So I looked up the use of this phrase מַה־לָּֽךְ in the Bible (https://www.sefaria.org/search?q=%D7%9E%D7%94%20%D7%9C%D7%9A&tab=text&tp...). According to the JPS there seems to be 3 different possible translation.
1) "What troubles you" or "What is the matter" This is the most common translation and appears 7 times according to my count. Such as Esther 5:3 or Genesis 21:17
2) "What can have happened to you" - This appears in Isaiah 22:1
3) "What is the good of" - This appears in Jeremiah 2:18
It seems that here, translation number 3 makes the most sense in context. I will update the translation
Thats really actually really cool how you looked that up. Personally, I would switch it to
"What is the good of you, copper,
being amongst..."
or I guess along the lines of my original comment
"what is the matter with you, copper.."
but I'm not a native Hebrew speaker so I can't say what the context is for sure. Either way your update adds more depth to the song as Ishay wrote it, similar to the way your footnotes do.
And then if you aren't sick of me yet "לגרש בך את החושך" isn't referring to the copper, its referring to the dark so I would translate it to "to banish the darkness" and not "to banish the darkness in you". It actually reads both ways, but he sings it the first way.
I like "What is the good of you, copper, being amongst..." will update the song.
Regarding the second point, does בך mean "in" (see https://www.pealim.com/search/?q=%D7%91%D7%9A)? Because shouldn't "to banish the darkness" be לגרש את החושך?
Actually I’m seeing it your way now: like the darkness within the copper is it’s ability to be used as weaponry. So become a chandelier to banish that darkness in you. Got it. I think if it was the way I said it should be it would say something more like מְגָרֶשֶׁת את החושך or something.
Hebrew!!





Song is missing the last paragraph
ושלא יספרו לי שמדובר בעתיד הרחוק
שעדיף לי לשתוק לא להעיר
את הדוב או את גוג ומגוג
ואל תאיצו לנחמני
שמחר יהיה טוב
קצתי מלדחות את הקץ
בתירוצי היגיון
אני רוצה חולם דורש
משיח היום
-
רק לא להסיח את השיח
ממלך המשיח