Dudu Barak

Biography

Dudu Barak is one of the central lyricists of Israeli song. He wrote 'Prachim BaKane' in the years after the Six-Day War, when the country was full of both victory and grief, and put into it the hope that the last battle had already been fought.

The song was set to music by Efi Netzer, arranged by Benny Nagari, and first performed in 1970 by the IDF Artillery Corps band in its show 'La Bomba', with Yehudit Schwartz as soloist. It topped the Israeli radio chart for two weeks.

It is the only Hebrew song whose three separate versions all reached the annual radio chart — the original army-band recording, Ruthie Navon's 2001 cover, and the 2004 hip-hop version by Subliminal and HaTzel.

Barak also wrote for many of Israel's leading singers and army ensembles, and remains a defining voice of the 1970s Israeli songbook.

Quick facts

This song

Written after the Six-Day War, released 1970

Composer

Efi Netzer

First performers

IDF Artillery Corps band, soloist Yehudit Schwartz

Rare record

Three different versions all charted in Israel

Songs by Dudu Barak with Hebrew lyrics

• Prachim BaKaneFlowers in the Barrel · 1970

Culture quiz: Dudu Barak & Israel

Test what you know about Dudu Barak, the song's Hebrew words and Israeli culture.