I learned this song at summer camp in 1998. I can only sort of remember the melody, but I did remember the words enough to Google ‘lanu yesh felafel’ — and good old Google, here we have the complete translation of the Hebrew lyrics:

Shir HaFelafel

Every country here in the world
has a national dish that’s known to everyone,
and every children in kindergarden knows that
the meal of macaroni is Italian.
The Austrians in Vienna have tasty schnitzel
and the French eat frogs
the Chinese eat fine and delicate rice,
and the canibals eat one another.

And we have falafel,
falafel, falafel,
a present for Dad
even Mom buys it here,
for old Grandma
we’ll buy half a portion
And even the mother-in-law will get today
falafel, falafel
with lots and lots of peppers.

Once when a Jew came to Israel
he kissed the ground and blessed the creator
Today, he just gets off the plane
and already goes to buy falafel and drinks pop
Around here we don’t have a king, just a president
but we’ve already reached a peak in the kingdom
Around here each day a new king rises -
a “happy” one, the second “desperate”

Because we have falafel,
falafel, falafel,
for here they sell to the majority,
the whole street smells (of it)
fragrances of sesames
and paraffin oil.
And one can even get heartburn
from falafel, falafel
with lots and lots of peppers.

To make falafel is not easy,
to make falafel is an art,
and any Yemenite will be able to distinguish
between falafel of an amateur or an artist
The funniest thing is, Almighty God,
falafel made by ashkenazis!
In such a falafel you’ll always taste
a weird type of taste of gefilte fish.

Only we have falafel,
falafel, falafel,
a present for Dad
even Mom buys it here,
for old Grandma
we’ll buy half a portion
For this is the national meal of Israel -
falafel, falafel
with lots and lots of peppers.

(source: Hebrewsongs.com)

A few brief comments:

1. From a young age we learn to associate food with countries. We say, ‘the Chinese eat Chinese food’ and so on. An interesting challenge, however, comes with describing American food. Walk outside my office door, and I can choose from: sushi around the corner, Chinese up the street, two burrito places two blocks up, pizza about 4 blocks away, and, within 10 minutes of walking: Indian, Korean, kosher, southern, and cupcakes. Perhaps the most ‘American’ food place nearby is Pax, right next door: soups and salads. We love them so much they’re offered as a ‘combo’ on any number of menus at a diner near you. Of course, the soup is ‘curried lentil’ and the sandwich is mozzarella, tomato & basil on a rustic Italian ciabbata….

2. The homogeneity of Israeli culture is a myth. Felafel is apparently made poorly by Ashkenazis (Jews from Europe) and is the supreme domain of Sephardi Jews only (from the Middle East). The song is facetious of course, but the dilemma is real: what is Israeli food, if it is made by the people who live there, people who come from such different places?

3. I would like to eat a fallafel now. I would also like to make a list of all the ways I have spelled falafel in this entry, without even thinking about it: falafel, felafel, fallafel. What we learn: falafel is a hebrew word that defies translation, but sure tastes good — especially with a lot of pepper.