This post is part of an ongoing series about displacement and migration in contemporary music. For intercultural literacy, art provides important perspectives.
Despite winning Band of the Year award by Esquire Magazine and being invited to the ceremony, Jordanian band El Morabba3 (The Square) were recently denied entry to United Arab Emirates for “safety reasons” according to officials. This is not new to the band as they’ve been facing similar problems since they started back in 2009.
I’ve had the chance to talk to the band in 2015 and they described all the difficulties they face as musicians coming from Jordan and Palestine. They especially showed great disappointment in Arab countries not allowing them to enter for performances, linking that to the fact that Muhammad Abdullah, the band’s singer and bassist, is originally from Gaza.
All this disappointment can be clearly heard in their completely crowdfunded second album “Taraf Al Khait”, which translates to “End of the String”; a metaphor used in Arabic to describe the beginning of realization and coming to peace with reality. Throughout the album, with songs titled “I Don’t Want to Know Where I Come From”, “A Little Further” and “100000 Million Miles”, El Morabba3 tell their lifetime suffering from racism, rejection and identity issues, along with other regional topics.
The official video of the album’s first single “El Mokhtalifeen” or “The Different Ones” shows two different creatures, with one of them desperately trying to contact the other. I can’t help but see the smart criticism of modern day xenophobia in the video:
Lyrics:
Where are you? Where am I? Where are the different ones?
a far cry from each other.
What if I get closer to you, and challenge your segregation with you?
I have the same thing…
I’m determined to reach you, even if you seem distant.
Where are you? Where am I? Where are those who oppose?
a far cry from each other.
What if I get closer and try to touch you?
but maybe it’s not allowed; unlike what they taught you.
I’m determined to reach you, even if you seem distant.
“An experimental music project that’s longing for the past with all its memories and nostalgia, while acknowledging the present in a new home and environment”
It’s no secret that fans of a certain piece of art are people who identify with and relate to it. That was the case when I came across Jerusalem in My Heart back in 2013, during a desperate search of music I can remember home with, and still enjoy my “Western” electronic sound preferences. Jerusalem in My Heart is an experimental music project that’s longing for the past with all its memories and nostalgia, while acknowledging the present in a new home and environment, trying to create a peaceful place in the middle; where people can visit to let go of over attachment to one culture. A bridge we can cross from time to time without having to feel entitled to one thing. To me, as a displaced person, this project is a very successful and genuine attempt to document the sound of adaptation to the new surrounding, without completely letting go of the past.
It was started by Lebanese producer Radwan Ghazi Moumneh; who immigrated to Canada with his family following the civil war in Beirut in 1993. He’s currently a very important and known figure in the Montreal independent music community, contributing to many of the records by local musicians at Hotel2Tango: a cult studio he owns with other well known musicians and producers.
The project heavily relies on interaction of sound and visuals to create a multidimensional theatrical action.That’s why it’s been hard to translate that to record, according to Moumneh. Luckily though, there are two Jerusalem in My Heart albums available at the moment: “Mo7it Al-Mo7it” (Ocean of the Ocean)-2012 and “If He Dies, If If If If If If”-2015; both embracing their ancient Middle Eastern culture background and references, in a contemporary form.
A track called “Yudaghegh Al-Ra3ey Wala Al-Ghanam” (He Titillates the Shepherd, but not the Sheep) got my attention when I listened to the debut album for the first time; making me feel like walking into some sort of Arab-themed dance club. Moumneh repeats the title of the song over two accelerated synth lines for three minutes:
Radwan’s highly literary work of complex Arabic poetry and buzuk music mixed with Western contemporary electronic sounds continues throughout both albums, but the whole Jerusalem in My Heart experience is not complete without the visuals that accompany music during live shows. Charles-Andre Coderre is the man responsible for that at the moment. Every show has its own hand-made film loops ready to be projected on multiple screens. Another reason why there’s no two similar Jerusalem in My Heart shows.
Finally, to get the full idea, I highly recommend you watch the video below. It’s a full live set that Radwan and Charles-Andre recently performed at Studio 6 in Belgrade, Serbia:
This post is part of an ongoing series about displacement and migration in contemporary music. For intercultural literacy, art provides important perspectives.
