flowers in my garden
V'anah hayakinton besimchah v'besason
And the accordion will respond with joy and happiness
Lamater asher tziltzil bachaloni
To the raindrops that play in the window
U'machar netzte kulanu el hagan
And tomorrow we'll all go out to the garden
V'nireh sham et haprach halavan
And we'll see the white flowers there
V'likhvod hayakinton, b'ney yashir et hapizmon
And in honor of the accordion, the children will sing the song
V'simchah g'dol dameod tihyah bagan
And great happiness will be in the garden
Contributed by Elizabeth H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
unavitadellamusica
beautiful text and melody. Thank you for sharing this with us!