As others have mentioned, this is based on the first line of Psalm 137; the arrangement is from the 1700s, by Philip Hayes. Psalm 137 is a song of mourning the loss of Jerusalem to Babylon and the exile of the Jewish people around 600 BCE. Here's a common translation: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20137;&version=NIV The grief (and at the end, rage) are evident.
The recording I heard (are there others?) was Don McLean leading the audience in a round. I found an interesting link referencing this or a similar recording (incongruously on Jewish Humor Central, but the page explains what's up): http://www.jewishhumorcentral.com/2014/08/no-jokes-today-its-tisha-bav-day-of.html "Back in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, singer Don McLean performed his hit song Babylon in front of a live audience and had them singing along with him." The Yom Kippur War was between Israel and several Arab states. I don't know enough about the 1973 war to know whether it was in fact an existential threat to Israel; if it seemed likely at the time, then this would have been apropos.
Most of this I learned today when researching the song. Even without hearing the lyrics fully (I come to this site because I don't hear lyrics easily, maybe you do too!) or knowing that backstory, I had a sense of gut-wrenching mourning from this song. It's absolutely haunting.
As others have mentioned, this is based on the first line of Psalm 137; the arrangement is from the 1700s, by Philip Hayes. Psalm 137 is a song of mourning the loss of Jerusalem to Babylon and the exile of the Jewish people around 600 BCE. Here's a common translation: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20137;&version=NIV The grief (and at the end, rage) are evident.
The recording I heard (are there others?) was Don McLean leading the audience in a round. I found an interesting link referencing this or a similar recording (incongruously on Jewish Humor Central, but the page explains what's up): http://www.jewishhumorcentral.com/2014/08/no-jokes-today-its-tisha-bav-day-of.html "Back in 1973, during the Yom Kippur War, singer Don McLean performed his hit song Babylon in front of a live audience and had them singing along with him." The Yom Kippur War was between Israel and several Arab states. I don't know enough about the 1973 war to know whether it was in fact an existential threat to Israel; if it seemed likely at the time, then this would have been apropos.
Most of this I learned today when researching the song. Even without hearing the lyrics fully (I come to this site because I don't hear lyrics easily, maybe you do too!) or knowing that backstory, I had a sense of gut-wrenching mourning from this song. It's absolutely haunting.