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Translation
Under Zion's cold stars
We were flying over Saloniki
when the clouds drew apart
and we saw the Aegean Sea
clearly and distinctly.
It was a beauty without equal,
almost like a fairyland,
when we flew over
the Northern Sporades.
We rounded Piraeus
and landed in Athens.
The city lay there, white
and attractive, in the sun.
But I stopped next to a TV screen
which was in the arrival hall.
I wanted to see the latest news
from Jerusalem.
And under Zions cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
I wanted to sail over the ocean,
down to Haifa from Athens,
with several hundred
deported Palestinians.
But it was hard to find a ship
which was for sale for something like that
because of the pressure by
the Greek government.
But I tried to cultivate myself,
waiting for information,
so I drove around a bit
in the neighborhood around Omonia.
I saw Bousouki dance in Plaka
I saw the worn out Parthenon
And every evening I saw the news
from Jerusalem.
And under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
So they found a ship
in Larnaca on Cypress
And we spoke about our trip
half the night.
And we laughed hysterically
when the Israeli minister
stood and exhalted us
to the murderers on TV.
But we didn't laugh any longer
when we saw in the morning paper
that those who chartered the boat
were murdered the same night.
They had blown them into atoms
next to a row of their cars
So now we sat in front of the news
from Jerusalem.
And under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
We drank ourselves drunk at the hotel
among the quiet Palestineans
and among agents from Mossad
who bought postcards.
But everyone wanted to travel
There was, after all, one boat
and no one had the strength to count
those who had fallen.
So in the dawn came the information
we all knew would come
that the ship had exploded
in Larnaca.
So I traveled from Athens
with the tiredness of death in my heart.
And in the evening I saw the news
from Jerusalem..
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on the blouses
where bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
And under Zion's cold stars
I saw small girls who fell,
with blood roses on their blouses
where the bullets penetrated in.
Under Zion's cold stars
I saw the same clear terror
which I remember
from Warsaw and Berlin.
Ceil✕
Björn Afzelius: Top 3
| 1. | Tusen bitar |
| 2. | En kungens man |
| 3. | Ikaros |
Comments
About translator
Björn Afzelius wrote the following notes about "Under Sions kalla stjärna:"
"Sången berättar vad som hände. Året var 1988, och Intifadan, det palestinska upproret mot den israeliska ockupationsmakten, var bara några månader gammal. När jag åtta år senare mötte den nyvalde palestinske presidenten, Yasser Arafat i Stockholm, tackade han mej personligen för min insats i Aten den gången. Få statsmän har ett bättre minne för detlaljer än Arafat"
"The song tells what happened. The year was 1988, and Intifada, the Palestinian rebellion against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip beginning in 1987, was only a few months old. When I met the newly elected Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, eight years later in Stockholm, he thanked me personally for my input in Athens at that time. Few statesmen have a better memory for details than Arafat."