Singer and performer Eli Marcus (brother of 8th Day’s Shmueli and Bentzi Marcus) says that he has been trying to compose songs of his own for years, but “Yogati,” the title track of his new album, marks the first time he felt his efforts had borne fruit good enough to share. “Baruch Hashem, finally I came up with something that was worth putting out, and the idea behind the song, ‘Yogati umatzasi taamin,’ kind of encapsulates the theme of this whole album. Nothing we do is ever really enough, but we never give up, just keep trying to get better, and then we find the light.”

The song is based on the saying that translates as “If someone tells you they have worked and not found, do not believe him. If someone tells you they have not worked and have found, do not believe him. But if someone tells you ‘I have worked and found’ — believe him.” It’s Eli’s upbeat ode to the process of investing much effort and believing in eventual success — and that resonates with so many who can identify with the universal message.

The Yogati album was constructed over time. Eli bought the first song over two years ago. “I received ‘Bechol Kocho’ one day from a brand-new composer, Shloime Zaltzman from Manchester, and there was something deep in his musical style, something different. I soon settled on that song, and began to work on it, while the bulk of the songs in the album only came to me during the past year.

Some of those songs, including compositions by Pinky Weber, Moshe Laufer, and Yitzy Waldner, have a distinctly heimish feel. “It’s not accidental — I really do like a traditional touch,” Marcus says. One of the biggest hits of the album is the final track, “Letav Uvid,” a beautiful ballad-style song by Avrumi Berko, with catchy Yiddish lyrics and Marcus’s superb vocals contrasted with the innocent sound of a child soloist.

 (Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 751)