ENGLISH CORNER, CON LINDA JIMÉNEZ – This week’s trivia question:  How was Nani able to write songs in a language that she didn’t speak?

Noam Vazana, Nani, is a singer, songwriter and musician. She plays the trombone and piano and sings in English and in Ladino (which is also known as Judeo-Spanish).  Nani was born in Israel in 1982. Her parents are Sephardic Jews who were originally from Morocco. Although only Hebrew was spoken at home, Nani’s grandmother spoke Ladino, and sang Ladino songs with her when she was a child.

Vazana studied at the Academy of Music in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. In 2006 she went to the Netherlands to study at the Amsterdam Conservatory. A few years later she decided to settle permanently in the Netherlands.

Nani is a professor at the London Performing Academy of Music and the Jerusalem Music Academy. She chairs the Amsterdam Artist Collective and founded Why DIY Music and Nova Productions. She has performed at many festivals and other venues in different countries, and has received numerous awards for her work.

Nani is one of the few artists in the world who write and compose new songs in Ladino, which is considered a UNESCO endangered language.  In her new album ‘Ke Haber’ (What’s New) she aims to attract a newer, younger audience to the language by capturing its ancient spirit and culture while propelling it into the 21st century with socially pertinent lyrics, celebrating migration, gender and female empowerment. You’ll be able to hear two of these new songs on this program.

——————————————————————————————————————–LYRICS, TRANSLATIONS AND EXPLANATIONS OF SONGS:

Fada De Mi Korazon
Lyrics & Music: Nani

Las estreyas de los syelos, kerida
ya me abasta tuz ojos claros
eyas son ke arrelumbran, de ti al dio

Ten pasiensia kon ti, kerida
en estos dias espera tu avenir
ke mos sera briyante
fada de mi korazon

Una cosa te dire, kerida
el mundo no keda ansí
muchas kosas yo pensar
ainda no te’nsenyar

Prima vez ke yo te vide, kerida
en mi alma pues tu entrates
rayos de sol me dates
hizo kero yo ambrazes

Fairy of my heart

Just like the stars in the skies, my beloved
Your shining eyes bring me joy
They dazzle ever so bright
Just as the ones in the heavens

Have patience, my beloved
The future is yet to unfold
I promise it‘ll shine bright
You are the fairy of my heart

Let me tell you one thing, my beloved
The world will change as you grow up
There are many things on my mind
But worry not, I’m here to teach you

The first time I saw you, my beloved
You went straight into my soul
You shone as a ray of light
And I wanted to hold you tight

The Sephardic Jews define themselves as Orthodox but they also believe in magic. This song describes the “Las Fadas” custom, a ceremony thrown for newborn girls. A week after the birth, all the women of the community gather and pass the newborn girl from hand to hand in a circle. Each woman blesses her and on that night the blessings are considered twice as potent. This is done to “confuse” the bad fairies that might be lurking around, and make them think the baby is being protected by the good fairies, embodied by the women of the community.

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Sin Dingun Ijo Varon
Lyrics: Traditional & Nani
Music: Nani

 

Maldicha tripa de madre,
ke siete ijaz pario,
sin dingun ijo varon

No moz maldigash mi padre,
no moz maldigash mi senyor

Si ez por la vuestra gerra,
la gerra la venso yo

Kaya, kaya tu mi ija,
k’ez verguenza i bizayon,

Ya me muero la mi madre,
ya me muero del amo

Ke te are el mi ijo,
tiene echaz de varon

 

Without Any Sons

The mother’s womb is cursed,
she has birthed seven daughters,
but not a single son

Don’t curse us father,
don’t curse us my lord

If you need a son to go to war,
I will go to war in his stead

Be quiet, be quiet my daughter,
it’s an embarrassment and a shame,

mother, I’m already dying,
I’m already dying of love

I will make you my son,
you have the makings of a man

This song is based on an ancient text, depicting a transgender transformation, one of the earliest in human history, from the 11th century. The song consists of 3 characters: a mother, a father and daughter as well as a choir of 7 daughters. The father begins with cursing the mother’s womb, for not giving him any sons, only 7 daughters. The mother replies with “please don’t curse us father”. Then the daughter steps in and declares she has the making of a man, and therefore she will be the son her father never had. At the end of the song the dramatic climax is achieved when the mother accepts her daughter as a son.