I hope it does not bother anybody that this isn't a typical ~music post, both in length and language. However, this song means a lot to me and I wanted to share it with those of you interested in...
I hope it does not bother anybody that this isn't a typical ~music post, both in length and language. However, this song means a lot to me and I wanted to share it with those of you interested in other cultures and their art.
The singer of this song was by all means the Arab Frank Sinatra. A talented singer, musician and composer, he dominated the Egyptian music scene in the 50s and 60s. He had a couple Elvis-style flicks too. He was incredibly famous, he performed in the Albert Hall at one point! He died in 1977 due to liver failure in King's College hospital in London. Two million Egyptians walked him to the grave, and about 4 girls couldn't take it and committed suicide.
The lyrics to this song were written by the brilliant poet Nizar Qabbani. He and Abdelhalim discussed setting Letter From Under The Sea to music after the latter read one of Nizar's poetry books and fell in love with the poem. There were a few adjustments to be made to the words, however, as some of the verses were too.. sexual, is it? Atheist? I'm not sure.. for Egyptian audiences.
Here is the poem, translated to the best of my abilities. Which is probably going to sound terrible. Here goes.
If you are my lover,
Help me leave you.
Or if you are my healer,
Help me,
to be healed of you.
If I had known the ocean was very deep,
I would not have swam..
If I had known how it would end,
I would not have began.
I've longed for you,
so teach me
how not to long.
Teach me
how to cut the roots of your love from the depths.
Teach me.
If you are a prophet,
Cleanse me from this spell
Deliver me from this heresy...
For your love is like heresy
so purify me.
If you are strong, very strong,
Rescue me from this ocean.
For I never learned to swim.
The blue waves in your eyes,
drag me to the depths.
I am suffocating under water.
I am drowning,
drowning.
blue...
blue.
nothing but
the color blue
and I have no experience in the sea of love,
and I have no boat.
I am suffocating under water
I am drowning,
drowning,
The nice thing about ~music (and Tildes) being so new is that there are no "typical" posts yet, and I hope there never will be, since unique content like this is so much more interesting and...
The nice thing about ~music (and Tildes) being so new is that there are no "typical" posts yet, and I hope there never will be, since unique content like this is so much more interesting and fulfilling to consume than the "typical" rehashing of the same stuff over and over again that happens elsewhere. Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of music and giving me something to listen to over the next hour. :)
Was waiting for an edit to respond! It makes me very happy that you liked it. Means a lot to me. I agree with you.. I really think ~music has a lot of potential to become a mixing pot of different...
Was waiting for an edit to respond! It makes me very happy that you liked it. Means a lot to me.
I agree with you.. I really think ~music has a lot of potential to become a mixing pot of different cultures and different types of music.. I love alternative rock, but variety is the spice of life isn't it?
Indeed. That's why I am so happy most of the /r/listentothis mod team is on Tildes already and actively submitting content; Variety (and obscurity) is their middle name when it comes to music. :P
variety is the spice of life isn't it?
Indeed. That's why I am so happy most of the /r/listentothis mod team is on Tildes already and actively submitting content; Variety (and obscurity) is their middle name when it comes to music. :P
<3 Afro-funk so so much. It's my new favorite genre of music by far after being properly introduced to it by you here. And yeah, Youtube auto-play is actually surprisingly amazing for obscure...
<3 Afro-funk so so much. It's my new favorite genre of music by far after being properly introduced to it by you here. And yeah, Youtube auto-play is actually surprisingly amazing for obscure music discovery. I typically let autoplay do it's thing for a while after listening to your submissions and it's rarely failed me.
Holy crap... that site has an absolute metric ton of radio program playlists. This will definitely keep me entertained for a long while. Thanks so much! p.s. The very first one I clicked on "Women...
Holy crap... that site has an absolute metric ton of radio program playlists. This will definitely keep me entertained for a long while. Thanks so much!
p.s. The very first one I clicked on "Women of the West" starts off with an amazing Talking Heads - Born Under Punches cover and sounds like it will be a really interesting interview program and look into West African pop. Great start!
