Akiva Releases 'Wanting to Be Good,' Inspired by Hanan Porat

Singer-songwriter Akiva released "Wanting to Be Good" on Sunday, the first single from a new album he has been working on recently. He said he wrote the song with his wife, Tzurit, and chose it to open the record because it is, in his words, a personal prayer to preserve his identity, values, and desire to remain a good person amid the noise of reality.

In a post accompanying the release, Akiva said, "How I waited for this moment," adding that he was finally sharing the song and that there are many more tracks he cannot wait for listeners to hear. He described the surrounding reality as overwhelming and said it can make it hard to ask deeper questions about life, noting, "It is so easy for me to fall into the outside reality, where everyone blames everyone."

Akiva said the song's central message is that change in the world must begin with the individual. "I believe with all my heart that the desire to make the world better must begin with me," he said, "from the desire to be better." The lyrics deal with personal reflection, the meaning of life, childhood memories, and a wish to do good for others.

The chorus repeats, "Think good, speak good, do good, love, darkness flees before the light." Near the end, he sings, "In the end, everything will pass, stop, and what will remain of me is just a sentence carved in stone. What will be written about me? I want to be good, I hope." Akiva said the title and phrase were inspired by the late Hanan Porat, who, he said, asked before his death to be remembered in only three words.