Category Archives: Lyrics
I don’t want to set the world on fire
I don’t want to set the world on fire
I just want to start a flame in your heart
In my heart I have but one desire
And that one is you
No other will do
I’ve lost all ambition for worldly acclaim
I just want to be the one you love
And with your admission that you feel the same
I’ll have reached the goal I’m dreaming of
Believe me
I don’t want to set the world on fire
I just want to start
A flame in your heart
– The Ink Spots
(Fallout 3)
Rim Banna
One of my favorite songs nowadays:
لطلع عراس الجبل واخد معي مفتاح
وافتح جنينة أبي واقعد فيها وارتاح
يا ربّي زخّة مطر تروي شجر التفاح
والحلوة اللي ما بتنتسى ببحر عيونها سوّاح
لطلع عراس الجبل واشرف على الوادي
واقول يا مرحبا نسّم هوا بلادي
يا ربّي ليلة مطر ويسيّل عالوادي
واعمل زنودي جسر وقلّط البنيّه
“وانزلت عشط البحر لنّي أودعهم
لقيتهم سافروا والريح مطاوعهم
ناديت ريّس المركب لحتّى يرجّعهم
هدولا حبابي راحوا ومفتاح القلب معهم”
ليّه وليّه وليّتين ليّه على ليّه
لطلع عراس الجبل أشكي الأمر لله
لقيت الحلو غافي بحماية الله
كشّفت عن وجنتو وقلت يا ما شالله
الوجه دورة قمر يا لله احفظو ليّه
مرّيت عدارهم قبل العِشا بنتفه
لقيتهم نايمين وسراجهم مطفي
مدّيت إيدي عالحبق لقطف أنا قصفه
صاحت بنيّه لِهم يمّا حراميّه
“ونزلت عشط البحر………………….
ليّه بليّه على ليّه
Rim Banna (born December 8, 1966) is a Palestinian singer, composer and arranger, well-known for her modern interpretations of traditional folk songs. Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School in 1984. She currently lives in Nazareth with her husband, the artist Leonid Alexeienko, and their three children.
I found her lyrics here. It’s VERY interesting if you are into palestinain folk music merged with a bit of rock.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me
Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever
From the Sound of Music
I remembered this song when I was in Geneva, we were on the hunt for a restaurant that serves chocolat fondue, and after wandering around for a while, we found this very swiss restaurant, in Edelweiss Hotel. It is the equivalent of Felfela in Egypt, combining all the stereotypes that tourists imagine of Switzerland. (Food is good, prices are reasonable, recommended)
The entertainer played this song, and I instantly remembered that scene in The Sound of Music. I kept humming it all night, and ultimately remembered the last verse! 🙂
It’s such a lovely song. It’s such a lovely flower.
Steal Your Heart & Set It Free
A toi – Joe Dassin
A toi
A la façon que tu as d’être belle
A la façon que tu as d’être à moi
A tes mots tendres un peu artificiels
Quelquefois
A toi
A la petite fille que tu étais
A celle que tu es encore souvent
A ton passé, à tes secrets
A tes anciens princes charmants
A la vie, à l’amour
A nos nuits, à nos jours
A l’éternel retour de la chance
A l’enfant qui viendra
Qui nous ressemblera
Qui sera à la fois toi et moi
A moi
A la folie dont tu es la raison
A mes colères sans savoir pourquoi
A mes silences et à mes trahisons
Quelquefois
A moi
Au temps que j’ai passé à te chercher
Aux qualités dont tu te moques bien
Aux défauts que je t’ai cachés
A mes idées de baladin
A nous
Aux souvenirs que nous allons nous faire
A l’avenir et au présent surtout
A la santé de cette vieille Terre
Qui s’en fout
A nous
A nos espoirs et à nos illusions
A notre prochain premier rendez-vous
A la santé de ces millions d’amoureux
Qui sont comme nous
🙂
Hadouta Masreya
a beautiful song I’ve been listening to lately…
Here are the lyrics (I would love to know who wrote it)
ما نرضاش يخاصم القمر السما
ما نرضاش
تدوس البشر بعضها
ما نرضاش
يموت جوه قلبي نداء
ما نرضاش
تهاجر الجذور أرضها
ما نرضاش
قلبي جوا يغني واجراس تدق لصرخة ميلاد
تموت حته مني الاجراس بتعلن نهاية بشر من العباد
دي الحكمة قتلتني و حيتني وخلتني أغوص في قلب السر
