TEL AVIV - The melody of the classic Israeli song “Jerusalem of Gold” is based on a Basque tune, noted songwriter and composer Naomi Shemer confessed days before her death.
The song gained its fame during the 1967 Six-Day War,
after IDF paratroopers involved in the battle of Jerusalem sang it after making their way to the Old City. Later, Shemer added another verse to the song to reflect Israel’s victory and the Jewish return to Jerusalem.
The surprising revelation was made in a letter Shemer wrote the composer who initiated the writing of the song, Haaretz newspaper reported Thursday.
“I view the entire matter as an unfortunate work accident, so unfortunate that it may have caused my illness,” Shemer wrote in her letter to Gil Aldema. ‘You are the only person in the world, in addition to my family, that should know the truth about ‘Jerusalem of Gold,’ and here’s the truth.”
Experts made plagiarism charges
The late songwriter said she first heard the Basque lullaby during the 1960s. In 1967, when she wrote the song, Shemer said the old tune apparently “crept up” to her unwittingly.
“I also didn’t know an invisible hand dictated changes to the original,” she said. “It appears as though someone protected me and provided me with the eight notes that gave me the rights to my own version of the folk song.”
Notably, in a special report by newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth five years ago, several experts charged the Basque song was indeed the original tune “Jerusalem of Gold” was based on.
At the time, however, Shemer dismissed the charges and said many other songs can appear plagiarized if examined carefully enough.
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