Corner Prophets

In his curriculum for Israel educators, Israel From Bumper to Bumper, Gabe Salgado writes:

The beauty and poetry of Israel’s music and the bombastic, shrill nature of its bumper stickers, slogans and graffiti are two phenomena that play important roles in Israeli society. Both speak volumes about Israel’s politics, values, culture and passions — and both are invaluable educational tools that should be party of every Israel curriculum for young people.

By listening to Israeli music and absorbing the lyrics simultaneously, young students of Israel can connect on an emotional level to Israeli reality. By studying bumper stickers and their backstories, students stand to gain a tremendous amount of knowledge and insight into contemporary Israel.

Shirat Hasticker (”The Sticker Song”), written by veteran Israeli author and intellectual David Grossman and performed by the youth-oriented hip-hop band Hadag Nachash, is basically a hip-hop recitation of a long series of Israeli bumberstickers, perfectly oriented so that their meanings and sounds mesh and flow seamlessly. Shirat Hasticker presents Israel educators with an extraordinary opportunity to tap into the best of two worlds, the impact of the Israeli bumper sticker, and the power of the Israeli song.

Download Salgado’s full curriculum here (PDF).

To listen to the song, click the play button below.

For streaming video click here (WMV).