قلب الكون قبل الطوفان ما ييجي خلتني أخاف عليك يا مصر
واحكيلك على المكنون
مين العاقل فينا مين المجنون
مين الي مدبوح من الألم
مين اللي ظالم فينا مين مظلوم
مين اللي ما يعرفش غير كلمة نعم
مين اللي محنيلك خضار الفلاحين غلابة
مين اللي محنيلك عمار عمالك الطيابة
مين اللي ببيع الضمير مين يشتري مين يشتري بيه الدمار
مين هو صاحب المسألة والمشكلة والحكاية والقلم
رأيت كل شيء وتعبت على الحقيقة
قابلت في الطريق عيون كتيرة بريئة
أعرف بشر عرفوني لأ لأ ما عرفونيش
قبلوني وقبلتهم
بمد ايدي لأ طب ليه ما تقبلنيش
لا يهمني اسمك لا يهمني عنوانك لا يهمني لونك ولا ولادك ومكانك
يهمني الانسان ولو ما لوش عنوان
يا ناس يا ناس هي دي الحدوته
حدوته مصرية
(when I reach the parts in bold, I’m literally swept away!) , especially when he says “I don’t care for your name, nor your address, I don’t care about your colour, your children or your place. I care for the human being, even if he doesn’t have an address”. simply wow!
Au Café des Délices
A lovely song by Patrick Bruel. How I would love to hear a similar one written by a foreigner living in Egypt 🙂
Tes souvenirs se voilent Ça fait comme une éclipse Une nuit plein d’étoiles Sur le port de Tunis Le vent de l’éventail De ton grand-père assis Au Café des Délices Your memories are veiled
it’s like an eclipse
One night full of stars
On the port of Tunis
Wind of the small hand-held fan
Of your sited grandfather
At the Coffee shop of Delights Tes souvenirs se voilent Tu vois passer le train Et la blancheur des voiles Des femmes tenant un fils Et l’odeur du jasmin Qu’il tenait dans ses mains Au Café des Délices Your memories are veiled
You see the train passing
And the whiteness of the veils
Some Women holding their sons
And the odor of the jasmine
That he held in his hands
At the Coffee shop of Delights Yalil yalil abibi yalil yalil yalil abibi yalil Tes souvenirs se voilent Tu la revois la fille Le baiser qui fait mal Au port El Kantaoui Les premiers mots d’amour Sur les chansons velours Your memories are veiled
You see the girl once again
The kiss which hurts
At the port El Kantaoui *
First words of love
with the velvet songs
Habibi Ya leil Tes souvenirs se voilent Tu les aimais ces fruits Les noyaux d’abricot Pour toi, c’étaient des billes Et les soirées de fête
Qu’on faisait dans nos têtes Aux plages d’Hammamet Your memories are veiled
You liked these fruits
These Apricot stones
For you, they were balls
And the evenings of festival
That ran in our heads
At the beaches of Hammamet ** Yalil yalil abibi yalil yalil yalil abibi yalil Tes souvenirs se voilent À l’avant du bateau Et ce quai qui s’éloigne Vers un monde nouveau Une vie qui s’arrête Pour un jour qui commence C’est peut-être une chance Your memories are veiled
In front of the boat
And this quay which moves away
Towards a new world
A life which stops
For one day which starts
It is perhaps a chance Yalil yalil tu n’oublieras pas Yalil yalil ces parfums d’autrefois Yalil yalil tu n’oublieras pas Yalil yalil même si tu t’en vas Yalil yalil you will not forget
Yalil yalil these perfumes of the past
Yalil yalil you will not forget
Yalil yalil even if you went away Yalil yalil habibi yalil yalil yalil habibi yalil * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_El_Kantaoui
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hammamet
amar 14
I go out walking, after midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just like we used to do
I’m always walking, after midnight
Searching for you
…
I stop to see a weeping willow
Crying on his pillow
Maybe he’s crying for me
And as the skies turn gloomy
Night winds whisper to me
I’m lonesome as I can be
…
I go out walking, after midnight
Out in the moonlight
Just hoping you may be
Somewhere a walking after midnight
Searching for me
Patsy Cline – Walking After Midnight
بمناسبة قمر 14
🙂
Shou ma3na hal 7ayah?
