An Arabic Song That Deserves to Be Translated

It is not every day that you hear a song that touches your heart. Many songs that we come across on a daily basis strike us as non-creative or repetitive and pass us by without a trace. This is especially true when it comes to Arabic pop songs. So many songs nowadays sound similar and they also sound interchangeable. In other words, you can switch the songs around between the various singers and you do not feel that the songs would lose anything. Very few contemporary Arab singers have a distinct style and a distinct talent and who leave a prominent mark on the Arabic music scene that cannot be easily imitated.

This song, the subject of this posting, is a song that sets itself apart. It touched me when I first heard it. Its effect was amplified by watching the singer perform the song in the video clip. The meanings of the lyrics in Arabic coupled with the palpable emotions of the singer as he uttered them and add to this the attractive melody and the beat, all played a role in making this song distinctively moving.

The song is by renowned Lebanese singer Ahmad Kaabour and its title is Baddi Ġanni la n-Nās (I Want to Sing for People). A notable thing about the song is that it is based on the 1985 song "Chanter pour ceux qui sont loin de chez eux" by the late French singer Michel Berger. This is clearly stated in the credits of the Arabic video clip. You can watch the original French song at the bottom of this posting (below the table). Ahmad Kaabour was loyal to the original song. He styled his song in the same spirit and with the same melody. The first few sentences in the song are even the same as those in the original French song, but he then gives the Arabic song the distinct Arabic feel and touch by seeming to refer in it to the suffering that many Lebanese have seen in their country as a result of the wars and the turmoil their small country has witnessed in the past decades.

There is a possibility that some of the effect of the Arabic song may get lost in translation if one translates the lyrics. But here is an attempt to transcribe the Arabic lyrics, then transliterate them and then translate them to English. You can see the result in the table below. The song is in the Lebanese Arabic dialect and I tried to transliterate the words so that to replicate exactly how the words are uttered in that dialect. If you don't know Arabic or if you are learning Arabic I suggest listening to the song as you go down the list of the phrases in the column of your choosing in the table. I hope you enjoy the song as much as I did.

