History of Music in Lebanon Podcas

From Ottoman History Podcast

Lebanon is a country of just a few million, but its musical output has historically rivaled its much larger neighbors in the Arab world. This episode of the Ottoman History Podcast provides an overview of the the history of music in modern Lebanon as well as an overview of the history of modern Lebanon through music. We discuss topics such as nationalism, war, migration, and gender, all while listening to some of the most memorable and beloved songs and artists that the country has produced.

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Artists include:

Nasri Shamseddine, Wadih El Safi, Sabah, Fairuz, Mansour and Assi Rahbani, Zaki Nassif, Melhem Barakat, Samira Tawfik, Farid al-Atrache, Sami Clark, The Bandaly Family
Marcel Khalife, Ahmad Kaabour, Ziad Rahbani, Joseph Saqr, Julia Boutros, Makhoul Kassouf, Sami Hawat, Azar Habib, Majida El Roumi
Najwa Karam, Ragheb Alama, Nawal El Zoghbi, Wael Kfoury, Nancy Ajram, Elissa
Soapkills, Mashrou' Leila, Charbel Rouhana, Ziad Sakhab

Select Bibliography:

Stone, Christopher Reed. Popular Culture and Nationalism in Lebanon: The Fairouz and Rahbani Nation. London: Routledge, 2008.
ʻAssāf, Aḥmad. Fayrūz wa-dawlat al-Raḥābinah. Dimashq: Dār al-Rāʼī lil-Dirāsāt wa-al-Tarjamah wa-al-Nashr, 2008.
Reynolds, Dwight Fletcher. Arab Folklore: A Handbook. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2007.
O'Ballance, Edgar. Civil War in Lebanon, 1975-92. New York, N.Y.: St. Martin's Press, 1998.
Khater, Akram Fouad. Inventing Home Emigration, Gender, and the Middle Class in Lebanon, 1870-1920. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001.

Soapkills - Corn on the Cobالصابون يقتل - عرانيسAranees

Soapkills (Soap Kills) is a band from Lebanon. They are heavily influenced by electronic and trip-hop styles. This song is made up of different sounds one encounters in Beirut. The words don't make so much sense except when explained in that context (the title is عرانيس after all), so I'll explain line by line for this one as best as I can, though I should say there's not total agreement on the correct lyrics for this song.

عرانيس
عرانيس
بويا ؟؟؟؟تيريله

These are examples of "sale calls" one might here along the Corniche in Beirut. "Aranis (عرانيس)" are corn cobs, and they are sold in baked or boiled form. "Boya (بويا)" is shoe polish, and she is imitating the call of a shoeshiner, though I must say I can't figure out what she says immediately after "boyaaaa."

تعا نركب اوتوبيس
دورة, متحف, كرنيش

"Let's get on a bus from Dawra/Dora to Museum-Corniche." Dora is a neighborhood in the suburbs north of Beirut and a huge hub for buses. The Museum is a landmark in the center, the corniche being the long stretch along the water. So she's describing getting on a bus and going downtown.

قرب عالطيب قرب
لمسات شفافة جرب

"Come to this nice smell," maybe the call of somebody selling purfume. If anyone understands what the other line here refers to please tell me. She says something like "try transparent/clear/innocent touches" I don't think I've understood correctly.

عالسكين يا بطيخ
ترمس, ترمس عرانيس

"On the knife, watermelon," the call of a guy selling watermelon. "Termos, termos, aranis." Termos is a kind of bean that you can buy as a snack, called Lupin in English. Aranis again is corn on the cob.

كله نظيف, كله نحيف
كله مهفهف, كله لطيف

"It's all clean, it's all slick, it's all cool, it's all fine." You can translate these words for describing something that's "cool" in a number of ways I guess.

اه يا لطيف, تطلطف بالصبايا, يا لطيف, يا لطيف

"ya latif (يا لطيف)" basically means "daaamn." I guess this might be something like "daaamn, look at all the girls."

هرج ومرج, سوق الفرنج

"harj wa marj (هرج ومرج)" is like "hustle and bustle." "Souq el-frenj" is a market

تاكسيات بتكرج كرج

"taxis parking"

كله نظيف, كله خلنج

"it's all clean, it's all brand new"

والاسواق زي الشطرنج

"and the markets are like chess"

نظيفة ظريفة زي الثلج

"clean and cool as ice"

فيها الشبان بتتمايل

"there's guys leaning/swaying," maybe this refers to walking with swagger. normally I would think "tamayul (تمايل)" describes the way girls walk but from the context it could be referring to the way guys walk to get attention, since the following line is:

والبنات بتغنج غنج

"and the girls are flirting/making eyes." "ghanj (غنج)" refers to the actions associated with being flirtatious.