What Next
Once a threat — now an invitation
I had a great darkness. Now I have light. Seven songs — from the collapse to the dance floor.
- 01 A Lie or a Light
Lyrics
I was in the dark... (a light...) All systems crashing, one by one A child is running it all It's high or low, no in-between Holding tears so they won't fall Was it love? A lie — or a light? Not an end — it was a start I had darkness in my heart Now I have a light, a light Two and a half years, one gaze A flirt, version zero point one The wall of logic that I raised — Her smile came through it like the sun Was it love? A lie — or a light? Not an end — it was a start I had darkness in my heart Now I have a light, a light The breakdown opened up a door Somebody knew how to listen The nine-year-old boy grew up Now he's a man. Healthy. Whole. I want... I want to say... I want to say that I want I want to say that I want to live To live! To live! To live! There was darkness — you brought light I am happy, I am strong And tomorrow came along And this light goes on and on A lie... or... a light. - 02 Shame Is Dead
Lyrics
(oh-oh-oh... oh-oh-oh...) Have you heard the news tonight? After fifty years outside I bought myself a little gift: One ticket — and five hours of bliss It's dead... it's really dead... Shame is dead — long live the beat! Move like nobody's keeping score Shame is dead — long live the beat! That's what a body's for (dance! dance!) Five hours without a pause Shame went down to the applause It's dead... it's really dead... Shame is dead — long live the beat! Move like nobody's keeping score Shame is dead — long live the beat! That's what a body's for (dance! dance!) (long live... long live the beat) Shame is dead — long live the beat! - 03 End of Game
Lyrics
Rien... de rien... (voilà) The teacher with the poison tongue The jealous ones and all the fools The boss who couldn't stand my rise Who hid behind his little rules No remorse and no revenge No debt left for them to pay Rien de rien — je ne regrette rien I've got music left to play Pastel and white, and voilà — And black, the optimistic black I sing, I strum, I muscle up And not just strings on my guitar No remorse and no revenge No debt left for them to pay Rien de rien — je ne regrette rien I've got music left to play They say that envy is a sin In French it just means "I want more" J'ai envie, j'ai le désir — And what I love, I do... encore I don't hate you — hate takes time And my time is finally mine A grudge weighs half a ton I travel light from now on I closed the books on every debt Even the ones from the start The world and I are even now A fresh page, an open heart I think what I want to think I drink what I want to drink I create the way I want With machines that learn to dream I decode me by myself My wish list is getting long I dance inside every beat I want, I want, I want — encore! No remorse and no revenge No debt left for them to pay Rien de rien — je ne regrette rien I've got music left to play Rien... de rien. (encore?) - 04 First Time at the Party
Lyrics
First time at the party... (mmm) They're pouring oil like the guests are at the door Someone's wiping down the marble, someone's melting on the floor Vanilla never moved me, but this ain't quite a groove It's notes on the wrong beat, thieves afraid to move She straps in for the ride now, she's driving, he's the car And me — well, Houston, we have a problem (we have a problem, baby) My rocket's lost the launch codes, staring at the stars Am I shocked, am I jealous — or just out of orbit First time at the party, maybe I'm the one off beat The band is playing something that my body just can't keep It's messy on the mattress, it's messy in my head But zero to a hundred is only one smile ahead He's built like a bull, moving through the herd Proportions fully respected — that's a thought I shoulda spared Then she lifts her head and fires that smile across the room And the power's back on, the whole band's back in tune On and off... on and off... zero to a hundred and back Beautiful to look at... beautiful to hear Give it a few weeks, give it a few months I might stand up and answer that smile myself (oh-h) (come on, find the beat) First time at the party. - 05 Light Made of Skin
Lyrics
Hooked at first touch... (mmm) I wrote the Bureau of Standards a letter Said your rulers are all out of date I measured silk against her shoulder And silk came back in second place So fair the sun went out of fashion Every tan line quietly resigned Exaggerating? Maybe But skin has never lied 'Cause I never knew the taste of life Till I learned to tango slow Down where the rose keeps her secret Where only the patient go Not every glass — but hers, Hers tastes like being born One sip of the private reserve And I can't drink cheap anymore They say the very first wine glass Was molded on the curve of a queen I won't say what I found that evening But the legend's not what it seems It's not a grand hotel with a lobby It's a boutique on a quiet street A little shy behind the shutters But the welcome's warm and sweet Nothing there you have to search for Everything is close at hand I rang once — and got a hug That I still don't understand A vintage forty years in the cellar That drinks like it was bottled in spring That skin is the reason I walked back in the cage Let the dark keep everything... I'll pour the light (the light...) Light made of skin (one sip... just one sip) Hooked at first touch. Light made of skin. - 06 What Next
