Riff Cohen: Hélas

Riff Cohen is an Israeli singer from Jerusalem. Her family is North African and Riff often takes her Mother’s poetry and sets it to music. What emerges is a synergistic mix of all these disparate elements – contemporary musical sensibilities, French crooners and Middle Eastern influences all combine into a very compelling finished product. This video is for Cohen’s latest song Hélas which in French means “alas” – an expression of grief which suits the lyrics that describe the frustration of unrequited love. Cohen also enjoys a bit of wordplay and we see the French word “Hélas” morph into the Arabic word “Chalas” which means “Enough!” You can more or less figure that out by just watching the video and seeing Cohen move away from the original object of her affection to another who seems more appreciative of her attention. But it certainly helps when you are worldly and cosmopolitan like me. Heh. As such, I am going to copy and paste the English translation of the lyrics, which were indeed written by Riff’s Mom Patricia Ori Cohen for those of you who are French challenged. The lyrics were translated by Deniz Doğan, one of the commenters on Cohen’s YouTube page.

I put my beautiful sequined dress
But you do not see me
But you do not see me
Flowers and bells in my hair
And you do not see me
And you do not see me
Halas, halas, halas

I put my sister’s heels
Make up of all colors
I went down to your house
I sang: Please love me, love me!

I put stars on my fingers
But you do not see me
But you do not see me
Tattoos on my arms
But you do not see me
But you do not see me
Halas, halas, halas

One day I was in rage
I took my bag and all my courage
I went to the Himalayas
I made treks and yoga
Halas, halas, halas halas halas

Since I no longer think of you
And I do not see you
And I do not see you
Suddenly, you’re burning with love for me
But I do not see you
But I do not see you
Halas, halas, halas

Don’t you already feel both smarter and musically fulfilled? Keep listening and you’ll be cooler too!

(710)