Saturday, November 21, 2009

Ancient Arabs in Colorado??

A set of matching inscriptions in the Shahri alphabet of Salalah, Oman are found in SE Colorado, halfway around the world, from thousands of years ago!!


Saturday, October 17, 2009

تقول اهواك انا مانساك You say I love you I will not forget you - A song with a little scandal story

This song is an interesting song from the 80s, from Jordan. It was a very popular song during the mid/late eighties. Check out the headbands and women's hairdos.The music also reminds me of Cindy Lauper, early Madonna stuff, David Bowe, you know, pop music of the 80s, notice the base, the synth... so 80s . I loved this song , especially the part where she is walking with a bunch of her girlfriends friends wearing Bedouin clothes and 80s headbands and tights, so funny...

The band that sings this song is a Jordanian band called Mirage, was called Mirage, they  stopped singing unfortunately. They were a talented couple, a man and a woman , who are married. They got into a really bad scandal though, After which I heard they immigrated to Canada and left Jordan. So, this poor couple, who are married, it seems they enjoyed taping themselves having sex and watching themselves later, uhumm, so one day a thief came and stole their house and included in the stuff that was stolen was their VCR with guess whic tape in it?? Yes, you guessed right. Next the tape was all over the black market and with every pimple-faced teenager in Jordan and many arab countries ... the poor couple were shamed and destroyed. They had to run away to the land of the west..They say they immigrated to Canada.. masakeen..

Now isnt this is story?

I wonder what they are doing now.. I wonder if they are alive .. I hope they are .. I hope they are alive and making some very cool music ..
Cheers to Suheir and I forgot the name of her husband Sha-sha-a  (sha3sha3a)  سهير شعشاعة / فرقة الميراج الأردنية
Here are the lyrics translated by your truly for your pleasure.

تقول اهواك
 You say I love you
انا مانساك
 I will not forget you
ليه
 Why
وتروح وما نرجع
and you leave and never come back?
تقول انتي القمر
 you say you are (like) the moon
بليل السهر
 In the long night
مثل السحر فلّيت
 like magic you went away
وليلي طويل
 and my night is long
اسأل نجوم الليل
 I ask the stars of the night
ما تيجيب
 They dont answer
صمت الحجر قاسي
 silence of the stone is cruel
واقول اخطيت
 I say I did wrong
يمكن أكون اخطيت
maybe i did wrong
ونسيت
 or I forgot
وقليبي مش ناسي
but my heart is not forgetting
تقول اهواك انا مانساك
 you say I love you I will never for get you
وتروح وما ترجع
and you leave and never come back

يركض بينا العمر
 Time runs fast
شاب الشعر
 my hair is getting grey
بتمنى طلتك
 I wish for you show up
وابعث مرسال ورا مرسال
 I send to you
time after time
الك
مادري تقول حسيت
 I wonder if you feel me
تقولي كلام
 you tell me words
احلى من الاحلام
that are sweeter than dreams
واجمل
 and more beautiful
ويضيع معانيه
 and then all the meanings are lost
تغيب سنين
you disappear for years!
وسنين تغيب  وما تسأل
 and years you disappear
and you never ask
والعشق لمّا زال
 but in love , I still am
الفراق
 being away from you
يا عمري طال
 has gone for too long
my precious
وصعب الحال
 My situation is hard
ما يهدا البال
my mind never eases
تقول اهواك
 you say I love you
انا مانساك
 I will never forget you
ليه
 why
وتروح وما نرجع
 and you leave and you never come back?



Wednesday, September 30, 2009

بيع الجمل يا علي sell the camel, Ali : Samira Twfiq- The Gypsy from Jordan

قلبي افطر نصين
My heart was broken into two halves
هون وهون
here and here
وشلون يا ويلي اداري
and oh dear how can i  hide it?
 شلون؟
how?

لون الفرح يا ناس
The color of happiness , Oh people,
مادري بيه
I dont know it,
ولونك يا غربة
and your colors, daispora,
الف لون ولون
are one and a thousand colors

بيع الجمل يا علي
sell the camel, Ali
واشتري مهر الي
and buy my dowry
كرمي لوح واستوى
my vine is swaying and has ripened
والعنب طاب وحلي
and the grapes are good and sweet
بيع
sell
بيع
sell
بيع
sell
بيع
sell
بيع  الجمل يا علي
sell the camel, Ali

يا علي بيع الجمال
Ali, sell the camels
قبل مايضيع الجمال
before the beauty is lost
واهدي بويا ذهب ومال
and gift my father gold and money
واشتريني يا علي
and buy me , Ali

ياعلي بويا طميع
Oh, Ali, My dad is gready,
شو عندك يا حبيبي بيع
whatever you have my beloved, sell it,
لو تتأخر انا رح ضيع
if you are late I will be lost
لا تضيعني يا علي
dont lose me , Oh Ali ..