Last Friday was the anniversary of my blog. It’s funny how I anticipated this day few weeks ago, and kept thinking about the things I’m gonna say about my blogging experience, and on that day, I totally forgot! I had Iftar at my cousin’s (this was my first time to visit her after her marriage), then I went to el Azhar Park to attend a concert by Upper Egypt Choir (كورال الصعيد ) singing Sayed Darwish, Salah Jahin and Fouad Haddad songs and poems. (They were amazing btw! These kids were sooooo good, I’m thinking of going again on the 5th of October at the British Council). So I went home drained and fell asleep at once. No blogging thoughts whatsoever.
So what about this year of blogging…
Definitely I enjoyed it tremendously. I got to know amazing people, many of whom I discovered that we has lots of friends in common! El donia soghaiara moooot!
I remember when I was young that I had no problem in So`al el ta3bir, when I hold a pen I can write many pages non stop. This doesn’t mean that I write some significant in itself, I just loved the feeling of taking all on paper.
I also had all the freedom to write whatever coming on my mind, little things and big things.
Perhaps my next step in this blog would be to write some meaningful posts along side the small, unedited kind of posts. Hopefully I will have time to sit and arrange for it
***
Anyway,
Last Saturday, me and my friends decided to have a different Iftar, so we took our dishes and headed to ein el sokhna. It’s not that far from Cairo, it’s only 1 hour of driving. We spent the day there, the guys went swimming, I took lots of photos, we ate, had small talks while sitting on the beach (mostly sentimental topics thanks to the romantic atmosphere ), played a new game (التعلب و الفلاحين) which was surprisingly very entertaining, the guys played playstation (I really can’t believe them!), we also played Risk for a while, we sang in the car on our way back home. It was fun
Elhamdlelah the place was deserted; no one could have tolerated the noise we made. 😉
That was the best Iftar I had so far!
***
This year I was surprised when I knew that two of my recent acquaintances do not fast during Ramadan! It’s really weird being a Muslim Egyptian (and living in Egypt) and not fast during Ramadan! Even those who don’t pray regularly (even at all) and don’t follow the rituals of Islam in general, they try to go with the flow and refrain from eating and drinking like the others. I don’t dare judge both sides, only God knows what lies in their heart, and only God knows that I am far from criticizing others when in it comes to their relation with the Most Merciful. But still, this remains to be a cultural shock in a way…
***
On the 14th of September 2004, I dressed up and started my professional life.
This was my first day in the company that I work in. I worked in the call center for a while. Yes, I used to answer the customers’ enquiries and demands and try to solve their problems (I should tell you about this period one day )
(Before this one, I worked for another company, but it was for only 2 weeks, so it is counted.)
I remember sitting in a meeting room, trying to memorize the names of 15 newly hired colleagues (I’m very bad with names). We had few weeks of induction to the company’s culture and background. Then we started the real thing.
I remember my first day
God, I was scared!
Now as I remember it, it feels like ages ago, not just 3 years!
***
شو معنى هالحياة
حلم ومارق ساعات
الباقي من عمري بهديك
وعمري لحظه بتناديك
امبارح واليوم ولاخر يوم حبيبي
حبيبي – ماجدة الرومي
****
Few days ago, I was attending a concert with some friends, and I was introduced to some of their friends. El mohem, one of the guys was sitting next to me, having this little talk, and after few minutes he asked for my number! The guy seemed ghalban moot, not the flirty type, but he was not my type of male friends. But I just gave it to him knowing that he won’t call me, and if he did I’ll not be that bothered as I’ll manage to end the conversation without giving a snobbish face. Nevertheless, I didn’t understand why he did it, it was like a teenager trying to pull it together and try to talk to a girl, and this guy was –at least- in his late 20’s or early 30’s, he should by now know how to differentiate between acquaintances, colleagues, friends,,,
***
Kaleidoscope 