I think I posted the Talking Heads covers here a while back. I know I posted it to a few different places. Incidentally, this one is the soundtrack to my teens...
I think I posted the Talking Heads covers here a while back. I know I posted it to a few different places.
Incidentally, this one is the soundtrack to my teens
I'm not normally a huge punk fan (although I was a huge rude boy / ska head in my teens) but given how on point your other suggestions and submissions have been, I will definitely check that...
I'm not normally a huge punk fan (although I was a huge rude boy / ska head in my teens) but given how on point your other suggestions and submissions have been, I will definitely check that playlist out after this Women of the West one is done and let you know what I thought of it. BTW, are these playlists from an actual radio program somewhere or purely an internet thing? If it's just an internet thing, the production value is really damn impressive!
The punk thing is more history through music than a full on punk mix tbh Afropop Worldwide is broadcast on Public Radio International https://www.pri.org/
The punk thing is more history through music than a full on punk mix tbh
Afropop Worldwide is broadcast on Public Radio International
Ah, well in that case I will probably enjoy it more anyways. I sometimes struggle to listen to pure music playlists for too long before I get distracted by something else. But actual radio...
Ah, well in that case I will probably enjoy it more anyways. I sometimes struggle to listen to pure music playlists for too long before I get distracted by something else. But actual radio programs that have music interspersed with other related interesting content tend to hold my focus a lot longer. E.g. This Women of the West program has been the perfect mix so far.
The Hip Deep episodes are really good. Very informative, and full of good music. This is one of my favourites from the series. If you like Tinariwen and other "desert blues" stuff it's well worth...
The Hip Deep episodes are really good. Very informative, and full of good music.
This is one of my favourites from the series. If you like Tinariwen and other "desert blues" stuff it's well worth an hour
Awesome, yeah those would probably be more my speed. Thanks again. And while I am not familiar with desert blues, it sounds incredibly interesting and oddly enough I actually know a little bit...
Awesome, yeah those would probably be more my speed. Thanks again. And while I am not familiar with desert blues, it sounds incredibly interesting and oddly enough I actually know a little bit about the Tuareg people since their tribal confederation is actually represented as a minor faction in one of my favorite games, Europa Universalis 4.
You can find Afropop on most NPR stations (my local station plays it like Sunday nights at 8) edit: they're distributed by PRI, and record somewhere in Brooklyn NY
You can find Afropop on most NPR stations (my local station plays it like Sunday nights at 8)
Yeah, Afropop is an amazing radio show, good link! There's also a ton of great compilations out there from Soundways and Analog Africa that are worth checking out, e.g., for something crazy and...
Yeah, Afropop is an amazing radio show, good link!
There's also a ton of great compilations out there from Soundways and Analog Africa that are worth checking out, e.g., for something crazy and fun Soundway's Nigeria Disco Funk Special
If you start digging into either label (or Numero Group, for some non-Afro-centric brilliance) you'll strike gold in no time.
Searching "awesome tapes from africa" on Mixcloudturns up some excellent stuff https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/awesome-tapes-from-africa/ And yes, Anolog Africa have some good stuff. I haven't...
Searching "awesome tapes from africa" on Mixcloudturns up some excellent stuff
Alandaleeb Alasmar :) This is my whole childhood, being from Morocco. I hate the neighbours and their incessant onion cutting. This is the song that was played at the birthday of the late king...
Alandaleeb Alasmar :)
This is my whole childhood, being from Morocco. I hate the neighbours and their incessant onion cutting.
This is the song that was played at the birthday of the late king Hassan II.
What a talented man.. instrument-wise and singing-wise. Have always loved that sudden change in tempo at around 7 minutes.. Thanks for reminding me that el 3andaleeb on the background is excellent...