Ahmad Kaabour - Baddi Ghanni أحمد قعبور - بدي غني

I Want to Sing for People	Baddi Ġanni la n-Nās	بَدّي غنّي للناس
He who's lost in the night	'Elli b-laylu ġarʼān	اِلّي بِلَيْلُه غَرقان
Gazing at the stars	Sāreḥ bi-ha n-nejmāt	سارحْ بِها النِّجمات
Hoping there's someone thinking of him	Yetʼammal innu fi mīn ʿam bi-fakker fī	يِتأَمّل إنّه في مين عم بِفكّر فيه
She who's fleeing war	w-Elli harbāni mni l-ḥarb	والّي هربانة من الحرب
Her fear way ahead of her	Ḫawfa sābeʼha la bʿīd	خوفها سابقها لَبعيد
When she asks what happened	Lamma tesʼal ʿalli ṣār	لمّا تِسْأل علّي صار
Her mother tells her: Nothing	ʼEmma tʼella māfi shi	إمّها تْقِلّها ما في شي
There's death	Fī mot	في مُوت
I scream but there's no voice	Biṣruḫ mā b-yeṭlaʿ ṣot	بِصْرُخ ما بيِطْلَع صوت
There's death	Fī mot	في موت
How do I sing when there is no voice?	Kīf b-ġanni w-māli ṣot?	كيفْ بْغَنّي ومالي صوت؟
I want to sing for people	Baddi ġanni la n-nās	بَدّي غنّي للنّاس
Who have no people	'Elli mā ʿendon nās	اِلّي ماعِنْدُن ناس
And they were the root of things	w-Kānu hinni l-asās	وكانوا هنّي الأساس
But how do I sing? How?	Lākin kīf b-ġanni kīf?	لكن كيف بغَنّي كيف؟
And I want to sing for lands	w-Baddi ġanni la-blād	وبدّي غنّي لبْلاد
Whose people are in other lands	Ahla bi-ġair blād	أهلها بِغِير بْلاد
And who forgot what holidays are like	w-Nisyet ṭaʿm el-ʼaʿyād	ونِسْيِت طعم الأعياد
But how do I sing? How?	Lākin kīf b-ġanni kīf?	لكن كيف بغَنّي كيف؟
Who launches a war	Mīn elli b-šinn el-ḥarb	مين اِلّي بشِنّ الحرب
In the name of human rights?	b-'Esm ḥʼūʼ el-ʼensān?	باسم حقوق الإنسان؟
Declares it in the name of the Lord	b-Yeʿlenha bi-'esm er-rabb	بيِعْلنْها باسم الرب
And he abandoned the Lord long ago	w-Bāyeʿ rabbu min zamān	وبايع ربُّه من زمان
Who converted this Earth	Mīn elli ḥawwal hal-ʼarḍ	مين الّي حوّل هالأرض
To a miserable injured planet?	la-Kawkab bāʼes majrūḥ?	لكوْكب بائس مجروح؟
And stabbing it all over	w-Byeṭʿanha ṭūl w-ʿarḍ	وبيِطعنها طول وعرض
And the stab reaches the soul	weṭ-Ṭaʿneh b-tūṣal lar-rūḥ	والطعنة بتُوصل للروح
There are wounds	Fi jrūḥ	في جروح
Most painful wound is wound of the soul	w-ʼAṣʿab jerḥ jerḥ er-rūḥ	وأصعب جرح جرح الروح
There are wounds	Fi jrūḥ	في جروح
I really don't want to go	Ya ʿammi ma baddi rūḥ	ياعمّي ما بَدّي روح
I want to sing for people	Baddi ġanni la n-nās	بدّي غنّي للناس
Who have no people	'Elli mā ʿendon nās	اِلّي ماعنْدُن ناس
And they were the root of things	w-Kānu hinni l-asās	وكانوا هنّي الأساس
But how do I sing? How?	Lākin kīf b-ġanni kīf?	لكن كيف بغَنّي كيف؟
And I want to sing for kids	w-Baddi ġanni la-wlād	وبدّي غنّي لَولاد
Who have never lived as kids	b-ʿOmron mā ʿāšu wlād	بعُمرن ما عاشوا ولاد
And who'd stayed in this world as kids	w-Beʼyu b-ha d-dinyi wlād	وبِقيوا بها الدِّنيِة ولاد
But how do I sing? How?	Lākin kīf b-ġanni kīf?	لكن كيف بغَنّي كيف؟
I want to sing for people	Baddi ġanni la n-nās	بدّي غنّي للناس
Who have no people	'Elli mā ʿendon nās	اِلّي ماعنْدُن ناس
And they were the root of things	w-Kānu hinni l-asās	وكانوا هنّي الأساس
But how do I sing? How?	Lākin kīf b-ġanni kīf?	لكن كيف بغَنّي كيف؟
And I want to sing for kids	w-Baddi ġanni la-wlād	وبدّي غنّي لولاد
Who have never lived as kids	b-ʿOmron mā ʿāšu wlād	بعمرن ما عاشوا ولاد
And who'd stayed in this world as kids	w-Beʼyu b-ha d-dinyi wlād	وبِقيوا بها الدِّنيِة ولاد
But how do I sing? How?	Lākin kīf b-ġanni kīf?	لكن كيف بغَنّي كيف؟
Who have never lived as kids	b-ʿOmron mā ʿāšu wlād	بعمرن ما عاشوا ولاد
And who'd stayed in this world as kids	w-Beʼyu b-ha d-dinyi wlād	وبِقيوا بها الدِّنيِة ولاد
But how ...	Lākin kīf ...	... لكن كيف

Chanter pour ceux qui sont loin de chez eux - Michel Berger