Achrei Shenasat by Matti Caspi: lyrics, meaning and the Hebrew inside it

The people behind the song

Matti Caspi (born 1949) is one of Israel's most respected composer-performers — a multi-instrumentalist whose harmonies shaped Israeli pop from the 1970s onward. Shlomo Gronich, who wrote the lyrics, is a composer and pianist in his own right; their 1970s collaborations produced some of the era's most refined songs.

The song has been re-recorded by several artists over the years — the mark of a text that keeps finding new voices.

What 'after you left' sounds like in Hebrew

The title itself teaches a pattern: אַחֲרֵי שֶׁנְּסַעַתְּ (achrei shenasat) — 'after that-you-left'. The שֶׁ (she) prefix turns a whole verb into a subordinate clause, one of the most useful patterns in everyday Hebrew: אחרי שאוכל — after I eat; לפני שהולכים — before we go.

The song's vocabulary is emotional but everyday: leaving, choosing, dreaming, silence, seeing — exactly the verbs learners meet in their first year.

Words to carry with you

• לִנְסֹעַ linso'a — to travel / leave
• אַחֲרֵי acharei — after
• לִבְחֹר livchor — to choose
• לַחֲלֹם lachalom — to dream
• לָדַעַת lada'at — to know
• לְהִשָּׁתֵק lehishtatek — to fall silent
• לִרְאוֹת lir'ot — to see

Practise it on Shir-ly

The song page on Shir-ly syncs the Hebrew word by word with the video, with nikud, transliteration and translation, plus fill-the-blanks, word match, scrambled line, listen and conjugation games built from this song's own words and verbs.

After Matti Caspi, continue to the Idan Raichel Project's Mimaamakim to hear how the same gentle register sounds thirty years later.

Frequently asked questions