לו הייתי | Lu hayiti | If I Were (1912)
Artist: Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882-1938)
Lyrics: From Ha-Zamir
Tune: Foreign Melody
The text of this song was published in Ha-Zamir (Odessa, 1903: p. 22), with instructions that Idelsohn omitted in Sefer Ha-Shirim. Another melody was published in Ta'ame Zimra le Shire Ha-Zamir (Warsaw, 1904: p. 15) by N. Hefetz.
“Lu hayiti” presents three conditions: “If I were a bird, I would build a nest on a tree and fly from morning to evening. If I were a small fish, I would swim peacefully in the shining great waters of the river. If I were a bee, I would fly to the garden and extract nectar from mandrake”. The song concludes: "but I am a small child; God did not teach me how to fly or swim, but I can dance to the right and to the left”.
The melody, whose source could not be identified, is in a minor key.
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