Chelek Mehazman by Idan Amedi: meaning, lyrics and vocabulary

What the title means

חֵלֶק means 'part'; מֵהַזְּמַן is 'of the time' — literally 'from the time', because Hebrew uses the prefix מ' where English uses 'of' here. So חלק מהזמן = 'part of the time', 'sometimes'. The song's other key word, לִפְעָמִים (lif'amim), means exactly that too.

The story inside the lyrics

The narrator stares at street lamps through a small window and notices how they are lonely by day and come back to life at night — an image of himself. He thinks about everything he wanted to be, and about words he never said. By the last chorus the shades of purple and green remind him that 'the good is not far away' — הטוב כבר לא רחוק.

Vocabulary from the song

• חֵלֶק chelek — part
• זְמַן zman — time
• חֲשָׁשׁוֹת chashashot — worries, fears
• לִפְעָמִים lif'amim — sometimes
• לֵילוֹת leilot — nights
• דְּמָעוֹת dma'ot — tears
• חִיּוּךְ chiyuch — smile
• לְהַשְׁלִים lehashlim — to come to terms, to make peace with
• רָחוֹק rachok — far

Who is Idan Amedi?

Idan Amedi is an Israeli singer-songwriter and actor, widely known abroad for playing Sagi in the series Fauda. His writing is plain-spoken and emotional, which makes his Hebrew unusually accessible: short sentences, everyday words, very few literary flourishes.

Practise it on Shir-ly

On Shir-ly the whole song is synced word by word with the recording, with nikud, transliteration and translation, plus games built from its own lines — fill the blanks, scrambled line, prepositions, verb conjugation and everyday sentences.

Follow it with Hareut and Lu Yehi for more Hebrew about memory and hope.

Frequently asked questions