Shirat Hasticker
Encyclopedia
Shirat Hasticker known as "The Sticker Song" in English, is a song recorded by Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash
.
In 2003, the popular Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash
released the CD 'Chomer Mekomi' (Local Stuff), which was an instant hit among the Israeli public. However, the most famous song by far was "Shirat Hasticker," written by Israeli novelist David Grossman
. This unusual collaboration of a mainstream author with a popular hip-hop group is part of the song's intrigue, as both Hadag Nachash and Grossman have gained respect among Israeli society. Samuel G. Freedman
wrote in the New York Times, "imagine the dazzling unlikeliness of Russell Banks
having collaborated with Mos Def
or Chuck D
on a chart topper."
s in Israel, but the unique collage of opposing political slogans juxtaposed against apolitical slogans, parodies and so forth creates an angry irony. As such, the song is used to demonstrate a cross section of Israeli society, with almost all voices and political stripes being heard from. The music video takes advantage of this fact and features the members of the band dressed as the different sectors of society (for example: Haredim (ultra-orthodox), Arabs, secular Jews, settlers, etc.) each singing a line from the song, often contradicting the character singing it, for example, the Haredi man sings, "Mandatory conscription for everyone" and the suicide bomber sings "No Arabs, no terror."
The song contains many puns and references to aspects of Israeli society. For example, the chorus contains a line: קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמ-מגמגם "My name is Nachman, I stutt-stutter." This is a reference to the Breslov
mantra
widely popularized by Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser
: Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman. This mantra is today considered a good-luck charm and is written and stamped as graffiti
all over Israel. Another pun used is the phrase "Religious state? The state is gone", which actually means "Religious state? The state is ruined". This is the direct translation from the Hebrew: מדינת הלכה - הלכה המדינה: Medinat Halacha, Halcha ha-Medina, where Halacha
is Jewish religious law, and Halcha is the past feminine singular conjugation of the verb 'to go'.
Hadag Nahash
Hadag Nahash is an Israeli hip hop/funk band, founded in 1996 in Jerusalem. The band is known for its leftist political statements in many of its songs.- Name and symbols :...
.
In 2003, the popular Israeli hip-hop group Hadag Nahash
Hadag Nahash
Hadag Nahash is an Israeli hip hop/funk band, founded in 1996 in Jerusalem. The band is known for its leftist political statements in many of its songs.- Name and symbols :...
released the CD 'Chomer Mekomi' (Local Stuff), which was an instant hit among the Israeli public. However, the most famous song by far was "Shirat Hasticker," written by Israeli novelist David Grossman
David Grossman
David Grossman is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages, and have won numerous prizes.He is also a noted activist and critic of Israeli policy toward Palestinians. The Yellow Wind, his non-fiction study of the life of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied...
. This unusual collaboration of a mainstream author with a popular hip-hop group is part of the song's intrigue, as both Hadag Nachash and Grossman have gained respect among Israeli society. Samuel G. Freedman
Samuel G. Freedman
Samuel G. Freedman is an American author and journalist and currently a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He has authored six nonfiction books, including most recently Who She Was, a book about his mother's life as a teenager and young woman, and Letters to a Young...
wrote in the New York Times, "imagine the dazzling unlikeliness of Russell Banks
Russell Banks
Russell Banks is an American writer of fiction and poetry.- Biography :Russell Banks was born in Newton, Massachusetts on March 28, 1940. He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in upstate New York, and has been named a New York State Author. He is also...
having collaborated with Mos Def
Mos Def
Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...
or Chuck D
Chuck D
Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...
on a chart topper."
Puns and cultural references
The lines in the song are all direct quotes or plays on slogans that actually appeared at some time on bumper stickerBumper sticker
A bumper sticker is an adhesive label or sticker with a message, intended to be attached to the bumper of an automobile and to be read by the occupants of other vehicles - although they are often stuck onto other objects...
s in Israel, but the unique collage of opposing political slogans juxtaposed against apolitical slogans, parodies and so forth creates an angry irony. As such, the song is used to demonstrate a cross section of Israeli society, with almost all voices and political stripes being heard from. The music video takes advantage of this fact and features the members of the band dressed as the different sectors of society (for example: Haredim (ultra-orthodox), Arabs, secular Jews, settlers, etc.) each singing a line from the song, often contradicting the character singing it, for example, the Haredi man sings, "Mandatory conscription for everyone" and the suicide bomber sings "No Arabs, no terror."
The song contains many puns and references to aspects of Israeli society. For example, the chorus contains a line: קוראים לי נחמן ואני מגמ-מגמגם "My name is Nachman, I stutt-stutter." This is a reference to the Breslov
Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)
Breslov is a branch of Hasidic Judaism founded by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov a great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, founder of Hasidism...
mantra
Mantra
A mantra is a sound, syllable, word, or group of words that is considered capable of "creating transformation"...
widely popularized by Rabbi Yisroel Ber Odesser
Yisroel Ber Odesser
Rabbi Yisroel Dov Ber Odesser , also known as Reb Odesser or Sabba , was a Breslover Hasid and rabbi who claimed to have received a "Letter From Heaven" sent directly to him by Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, who had died 112 years earlier, revealing to him a new remedy for relieving the world's...
: Na Nach Nachma Nachman Meuman. This mantra is today considered a good-luck charm and is written and stamped as graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
all over Israel. Another pun used is the phrase "Religious state? The state is gone", which actually means "Religious state? The state is ruined". This is the direct translation from the Hebrew: מדינת הלכה - הלכה המדינה: Medinat Halacha, Halcha ha-Medina, where Halacha
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
is Jewish religious law, and Halcha is the past feminine singular conjugation of the verb 'to go'.