Posts

Showing posts from March, 2013

Abdel Halim Hafez - Why are You Blaming Me?عبد الحليم حافظ - بتلوموني ليه؟

Image
This is one of those songs that is ostensibly about a girl but the object of desire is grammatically masculine. I couldn't translate it as such Abdel Halim Hafez - Why are You Blaming Me? Why are you blaming me, why are you blaming me? If you saw how beautiful her eyes are You would say my preoccupation and sleeplessness Are not too much for her, so why are you blaming me? Captive of the beloveds, ones my heart is melting I am trapped in the scent of her silky hair Which lightly touches her cheeks and then returns to floating in the air Yet people are blaming me, so what can I do my heart? Why do they want to deprive me of her, my heart? Why are you blaming me? Since the day her love touched my heart She opened the door to desire to play with me She is my beloved and my destiny And she is the light of my heart and eyes And she is my youth and my companion She is my all my relatives and all my beloved And people are blaming me so what can I do my heart? Why do they want to deprive m...

Above the Palm Trees/I've Got a Friend Up Thereفوك النخل\فوق إلنا خلFoug El Nakhel/Foug Ilna Khill

We've translated many an Arabic folk song here on the blog performed by various artists, but the discussion on this song is so massive and the versions so numerous that it deserves its own post. "Fog al-Nakhel (فوق النخل)" is one of the most famous Arabic songs. It originated in Iraq and quickly spread throughout the Arabic world with the advent of radio and television. One of the earliest versions was performed by Nazem al-Ghazali, but there are others by Sabah Fakhri, Ilham al-Madfai, Kazem el-Saher and many others. Of course, the verses seem to be infinite. I've always tried to understand the song, which eventually led me to discussion forums discussing the lyrics and meaning. That's when I discovered the open secret that the lyrics are not actually فوق النخل, or "above the palm trees," but rather فوق إلنا خل, ie "I've got a friend above/up there" however you want to translate it. According to a discussion among posters in this forum her...

Amr Diab - The Perfect Solution

Image
Updated Amr Diab. This is one of his earlier songs, that features a delicious keyboard solo. Amr Diab - The Perfect Solution The perfect solution Either we live life together Or I stay right where I am O darling so long as you are away I live in the world alone I became tired of the feelings with the pain And my heart which is that which is so wronged And every day my darling I know nothing but sighing I lived years of my life in your abscence While my heart is sad I tired of the sadness all of it And my life that I lived at one time I know nothing but sighing Either we live life together Or I stay right where I am Without you I have seen so much And I run before them so much And I am fine with the course of my destiny And the live that is going to be wasted And every day my darling I know nothing but sighing Either we live life together Or I stay right where I am عمرو دياب - ملهاش حل تاني ملهاش حل تاني يا نعيش الحياه انا وانت يا وقفت في مكاني يا حبيبى طول ما انت بعيد انا عايش في الدن...