Thursday, October 2, 2014

The Time of Kissing

http://www.amazon.com/City-Of-Peace-Waxing-Volume/dp/0692303057/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412288766&sr=8-1&keywords=david+prashker
To listen to The Time of Kissing, click here


The starting-point for this song was the Biblical "Song of Songs", which is one of the most erotic pieces of literature in the world, comparable with the Kama Sutra or Petronius' "Satyricon" - only most people have no idea that this is what it is. In Jewish circles it has been presented for the last two thousand years as a metaphorical depiction of God's love for Israel, which should have been challenged by anyone who actually read it, but never has been. If it is God's love for Israel, then God is female, which is not a position that Judaism has traditionally taken. In fact, originally, it was a poetical play-script for the Canaanite New Year rituals, and the lovers in question are at once the sun-god and the moon-goddess, whose marriage in the spring engenders the fertility needed for a successful harvest, and the May-King and May-Queen who were chosen to represent them at the ceremonies, and whose marriage would have been consummated very publicly, to arouse every other couple in the village, town or city to go home and do the same, thereby adding human fertility to that of Nature.

All this has taken you by surprise, I am sure! Read it for yourself and you will see - the link (click here) is to the Mechon-Mamre version, which presents the text in both Hebrew and English. For those who can, you should read both; for those who only want the English, click Bible at the top of the page and you can navigate to an English-only version.

The illustration on this page is also a hyperlink, to the second volume of my novel "City of Peace", a life of King David and also a reconstruction of life in Biblical Israel, based on archaeology and comparative mythology, rather than on traditional, faith understandings.





I sought my love throughout the town
He was where the king had just put on the crown
He was with the soldiers, who were now set free
Toasting and drinking to the victory

Rise up my love, I said, and come
The king is tired, the celebrations done
The war is over and the peace is won
The time of kissing has begun

He said, My heart is ravished but my duty lies
Here where the men sit with their alibis
Go tend the widows and the orphans too
Now’s not the time for me to leave with you

Rise up my love, I said, and come
The king has left, the soldiers gone
The party’s over and the race is run
The time of kissing has begun

You seem so closed, I don’t know why
My arms that long for you are open wide
Seven years now I’ve been on my own
Put down your gun and take me home

Rise up my love, I said, and come
The tales are told, the webs are spun
The killing’s over and the hating done
The time of kissing has begun

You’re like a garden when its gate won’t yield
You’re like a fountain when it’s spring is sealed
Ah let the wind blow till the walls come down
Let the stream flow till I’m left to drown

Rise up my love, I said, and come
The scars are healed, the damage done
The bars are closed the drinking overdone
The time of kissing has begun

He said I’m with you, lead me anywhere
I love your lips, your breasts, your eyes, your hair
All men desire but none can govern you
Grant me the privilege of loving you

Rise up my love, I said, and come
The speaking’s past, let words be dumb
Instead of speech let action count the sum
The time of kissing has begun

And now the honeycomb is sweet to taste
A single night, don’t let it go to waste
Two hearts united where the river runs
The time of kissing has begun

Rise up my love, he said, and wake
The night is past, the dawn will shortly break
The king awaits I must be gone
The time of kissing is now done

Make haste my love before we have to part
Set me like a seal upon your heart
Love is strong as death and can’t be overcome
The time of kissing has begun

Rise up my love, I said, and come
The king can wait, the king has other sons
The winter’s past, the snow is gone
The time of kissing has begun





You can find David Prashker at:





If you would like to include "The Time of Kissing" in your repertoire, either for paid public performance or to record for commercial purposes, or if you would like to re-use the recording attached to this blog-page for commercial purposes, contact argaman@theargamanpress.com. 


Use of this song, and/or this recording, for non-commercial purposes, is not simply permitted but invited.




Words and music by David Prashker

Copyright © 2014 David Prashker


All rights reserved

The Argaman Press

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