One person wrote, “Thank you for making Jewish music part of my life again”
“One of the most powerful lines of English lyrics, for me at least, is, ‘It was the first time that my father heard me pray…,’” says singer/composer/producer ELI GERSTNER. That line, from Country Yossi’s “Deaf Man in the Shteeble,” would eventually be Eli’s inspiration for one of his Yeshiva Boys Choir classics.
“Those words actually inspired me to collaborate with Country Yossi on the lyrics for the ballad ‘Daddy Come Home,’” Eli says. “I knew what I wanted to express with that song, about a young boy waiting by the Chanukah candles for his father to come home from war, but once I had written the story, I needed to work with someone on the lyrics. I called Country Yossi and explained that I was a lifelong fan, and that I wanted his input. I think he was surprised, but those lyrics were amazing. Yossi has a gift for memorable imagery, and that comes out in his songs, like the words of the father-son reunion, ‘I hug my Daddy tight and I’m not letting go.’”
Every song has its special energy and place, and the song “Tatteh I’m Coming Home” was written between Yom Kippur and Succos. The feelings were so intense, I felt like I was “there,” so close to Hashem after all the uplift of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and getting ready to go into the heilige succah. I felt like I was overflowing, and so I just took my guitar and played, recording whatever came out. The song expresses those feelings, so it’s precious to me. It’s a song that’s not about entertainment, but about inspiration, and songs that express those kinds of feelings tend to affect people and mean a lot to them. All of us can find a song that talks to our hearts, but I’ve gotten a lot of emotional feedback for this one, such as one person who wrote, “Thank you for making Jewish music part of my life again.”
—Joey Newcomb
When I’d come up with a new song, the first ones to hear it were my wife and children. That was the first test: I’d sing it at home and watch their reactions to see if they were excited. Sometimes they’d say, “Tatty, something’s missing,” or, “It needs a high part, to cry out,” and I’d try to perfect it to please them. Other times, at the Shabbos table, my girls would tell me about some words they liked, and I would take it as a challenge to compose something.
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