What a talented man.. instrument-wise and singing-wise. Have always loved that sudden change in tempo at around 7 minutes.. Thanks for reminding me that el 3andaleeb on the background is excellent work music. ♡
Nizar did that often to write from the perspective of a woman, but this doesn't seem to be one of those times. I wonder why mink and sa3idni rather than sa3idini and minki.
Nizar did that often to write from the perspective of a woman, but this doesn't seem to be one of those times. I wonder why mink and sa3idni rather than sa3idini and minki.
Great post OP! I always appreciate being exposed to very new types of music, and Egyptian orchestral opera (...I guess? not really the right term but whatever) is definitely new and exciting :)
Great post OP! I always appreciate being exposed to very new types of music, and Egyptian orchestral opera (...I guess? not really the right term but whatever) is definitely new and exciting :)
r/listentothis has the sweetest mods <3 This is Arabic classical music, usually called tarab. Tarab is a very.. complicated word for which there is no real english equivalent, but i found this...
This is Arabic classical music, usually called tarab. Tarab is a very.. complicated word for which there is no real english equivalent, but i found this page which is discusses it very eloquently. I'm glad you appreciate this.. I thought for a long time before posting!
I hope it does not bother anybody that this isn't a typical ~music post, both in length and language. However, this song means a lot to me and I wanted to share it with those of you interested in other cultures and their art.
The singer of this song was by all means the Arab Frank Sinatra. A talented singer, musician and composer, he dominated the Egyptian music scene in the 50s and 60s. He had a couple Elvis-style flicks too. He was incredibly famous, he performed in the Albert Hall at one point! He died in 1977 due to liver failure in King's College hospital in London. Two million Egyptians walked him to the grave, and about 4 girls couldn't take it and committed suicide.
The lyrics to this song were written by the brilliant poet Nizar Qabbani. He and Abdelhalim discussed setting Letter From Under The Sea to music after the latter read one of Nizar's poetry books and fell in love with the poem. There were a few adjustments to be made to the words, however, as some of the verses were too.. sexual, is it? Atheist? I'm not sure.. for Egyptian audiences.
Here is the poem, translated to the best of my abilities. Which is probably going to sound terrible. Here goes.
If you are my lover,
Help me leave you.
Or if you are my healer,
Help me,
to be healed of you.
If I had known the ocean was very deep,
I would not have swam..
If I had known how it would end,
I would not have began.
I've longed for you,
so teach me
how not to long.
Teach me
how to cut the roots of your love from the depths.
Teach me.
If you are a prophet,
Cleanse me from this spell
Deliver me from this heresy...
For your love is like heresy
so purify me.
If you are strong, very strong,
Rescue me from this ocean.
For I never learned to swim.
The blue waves in your eyes,
drag me to the depths.
I am suffocating under water.
I am drowning,
drowning.
blue...
blue.
nothing but
the color blue
and I have no experience in the sea of love,
and I have no boat.
I am suffocating under water
I am drowning,
drowning,
drowning.
The nice thing about ~music (and Tildes) being so new is that there are no "typical" posts yet, and I hope there never will be, since unique content like this is so much more interesting and fulfilling to consume than the "typical" rehashing of the same stuff over and over again that happens elsewhere. Thanks for sharing this beautiful piece of music and giving me something to listen to over the next hour. :)
edit: That was really enjoyable. Thanks again.
Was waiting for an edit to respond! It makes me very happy that you liked it. Means a lot to me.
I agree with you.. I really think ~music has a lot of potential to become a mixing pot of different cultures and different types of music.. I love alternative rock, but variety is the spice of life isn't it?
Indeed. That's why I am so happy most of the /r/listentothis mod team is on Tildes already and actively submitting content; Variety (and obscurity) is their middle name when it comes to music. :P
I have no idea what you're talking about :P
edit: You know, sometimes youtube's autoplay comes through in spades
That was a great listen!!! The instrumentals are so unbelievably cool.. thanks for sharing
<3 Afro-funk so so much. It's my new favorite genre of music by far after being properly introduced to it by you here. And yeah, Youtube auto-play is actually surprisingly amazing for obscure music discovery. I typically let autoplay do it's thing for a while after listening to your submissions and it's rarely failed me.
