This week 20 years ago Berry Sakharof’s “The Other” album was released, his fifth solo album. This is not an album that produced big hits, in fact only one hit came out – “Monson”. The rest of the album is a complex, deep, and even gloomy piece at times. In an interview with Assaf Lieberman, Sakharof talks about how this album was shaped, and the impact of the security and political situation on his work – and why to this day, despite the success, he still prefers to perform on small stages.
Listen to the episode in the “1 + 1” section
Berry Sakharof says that one of the things that most influenced the album was the 1999 elections, which brought a sense of dawn, of a new era and peace – but in 2000 everything suddenly exploded and the second intifada began. It was not possible to ignore what was happening in the country, and this affected the album, the writing and what songs would go into it.
Sakharof describes a fear experience that accompanied him during this period: “I remember myself boarding a minibus and after me boarding someone who looked unshaven with a large bag. I think to myself, is it worth staying? Is it going to explode for us? I decided to get off at the next stop and walk. I remember there was fear. To drive near buses, we tried to stay away from them as much as possible. “
Like many Israelis, Berry knew a man killed in the Intifada. “The father of a child from my son’s kindergarten was killed in a chin attack, went to withdraw money from the ATM. The war was approaching into the houses and I can remember the hard feelings that were all over the country,” he recalled.
The intifada, the elections and the uncertainty led to a feeling of a very big fall, so one of the words that described the album is the word “gloomy”. Sakharof explains that “in the early 2000s reality entered into writing and there was a sense of despair.” Even today, says Sakharof, we are in a gloomy period, but he is more optimistic – and believes that “if there is a difficult period and a crisis, this is an opportunity.”
“The Other” is a poem written inspired by Emanuel Levins, a French-Jewish philosopher. “From childhood I really like to read philosophy books and I do not know how his booklet came to me, it was by chance. He talked about morality and divinity, about having another person you are morally obligated not to hurt, it caught me, it brought me to the text This one, “says Sakharof.
Berry says that while working on the album he really liked American hip hop and symbols. The album’s only hit, “Monson,” began with Simpol. He knew from the first moment that it was a song that would succeed, but testified that although he liked it, he felt “that the lyrics were not good enough for the level the song demands.” But precisely this song, which was so successful, does not connect to the mood of the album – “it does not fit and was not related to the concept of depression and crisis. I still play it in shows, it is a hit for life.”
Another song that started with Sympol is “City of Refuge” by Ehud Banai. “It all started with my partner, who started learning guitar online and it’s a song that is very easy to play. She sang it at home a lot and then I realized it was a really good song. I started playing it in rehearsals with friends and the band just for fun, the song itself fit the whole album concept.” .
Berry says that the intifada brought him new understandings that were translated into the song: “The crisis aroused me and made me realize how much I love Israel, I can not escape even though I tried before. I realized I was here forever and this is my city of refuge.”
Sakharof became one of the most popular and beloved artists in Israel three years earlier, in 1998, when the album “Touches” was released. “I was stressed by the success,” he says, “I did not want to be there. I grew up in the communist Israel of the 1960s. Everyone had the same thing and the doors were open because there was nothing to steal. Those who had it were even ashamed of it. I grew out of it, we did not want To be famous, we did not want to make money and we just wanted to make music. “
Along with all the success, Sakharof continues to enjoy small and intimate performances, explaining that “suddenly when you are very successful it goes against everything you want. Inside me I am still a socialist who does not think money is a very important thing.”