A song from the height of the Nasser era, written for the celebratory opening of the Aswan High Dam. Interestingly, the opening rhythm of the song sounds quite Nubian to my ears - the irony being that the High Dam flooded Nubia and effectively destroyed it, forcing 90,000 people to flee.
Abdel Halim Hafez - The High Dam
We said we will build, and indeed we built, the High Dam.
O Colonialism, we built the High Dam with our hands.
We said we will build, and indeed we built, the High Dam.
O Colonialism, we built the High Dam with our hands.
With our money, with our workers’ hands.
With our money, with our workers’ hands.
That’s the word; indeed we built it.
We said we will build, and indeed we built, the High Dam.
I…
O Colonialism, we built the High Dam with our hands.
I…
What?
Excuse me, I’d like to say something.
What?
This isn’t a story about the Dam;
It’s a story about the struggle behind the Dam.
It’s our story, the story of
a people who, for the sacred march, rose and revolted
A people advancing, lighting sparks with each step.
A fighting people for whom victory was written.
Will you hear the story?
Just tell it from the beginning!
It’s the story of a war
Between us and colonialism
Do you remember when the people became Westernized
Inside their country?
Yes, we remember!
And the forceful occupier enjoyed himself
In it – him alone?
We haven’t forgotten!
And the gallows were for whoever was coming and going;
And the blood of the free who passed away in Denshawai.
Here it all started;
The people began the story.
Our struggle,
By the fire of our wounds,
Was written with the blood of the victims.
And we overcame! We overcame! We overcame!
We overcame the day the army rose up and revolted,
The day we lit the fire of its revolution,
The day we expelled corruption,
The day we liberated the country,
The day we made them withdraw!
We overcame! We overcame! We overcame!
The good, beloved land returned
to the hands of its owners.
We took back its glory and the treasures
lost in its soil.
We said, “Let’s go build its future
and return to it its youth.”
”What will we do?”
It was natural that we look to the Nile,
which holds our souls in its hands.
It dies and is lost in the sea,
while the deserts long for it.
We said, “Let’s build a High Dam,
a High Dam, a High Dam.”
But colonialism made it very difficult for us.
Why should we give it back our glory?
What did he do?
He went to the bank which helps and gives.
A clerk told him, told us, “I have nothing for you.”
”What did we say?”
There was a powerful outcry
In the square in Alexandria
A cry given by Gamal
And we nationalized the canal!
We nationalized the canal! We nationalized the canal!
That blow came from an instructorم
who made colonialism surrender.
And the economic blockade:
It brought its weapons and its planes,
Its submarines and its tanks,
And attacked to make us submit.
We were fire that ate their armies.
Fire that says, “Do you want more?”
And we overcame; their disgrace is still memorialized
in the soil of Port Said.
And Pan-Arabism… every home stood with us,
And the free people stood against those who attacked us.
And we overcame! We overcame! We overcame!
This, then, is the people’s story.
a people who, for the sacred march, rose and revolted
A people advancing, lighting sparks with each step.
A people Gamal made victorious.
We said we will build, and indeed we built, the High Dam.
The High Dam!
O Colonialism, we built the High Dam with our hands.
The High Dam!
With our money, with our workers’ hands.
With our money, with our workers’ hands.
That’s the word; indeed we built it.
عبد الحليم حافظ - السد العالي
قولنا هنبنى وادى احنا بنينا السد العالى
يا استعمار بنيناه بأدينا السد العالى
قولنا هنبنى وادى احنا بنينا السد العالى
يا استعمار بنيناه بأدينا السد العالى
من اموالنا بايد عمالنا
من اموالنا بايد عمالنا
هى الكلمه وادى احنا بنينا
قولنا هنبنى وادى احنا بنينا السد العالى
وانى
يا ستعمار بنيناه بايدينا السد العالى
وانى
إيه؟
تسمحولى بكلمه
ايه؟
الحكايه مش حكايه السد
حكايه الكفاح اللى ورا السد
حكايتنا احنا حكايه
شعب للزحف المقدس قام وثار
شعب زاحف خطوته تولع شرار
شعب كافح وانكتبله الانتصار
تسمعوا الحكايه؟
بس قولها من البدايه
هى حكايه حرب وتار
بينا وبين الاستعمار
فاكريين لما الشعب اتغرب
جوه فبلده
اه فاكريين
والمحتل الغاصب ينعم
فيها لوحده
مش ناسيين
والمشانق للى رايح واللى جاى
ودم احرارنا اللى راحوا فى دنشواى
من هنا كانت البدايه
وابتدى الشعب الحكايه
كان كفاحنا
بنار جراحنا
يكتبه دم الضحايا
وانتصارنا انتصرنا انتصرنا
انتصارنا يوم ما هب الجيش وثار
يوم ما اشعلنا ثوره له ونار
يوم ما اخرجنا الفساد
يوم ما حررننا البلاد
يوم ما حققنا الجلاء
انتصرنا انتصرنا انتصرنا
رجعت الارض الحبيبه الطيبه
لايدين صحابها
التقينا العز فيها والكنوز
تايها فى ترابها
قولنا نلحق نبنى مستقبلها
ونرجع شببها
نعمل ايه
كان طبيعى نبص للنيل
اللى ارواحنا فى ايديه
مايته فى البحر ضايعه
والصحارى فى شوق اليه
قلنا نبنى سد عالى
سد عالى سد عالى
بس الاستعمار صعب حالنا عليه
ليه نرجع مجدنا ونعيده ليه
يعمل إيه؟
راح على البنك اللى بساعد ويدى
قاله حاسب قالنا ملكمش عندى
قلنا ايه
كانت الصرخه القويه
فى الميدان فى اسكندريه
صرخه اطلقها جمال
واحنا اممنا القنال
احنا أممنا القنال! احنا أممنا القنال!
ضربه كانت من معلم
خلى الاستعمار يسلم
والحصار الاقتصادى
جاب سلاحه طيارته
غوصاته دباباته
واعتدى علشان نسلم
هو مين لاء ده بعده
هو مين لاء ده بعده
كنا نار اكلت جيوشهم
نار تقول هل من مزيد
وانتصرنا ولسه عارهم ذكرى
فى تراب بورسعيد
والعروبه فكل دار وقفت معانا
والشعوب الحره جت عاللى عدانا
وانتصرنا انتصرنا انتصرنا
ادى حكايه الشعب
شعب للزحف المقدس قام وثار
شعب زاحف خطوته تولع شرار
شعب حققله جمال الانتصار
قولنا هنبنى وادى احنا بنينا
السد العالى
يا استعمار بنيناه بايدينا
السد العالى
من اموالنا بايد عمالنا
من اموالنا بايد عمالنا
هى الكلمه وادى احنا بنينا- ِArabic lyrics from: http://arabnotes.mylivepage.com/wiki/30/372