There's some good stuff here
http://afropop.org/audio-programs
Holy crap... that site has an absolute metric ton of radio program playlists. This will definitely keep me entertained for a long while. Thanks so much!
p.s. The very first one I clicked on "Women of the West" starts off with an amazing Talking Heads - Born Under Punches cover and sounds like it will be a really interesting interview program and look into West African pop. Great start!
I think I posted the Talking Heads covers here a while back. I know I posted it to a few different places.
Incidentally, this one is the soundtrack to my teens
https://soundcloud.com/afropop-worldwide/punk-in-africa
I'm not normally a huge punk fan (although I was a huge rude boy / ska head in my teens) but given how on point your other suggestions and submissions have been, I will definitely check that playlist out after this Women of the West one is done and let you know what I thought of it. BTW, are these playlists from an actual radio program somewhere or purely an internet thing? If it's just an internet thing, the production value is really damn impressive!
The punk thing is more history through music than a full on punk mix tbh
Afropop Worldwide is broadcast on Public Radio International
https://www.pri.org/
Ah, well in that case I will probably enjoy it more anyways. I sometimes struggle to listen to pure music playlists for too long before I get distracted by something else. But actual radio programs that have music interspersed with other related interesting content tend to hold my focus a lot longer. E.g. This Women of the West program has been the perfect mix so far.
The Hip Deep episodes are really good. Very informative, and full of good music.
This is one of my favourites from the series. If you like Tinariwen and other "desert blues" stuff it's well worth an hour
http://afropop.org/audio-programs/hip-deep-in-mali-the-tuareg-predicament
Awesome, yeah those would probably be more my speed. Thanks again. And while I am not familiar with desert blues, it sounds incredibly interesting and oddly enough I actually know a little bit about the Tuareg people since their tribal confederation is actually represented as a minor faction in one of my favorite games, Europa Universalis 4.
You can find Afropop on most NPR stations (my local station plays it like Sunday nights at 8)
edit: they're distributed by PRI, and record somewhere in Brooklyn NY
Yeah, Afropop is an amazing radio show, good link!
There's also a ton of great compilations out there from Soundways and Analog Africa that are worth checking out, e.g., for something crazy and fun Soundway's Nigeria Disco Funk Special
If you start digging into either label (or Numero Group, for some non-Afro-centric brilliance) you'll strike gold in no time.
Searching "awesome tapes from africa" on Mixcloudturns up some excellent stuff
https://www.mixcloud.com/discover/awesome-tapes-from-africa/
And yes, Anolog Africa have some good stuff. I haven't dug very far into Soundway, but it's on the to-do list.
Alandaleeb Alasmar :)
This is my whole childhood, being from Morocco. I hate the neighbours and their incessant onion cutting.
This is the song that was played at the birthday of the late king Hassan II.
What a talented man.. instrument-wise and singing-wise. Have always loved that sudden change in tempo at around 7 minutes.. Thanks for reminding me that el 3andaleeb on the background is excellent work music. ♡
A note: the masculine form is used all along the song, he is talking about a woman but uses masculine pronouns.
Nizar did that often to write from the perspective of a woman, but this doesn't seem to be one of those times. I wonder why mink and sa3idni rather than sa3idini and minki.
Most Arabic poets did that, I guess some may say to appear less lewd.
Great post OP! I always appreciate being exposed to very new types of music, and Egyptian orchestral opera (...I guess? not really the right term but whatever) is definitely new and exciting :)
r/listentothis has the sweetest mods <3
This is Arabic classical music, usually called tarab. Tarab is a very.. complicated word for which there is no real english equivalent, but i found this page which is discusses it very eloquently. I'm glad you appreciate this.. I thought for a long time before posting!
Awesome, I have some reading to do :)