Lyrics
The waiting room... (shh...) A table for two, and no one's hungry One more fight over nothing at all One more night lying back to back The TV talking for us down the hall Call it a home? A waiting room With pretty curtains on the wall One signature, one suitcase, down the stairs I thought the whole world was falling down A room, a couch, someone who listens — I learned to say "I" out loud Suddenly the sea, suddenly the rhythm My body asks — and won't apologize Every morning brings a question Once a threat — now an invitation: What next? What next? It's not fear — it's appetite What next? What next? Tuesday night, a café, all of us People who call things by their name Friday night the door swings open wide The same old games — without the shame From all the tries, one letter stayed: S S for the sea, S for set free — And the very middle... of music (what next, baby... what next) What... next? - 07 It Is Mine
Lyrics
You were born with a golden voice And you sold it — good for you But now I hear you drawing lines Around what I'm allowed to do You hold the power to make us cry To make us love, to make us dance To hand us reasons to resist — Be proud you ever had that chance I won't let anyone pretend These words of mine are not mine Because a machine combed them tender And taught the endings how to rhyme A machine that studied magic In the school of all your songs The way you studied those before you — That's how music moves along So that someone born unarmed No piano, no maestro's hand Can finally look at what he made And be proud of where he stands The machine can rhyme, but cannot want It has no ache, it has no aim The wanting's mine — that's all the art And no one wants it quite the same And if you'd rather keep the stage For the chosen and the few Enjoy the private paradise — The world sings on without you I write. These words are still my words Revised, rewritten — they are mine These are my thoughts. And they are beautiful.
A Helaia album. Seven songs about a collapse that became a door — the boy who ran everything grew up, shame is dead, therapy is over. There's a first party, a first touch, and mornings that wake up with a question. Once it was a threat. Now it's an invitation: what next.
To the angels who saved me
ע׳–ל׳–א׳
Seven songs, from darkness to light
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I.
A Lie or a Light
Opening — from darkness to lightTotal system collapse, a kid running everything with no middle ground. Then someone knew how to listen — and the nine-year-old grew up. He's a man now. Healthy. Whole.
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II.
Shame Is Dead
Dance-floor anthem — long live the beat!The tyrant has fallen and no one guards the skin's door anymore. No age, no code, no test — that's what bodies are for. Dance.
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III.
End of Game
Chanson — a wink at PiafRien de rien — no regret and no revenge. A grudge weighs half a ton, so every account was closed. A new page — and a whole heart.
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IV.
First Time at the Party
A groove off its orbitEveryone has found the beat already, and the rocket forgot its launch codes. Then she lifts her head, fires a smile straight at his face — and zero to a hundred.
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V.
Light Made of Skin
A slow one — hooked from the first touchI measured silk against her shoulder — and the silk apologized. Forty years in the cool cellar, and he was drunk like a young wine.
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VI.
What Next
The title track — from threat to invitationA house that was a waiting room with beautiful curtains. One signature, a suitcase, stairs — and suddenly there's a sea, suddenly there's rhythm. Every morning wakes with a question, and it's not fear — it's appetite.
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VII.
It Is Mine
Closing statementA machine rhymes correctly, but there is no will in it. That will is mine alone. I write. It is mine — and it is beautiful.
One man, an AI, one project
This album was made with the help of artificial intelligence. The lyrics were written with Claude (Anthropic), the music was created with Suno. The intention, the direction, the final choices — mine. The words — from our conversation. The result — from both of us.
The last song on the album, "It Is Mine", is about exactly this: a machine rhymes correctly — but the will is mine alone.
One man, an AI, one project.
One story, three languages
What Next is the English side of a bilingual EP — the same story is sung in Hebrew on מה הלאה. It follows Rien n'est perdu, the French album of historical speeches. This time the story is a personal one: a collapse, therapy, a goodbye, a first dance, a first touch — and a question deliberately left open: what next.