Bottom line, the song talks about a pretty woman, Dinah Barzilai, whom everyone fawns over and has her phone number: 496-365, as in Israel phone numbers back then had only six digits.
Dina, Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
Dina Barzilai
Color of the eyes, blue
Color of the hair, chestnut
The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters
Weight, fifty-eight kilograms
Dina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
And we, threesome, remained alone in the office
Closets made of metal
Piles of files
And around us thousands of service pouchesYes, we know well everybody
According to the forms in the service pouch
We know everyone, we know everyone
But from all the service pouches we knew
Just one our hearts touchedDina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
Color of the eyes, blue
Color of the hair, chestnut
The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters
Weight, fifty-eight kilograms
Dina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-OneLieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch
And we, with Dina, remained alone in the office
We never saw you
Ever, ever
But your image here rises from the desert of files
She was born on the twentieth of the eight, fourty
It was most probably a summer day
Grapefruits in the vineyard, figs in the orchard
A highschool education where the father is [called] Efraim
Six years she’s played the piano
Lieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch
Here on the form it’s written that you forfeited family support
And your heartbeat when sitting is eighty
And the size of your breast is ninety-three
Your sports interest is swimming
If only we were swimming next to you
Laughing in the waves and laughing on the sand
You had diptheria when you were little
And they jotted down one “c.k.” [physically fit] for you
Dina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
Color of the eyes, blue
Color of the hair, chestnut
The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters
Weight, fifty-eight kilograms
Dina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
Lieutenant Gad Rafaeli went off to eat lunch
The time is one and any minute he’s due to return
You received a reprimand
On the eight of the fourth
But we know that the guilty party is really the First Sergeant
The personal grade in discipline is “B”
The general opinion is that you’re perfectly fine
We’d still be holding the pouch for hours
But the Lieutenant is coming back, already finished eating
And he too is interested in your file
Dina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
Color of the eyes, blue
Color of the hair, chestnut
The height is one hundred and sixty centimeters
Weight, fifty-eight kilograms
Dina
Dina Barzilai
Four-Nine-Six-Three-Five-One
Note: The Nachal infantry brigade band is the oldest in the IDF, founded in September 1951. Many of Israel’s future entertainment stars – singers, performers and writers – got their start in this band and several are featured in the songs posted on this site. Some of the prominent personailities are Yehoram Gaon, Arik Einstein, Chaim Topol, Nechama Hendel, Yoram Arbel (sports-caster), Gavri Banai, Shaike Levy and Israel (‘Poli’) Poliakov (members of the comedy troupe “The Pale Scout Trio”); the famous lyricist Yochanan Zarai was the band’s accordionist in the 1950′s.