There was a very promising music scene growing in Syria a few years before the war. One of the most successful musicians of that era was the band Kulna Sawa ( We Together ). They released five albums between 1998 and 2008. Their last is their most political, containing songs about life of Syrian youth during the first years of 21st century, war in Iraq and imaginary stories about a corrupted and miserable country, including displacement. The album plays as a radio broadcast, making it very haunting to listen to in 2016, during the actual war that it predicted. A very recommended listen for those interested in learning more about the political life in Syria before and during the conflict.
I chose a song called Nayem Ala Shat Albahr ( He Lies on the Beach ) from that album because, to me, it talks about a fear that has always existed within the society. A fear of certain people in control causing damage to the country. A prediction that became a reality only three years after the release of the song. It’s an example of artistic maturity representing the awareness of Syrian youth before the war. It would be interesting to observe refugees’ reaction to this song.
Kulna Sawa stopped due to displacement and war. Everything they talked about in their imaginary stories has come true.
Their front man, Iyad Alrimawi, is still notably making and scoring music as a solo artist in Damascus.
Kulna Sawa – He Lies on the Beach I كلنا سوا – نايم على شط البحر
He Lies on The Beach
He lies on the beach, his men surround him, the sun would hide if he wants, people kneel for him
The voices of dead people call from the sea, If you look closely, you’ll see their arms and faces
A war criminal, With people’s souls he plays, Their blood is his and his men’s favorite drink
He knows himself, and the massacre is broadcasting on your TV tonight, by satellite
He lies on the beach, his women surround him, a blonde one pets his hair, a brunette smiles at him, the sea goes up and down following his fingers, the wind is there to obey him
Time to play : they gave him the map, from which he picked a neighborhood and circled it, His first target are school kids, even though he’s an academic
He lies on the beach, his sons surround him, he does the glory sign with his hand, but his hunger killed him, his older sons have died and only the youngest two are left, you’ll see their funeral in the news tonight.
نايم على شط البحر
نايم على شط البحر, ورجالو حولو الشمس بتتخبى بأمرو, والناس بتركعلو أصواتون للي ماتوا , من البحر تنادي اذا بتدقق بتشوف وجوهون والأيادي
مجرم حرب برواح الناس بيلعب من دم البشر بيسقى رجالو وهو بيشرب
مجرم واعي والمجزرة منقولة الليلة على بيتك, بالقمر الصناعي
نايم على شط البحر , ونسوانو حولو شقرا بتسرح شعرو, وسمرا بتضحكلو الموج بيطلع وبينزل مع حركة ايدو ريح انوجدت لتنفذ الليي بريدو
اجا وقت اللعب : فتحولو الخريطة اختار من المنطقة حارة , وبقلم صار يحيطا مجرم دارس , وأول مين بيعلن حربو عليهن , أطفال المدارس
نايم على شط البحر, و ولادو حولو على ايدو علامة نصر . بس جوعو قتلو راحوا ولادو الكبار , وبقيوا اثنين صغار جنازتن بتشوفا الليلة , بنشرة الأخبار
Oh night, shroud me; veil me with your darkness
Oh night, impregnate me; empower me with your darkness
My brother saw the secret; saw the secret he would’ve revealed
My brother, seized by the waves, seized by the waves as he squealed
And the fishermen just slept
Oh Poseidon return to me, return to me my brother
The waves have swindled me; have robbed me of my brother
I took him to the shore, so the waves may wash him clean,
And there upon that shore, stained the waves incarnadine.
And the fishermen just slept
My brother lies with the mermaids, bring him back to me
My brother was stolen by the waves, won’t you bring him back to me
My brother left me with the break of dawn, never to return to me
He lies upon the ocean floor, never to return to me
بحر
يا ليل إحجبني حجبني بعتمتك
يا ليل إملئني قويني بعتمتك
أخوي شاف السر شاف السر كان حيبوح
أخوي جوا الموج جوا الموج عمبينوح
والصيادين نائمين
يا بحر رجعلي رجعلي أخوي
الموج سرقلي خطفلي أخوي
اخذته حد البحر خلي الموج يطهره
أخذته حد البحر دبغت الموج بدمه
والصيادين غافلين خامدين نائمين
أخوي مع الحورية
رجعوه لي
الموج أخذلي أخوي
رجعوه لي
