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Shabop Shalom Lyrics
(Spoken Word)
Our story beings on a Sunday afternoon, just between Halfway Tree and Spanish Town, where a young boy, not yet the cock o'the walk that he would soon become, was lying on the grass and taking in the sweet and sensuous scent of Hibiscus that languidly lilted along the summer breeze. It was at this precise moment that he saw her. Her walk was soft and delicate, with a thaumaturgical touch that only a rabbi’s daughter could have. Before their eyes had even met, her luminous lips had already lured him in. Salvation winked with the promise of a Bris held at pinnacle and a congregation of sage’s bunny hopping and chicken dancing to Yiddish Mento. Then their eyes linked, an aeon blinked, Amharic vows were scryed upon their hearts. Just to think, this could be with the frenectomy and a few words of love...
My Shabop Shalom Baby, won't you Shabop Shalom with me, under the old banana tree?
My sweet telavivian lambs bread, my heart can act as an emollient and you'll never, ever say, "Get Bent!" Noooo, no, no!
Todamamatodamama
todamamatodamama da da da da x 2
All the signals that I'm sendin I'll keep sending them and on the constanttillionth time, I'll make you mine (Yes, I swear I will...)
Your sweet supple breasts are golden ghettos, soft statues in stilettos. Two wise men instead of three.
Whenever I'm in a foul mood, I gotta' see you in your Talmud and so happy it makes me, you wanna know who, who wrote the Book of Job? She wants to know, "Who, who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?
Well I did, I did. Yes.
Yes, I did, I did.
I did, I did. Mmmhmm.
I did, I did.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia can be a fun ordeal. I swear by Solomon's seal.
Honey, when it comes to love, there's a fire in the deep end of my heart, givin' me the Heebie-Jeebies. Ya see, I know the land of wood and waters, merely fodder for loves slaughter. And darling, I've watched you cake-walk to the Immaculate Conception for far too long.
I'm Livicated to you, yes.
Ahava Raba
Ahava Raba for you
We're in Heaven
We're in Heaven, it's true.
I'm ascending...
I'm ascending tonight with you
Our story beings on a Sunday afternoon, just between Halfway Tree and Spanish Town, where a young boy, not yet the cock o'the walk that he would soon become, was lying on the grass and taking in the sweet and sensuous scent of Hibiscus that languidly lilted along the summer breeze. It was at this precise moment that he saw her. Her walk was soft and delicate, with a thaumaturgical touch that only a rabbi’s daughter could have. Before their eyes had even met, her luminous lips had already lured him in. Salvation winked with the promise of a Bris held at pinnacle and a congregation of sage’s bunny hopping and chicken dancing to Yiddish Mento. Then their eyes linked, an aeon blinked, Amharic vows were scryed upon their hearts. Just to think, this could be with the frenectomy and a few words of love...
todamamatodamama da da da da x 2
Yes, I did, I did.
I did, I did. Mmmhmm.
I did, I did.
Ahava Raba
Ahava Raba for you
We're in Heaven
We're in Heaven, it's true.
I'm ascending...
I'm ascending tonight with you
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In case anyone was wondering (which I was in some cases):
Halfway Tree and Spanish Town are both places in Jamaica.
'Thaumaturgy' is miracle-working.
'Bris' is the Yiddish word for Brit Milah, the ceremony of circumcision of Jewish baby boys.
'Mento' is a style of Jamaican folk music.
'Amharic' is a Semitic language of Ethiopia, sacred to Rastafarians.
'Frenectomy' = circumcision.
The 'Talmud' is a sacred text of Judaism. Was DB thinking of a 'tallit' (Jewish prayer shawl)? Perhaps the mistake is intentional? A joke?
'Who wrote the book of Jude?': The book of Jude is a very short and somewhat obscure book in the New Testament, ostensibly written by Jude, the brother of Jesus, though, as with most books of the Bible, debates rage among scholars as to who the real author was.
'Who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls?' - yeah fairly self-explanatory.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia = fear of the Number of the Beast, 666.
Solomon's Seal: legendary signet ring of Solomon, King of ancient Israel. Some legends claim it gave him special powers. The design features the hexagram/star of David.
'Immaculate conception' is obviously that of Jesus, i.e. the virgin birth.
'Walls are wailing' refers to the 'wailing wall' in Jerusalem, which is a relic from the second Jewish temple, i.e. around 2000 years old. Jewish people go there to pray, and to mourn the destruction of the temple.
'Livicated' is a word invented by Rastafarians to mean 'dedicated' but without using the syllable 'dead', for obvious reasons.
'Ahaba rava' is a mode/scale used in some Jewish music, notably in the wedding dance.
Make what you like out of all that :D
@meudwen Great reply, but if someone is "in" their Talmud, I would assume it means they're studying it with some devotion
@meudwen Great reply, but if someone is "in" their Talmud, I would assume it means they're studying it with some devotion
another interesting aspect to this song is the "todamama" section which goes along with the telavivian lambs bread. In Hebrew (the language spoken in Tel Aviv) "Toda" means Thank you and mama... well.
I think both of these have to do with his little tryst with Natalie Portman at the time. She spent a little time in Israel and had strong ties there, and I think it is her voice that says the line "get bent."
well just 2 small corrections my man meudwen: it's not the book of jude but the book of jobe, from the old testament (the bible) it's a scroll about this guy jobe got all his family and belongings taken away from him and he still had faith in god, a really bummer of a story, really... and second- ahava raba is not a musical expression but just "much love" in hebrew, though not in a likely-used dialect. anyway we can teach devendra that in 2 weeks when he'll be here in israel.
well just 2 small corrections my man meudwen: it's not the book of jude but the book of jobe, from the old testament (the bible) it's a scroll about this guy jobe got all his family and belongings taken away from him and he still had faith in god, a really bummer of a story, really... and second- ahava raba is not a musical expression but just "much love" in hebrew, though not in a likely-used dialect. anyway we can teach devendra that in 2 weeks when he'll be here in israel.
MY FAVORITE SONG ON THE NEW ALBUM!
:)
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia can be a fun ordeal, i swear by solomon's seal.
genius, oh god i love this song. best on the album perhaps!
devendra sounds extremely well read.
devendra sounds extremely well read.
Oh yeah, and Pinnacle is a place in Jamaica where the first Rastafarian commune was situated.
Thanks for looking up all those words. I seriously thought he was making some of that up. "The Immaculate Conception" though in Catholic theology actually refers to the conception of Mary the mother of Jesus -Christ's conception is generally referred to as Incarnation or the Annunciation (when the Angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive). I'm guessing he's using it here in reference to a local church - "Immaculate Conception" is a fairly common name of Catholic churches.
Hey wow you're right! 24 years of hanging around churches and theologians and I had that wrong all along. Cheers.
And "lambs bread" is of course the highest quality Jamaican marijuana. "Telavivian" must mean the geographic location (from Tel Aviv)