This is not how we’re used to seeing musician Netta Barzilai, or how she’s used to seeing herself. Fans of the Eurovision Song Contest fell in love with Netta in 2018 when she won the contest with her song "Toy". The Netta we saw on the Eurovision stage in Lisbon, Portugal, was campy, colorful, flamboyant, playful, tongue-in-cheek, weird and totally over the top – as befits the Eurovision – and that’s how she’s been ever since. But like any other Israeli artist, October 7 changed something in her music and stage persona – at least for the time being.
In her episode of “Song of Hope”, we meet a much quieter and toned down Netta, who like all Israelis, yearns for a bit of peace and quiet. To heal herself – as she says – as well as her audience, she chose to cover Yamim shel Sheket (“Days of Quiet”) by the band Lola. This was Lola’s only hit, but it turned into an instant classic. Even though the song was originally released in 2000, it feels like it has always been part of the Israeli canon.
Yamim shel Sheket, which band member Yarden Bar Kochva wrote about coping with the death of her father, welcomes days of calm that typically come after chaos and storm, like in the story of Noah's Ark, which is alluded to in the song. Netta chose this calm and optimistic song and turned it from an acoustic song to a contemporary electronic piece – but the sentiments remain the same. This is literally a song of hope.