انا وانت بيكفينا
me and you will be satisfied
بيت زغير يدفينا
with a small home that warms us
ويطعمينا ويسقينا
and God of the heavens
رب السما يا علي
will feed us and provide for us


Monday, September 28, 2009

Jordanian Folklore - Oh my stubborn dad :) يا عنيد يا يابا

 They went down to the garden نزلن على البستان
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا
and they died their hair with henna وحنن شعرهن
 
All girls are stars كل البنات نجوم
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا
  and mom , she is their moon!  يمه وهية قمرهن

 (she is ) My eye and the water of my eye  عيني ومي عيني
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا
She 's worth my family and all my relatives تسوى هلي وكل القرابا
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا


I will sit alone in the end of the night لاقعد بتالي الليل
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا
And I swear I'll remember my lover والله واذكر وليفي

 And using the excuse that I had a bad dream وبحجة الحلمان
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا
Oh mom , I can cry as much as I want to يمه لابكي عكيفي


 (she is ) My eye and the water of my eye  عيني ومي عيني
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا
She 's worth my family and all my relatives تسوى هلي وكل القرابا
 Oh my stubborn dad  يا عنيد يا يابا

Saturday, September 26, 2009

For you to be you and for me to be me

Allow me to feel my pain
Allow me to connect with it
don't dismiss me
give me room to breathe
I need to let it all out
it is poisoning my system
the years of oppression and neglect are getting to me
I need a safe place
give me your unconditional love so that I can give you mine
feel my pain so that I can feel yours
my pain is a big part of who i am
I dont want to feel embarrassed of my pain
I am allowed to feel it !

You say : move on, move on...
how can I?
I will I know - one day maybe, when I am safe
when i am heard

Marginalized - do you know how painful that is ?
feer hurts!
Exposed...
I want to be exposed to you
with all my pain and brilliance
my genuis and depression

I dont want to be embarrassed because of my oppression
"it is not an issue" , you say. My life is way better that many others -
But you know, it is MINE, my pain is mine- I am the one who feels it.
My pain needs love
be gentle with my pain
my darkness needs the light of understanding
solidarity

Dont dismiss me
can you accept me the way i am? with my beauty and baggage?
do you see my beauty at all?
I tell the ocean about my pain - the trees hear me

God hears me
I crave the unity of the soul , a community of the heart
communion with God through you and him and her
help me drop my defenses
help me get rid of my identities - I want to be whole when with you
how can i if i am not whole within myself?

help me break free from the grinding wheel - acknowledge my courage - my struggle
embrace my schizophrenia
my madness is part of me
my madness IS me

take me as a whole
Allow me to be me so that I can cease to be me
What I feel is real even if it doesnt make sense to you
Do you know how it feels to be jailed? stripped of your freedom?
do you know how it feels to be a woman? an arab? a palestinian? an artist?
do you want to know? do you care to know?
Does anyone care to know?

Why would they, depressing lamentation ...
minority colonialism feminism ...
identity stuff boring depressing activist blabla..
why would you care ? you were born up there
on the top of the hill

but if you want to be you
i need to be me
there is no you without a me
and only when you stop being you
is when I become me
and only then
is when I stop being me
only then
you can be you
and i can be me
do you see ?
what I'm trying to say ?
Yes or Nay?
Hey?
Hello
Knock knock..
anyone there
or just an empty headskin

let's both seize to be
you and me
and only be
a one:
'We'

