Aviv Geffen
Aviv Geffen (Hebrew: אביב גפן, born May 10, 1973) is an Israeli rock musician, singer, songwriter, producer, keyboardist, and guitarist and the son of writer and poet Yehonatan Geffen and Nurit Makover, brother of actress Shira Geffen, and an alumnus of Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music.
Geffen was and is extremely popular among Israeli youth who were known during the 1990s as the "Moon Children" ילדי הירח, i.e., hippies. Politically, he associates with the Israeli left. His music deals with subjects such as love, peace, death, suicide, politics, armies in general and the IDF specifically. He is often criticized for having not served in the IDF, though, officially, he was discharged for medical reasons.
Biography
Early life
Geffen was born and raised in Ramat Gan. His first public performance was in 1984, in the Israeli youth program "Shminiyot BaAvir" ["somersaults"] on the Israeli Channel 1, in which he sang the song "You're Only 40 Years Old" which his sister wrote and which he composed by himself. In 1987 Geffen participated in the amateur film "Hamitpahat" (The Handkerchief), for which he wrote and sang the song "Ima" ["Mom"].
Aviv Geffen (album)
Aviv Geffen is the debut, English-language studio album by Israeli post-punk singer-songwriter Aviv Geffen, released on October 19, 2009 in the UK. Apart from one track Geffen produced himself, the album was produced by David Andrew Sitek (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs), Trevor Horn (The Buggles, Pet Shop Boys, Yes) and Ken Nelson (Coldplay).
The band also features contributions from members of Aviv Geffen's side project Blackfield: Seffy Efrati on bass, Tomer Z on drums and Eran Mitelman on keyboards, all performing on the same 3 tracks, as well as Steven Wilson (guitar).
"It's Cloudy Now" was originally written and recorded by Geffen in Hebrew. Blackfield previously performed this English-language version on their debut album Blackfield. However, that version was titled "Cloudy Now" and was credited to Geffen and Steven Wilson.
Track listing
All music and lyrics written by Aviv Geffen
Personnel
Podcasts:
אביב גפן
ALBUMS
- פסיפס released: 2012
- Aviv Geffen released: 2009
- מחוץ לתחרות released: 2006
- עם הזמן released: 2006
- ממנטו מורי released: 2002
- לילות לבנים released: 1999
- חלולים released: 1998
- ירח מלא - האוסף released: 1997
- שומקום released: 1995
- III אביב גפן released: 1994
- עכשיו מעונן released: 1993
- זה רק אור הירח released: 1992
- יומן מסע released:
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Berlin
by: Aviv GeffenI stayed up all night
Watching you smile
We were lost in dreams.
She had told me she'd better move out
To escape from the city
Me and my band just came from the south
And we drove such a long way
But when I looked in your eyes
It was worth every mile.
She was cold just like Berlin
She was broken like Berlin
She was torn just like Berlin
She was crazy like Berlin
Like Berlin.
This rusty old coffee bar
Still reminds me of cold, cold winters
We remembered those places
that still gave us a shelter to love
I stood in your doorway tonight
But I was too scared to call you
So I just walked away on my own
withered like the night.
She was cold just like Berlin
She was broken like Berlin
She was torn just like Berlin
She was crazy like Berlin.