YO YA

[1]
Kibalti onesh ktsat mugzam
Shaftu oti lamavet
Yashavti al kiseh chashmal
Nifradti mehaprai'vet

Lu yacholti lefachot
Lehachlif takisa'ot
Ki omrim bederech klal
"Meshaneh makom
meshaneh mazal"

Chorus:
Hey yo ya
Ani sho'el
Hey yo ya
Atem onim
Hey yo ya
Ha'im ze fair?
Hey yo-ya
Atem lo yod'im

[2]
Ha'ach sheli asaf bulim
Lachen avad bado'ar.
Haya mechalek tamichtavim
Kibel afilu to'ar.

Yom echad pakach hivchin
She'asaf gam michtavim
Mehajob miyad putar
Ki yesh sof lechol davar

Chorus:
Hey yo ya

[3]
Haya li dod kazeh batlan
Shehit'atsel lanuach
Haya holech lanemala
Chozer bli matzav ruach.

Lu haya pachot tipesh
Az vaday yada she'yesh
Gam tosefet la'pitgam
Re'e dracheha va'chacham

Chorus:
Hey yo ya

[4]
Ben-dod sheli ratza lis'chot
Kedei latsuf kavu'a
Lamad s'chiyah be'hitkatvut
Etsel matsil yadu'a

Kshenichnas sof-sof layam
Toch shniyot hu ne'elam
Shnayim kaftsu elav miyad
Tov'im hashnayim min ha'echad.

Chorus:
Hey yo ya

[1]
I got a harsh sentence
They sentenced me to death
I sat on the electric chair
Said good-bye to my car

I hoped that at least
I could change chairs
Because they say
"If you change your place
you change your luck"

Chorus:
Hey yo ya
I ask you
Hey yo ya
You answer me
Hey yo ya
Is it fair?
Hey yo ya
You don't know

[2]
My brother used to collect stamps
That's why he worked in the post office
He would sort the mail
(Even got promoted)

One day a supervisor noticed
That he also collected letters
From his job he was immediately fired
Because all good things must have an end*

Chorus:
Hey yo ya

[3]
I had an uncle who was so lazy
He was too tired even to nap
He'd go off to for the day
Come back tired

If he wasn't so stupid
He'd know there was
More to the saying:
See the path and learn.**

Chorus:
Hey yo ya

[4]
My cousin wanted to learn to swim
So he could float on a regular basis
He learned to swim by correspondence course
From a famous lifeguard

When he finally got in the water
Within seconds he was gone
Two jumped in right away
Drowning the two from the one***

Chorus:
Hey yo ya

Hebrew words

Note:

Many of the "punchlines" in this song are wordplays, so it is difficult to do an exact translation.
*(in Hebrew, "things" and "postman" sound the same: =Because there's an end to every postman
**The full saying is something like this: If you're lazy, look at an ant; see its path and learn
***The saying is: two are better than one. Two ("tovim") and Drowning ("tov'im") are switched.

Chord Chart
Am
Kibalti onesh k'tsat moogzam
F G Am
Shaftu oti la'mavet.
Am
Yashavti al kisay chashmal
F G Am
Nifrad'ti may ha'pryevet.
Dm Em Am
Lu-yacholti lifachot
Dm Em Am
Le'hachlif t'hakisaot
Dm Em Am
Ki omrim biderech klal
Dm (E7 Am)
Mishaneh makom mishaneh mazal.

Chorus:
F
Yo-ya
G Am
Ani sho-ayl
F
Hay yo-ya
G Am
ha-im zeh fair
F
Hay yo-ya
G Am
Atem lo yodim

Submitted by Reuben Bolaffi of Adelaide, South Australia

Other Choreographer: Oren Ashkenazi

Dance Type: Circle

Dance Video

Watch video of this song

LYRICS

Alon Olearchik & Danny Sanderson

MUSIC

Danny Sanderson & Yitzhak Klepter

SINGER

Lehakat Poogy (kaveret)

Avner Levy

Poogy Tales Track 13