Saturday, April 4, 2009

لمتى؟

لمتى حبك بَالحشا ساكن
وانتَ تِّمنع؟
لمتى روحي فؤادي فرحمتَك
وانتَ تِّدلع؟
يا قمر يالساكن بالسِما عالي
جيت اشتكيلك همّي والكدر
جيتك اشتكيلك وانِتْ أدرى بحالي
لوعتي عذابي بحُبَّك قَدَر
يا شامخٍ حِلْمُ وهيهاتِ تنطالي
يا بعد الحشا والروح والنظر
من يومٍ عرفتك سكنت بخيالي
إنسلِّ عودي وحالي تبدَّل
يا نجمةٍ تَلمع بالسما وتلالي
منك شحوبي ووضعي تِحَوَّل
أعياني سهدي وَالشوق يا سالي
بعد وجفا وصدود و ماقدر اتِّحَمل
مستوطنٍ بالذهن يا غالي
وما هقيت ذكري على بالك خطر
كيف انساك كيف انسى اللِيالي؟
كِلْ لحظةٍ في حضورك عُمُر
قربَك حياةْ وبعدك هلاكي
يا أغلى من اغلى الناس والبِشَر
أعياني الرّجا وذلّي وابتهالي
عْلامك قليبك اقسى من حجر؟
تسخر من تِشوف حرقتي ولا تبالي
وارجا قلبي الملتاع يصطبر
أضحيت الهدف وكل الآمال
ما اصدّق العيشة بعدك تستمر

I don't understand... you don't understand

I don't understand the laws of gravity on your planet
you don't understand why i don't understand
i don't understand why you cant understand why i don't understand

time and place failed,... an error happened
I was in my dimension
happy
an error happened
I turned into particles
and was transferred
here I am in your dimension
trying to figure out how your gravity works
here you can fall , in my planet you never fall
here it hurts when you fall , there you never fall

i don't understand why you laugh when you laugh
you don't understand why i cry when i cry
and i don't understand why you don't understand
and you don't understand why i don't understand why you don't understand
what make you laugh can make me cry
what makes me cry can make you laugh
and things fall..
i cant walk here, I'm not used to walking
there we float, we get to where we want to get by looking at it
here it takes time to get there
i cant understand the concept of something talking time
you don't understand why i cant understand
i don't understand how you understand what you understand

I cant hear your voice
i try to speak
my lips move and words come out
i cant hear them
you cant hear them
i see them floating
they are blown away by your wind
they spread over the universe .. and float
they are all over the place ... but invisible

an error happened
and I'm stuck in your dimension
and you don't understand why i cant cope with it
why i cant love it
you don't understand why i cant walk,
why i am so afraid of falling
why i cant hear you
you don't believe i cant understand your gravity
i don't understand why you cant believe
you don't understand that i cant understand
i cant understand why you cant understand

Coconut Girl and the Mirror

Once upon a time coconut girl ran into a child holding a rock,
The child’s eyes turned into a big mirror
Coconut girl saw the mirror for the first time in her life.
A moment of self-discovery
She didn’t like what she saw
She was scared
she smashed the mirror
100,000 pieces the mirror scattered
Each one has the same picture: Coconut girl
A l00, 000 coconut girls

The child died on the cross
Went to heaven
A whole generation passed
The 100,000 mirrors grew up mirror trees
Each with 100,000 more mirrors with brown girls on them
Mirrors speak; I am your identity, I am your grandmother El hajjeh, back in the old country
Look into my eyes; I’m your mirror
Erase me from your diary; you can’t erase me from your genes.
Brown on brown
She tore down grandmother’s picture but grandmother still existed
The more she avoided looking into the child’s brown eyes the more she was dissolving
Living in denial is the best cure
She turned off the history
She preached; I’m felicity, I am beige now.
I’m the saint of all saints,
I study people,
I’m above everyone
I’m exotic,
I am hummous,
I am tabbouleh.
I’m just another coconut girl
I tell people what is right and what is wrong
And in the meantime I uproot me

To be Arab and proud, what a combination
Is it logically feasible?
It scares me,
I see those pictures of my grandmothers that I burnt.
I apologize to the mirror and the children
It’s not about you

Grandma visits me in my dream, passes her gentle loving hand on my forehead and forgives me.

My self-hatred is blinding my vision; the cowboys taught me that I am brown because I am dirty,
They invented Clorox. I washed me with Clorox so that I can fit.
I don’t want to be dirty.

Grandma visits me in my dream, passes her gentle loving hand on my forehead and forgives me.

Brown bleached girl got pregnant
She gave birth to a brown little boy who was holding a rock

I’m a mere rusty brown link on the chain of “us’s” identity
I happened to be a prime number
A second generation ya grandmother
Don’t blame me

Brown Jesus visits me in my dream, passes his gentle loving hand on my forehead and forgives me.

Arabs’ Blogs مدونات عرب