The Voice of Lebanon: Fairouz

Fairouz

Fairouz, the Rahabni.. these are two names that one automatically links to the glorious days of theater in Lebanon. The Rahhabni were the theatrical dynasty that ruled over Lebanon’s stages for over 25 years, and through them a large amount of  stars were born. I don’t know about everyone else, but when someone says the word Lebanon, the first thing that pops to my mind is a picture of the Lebanese icon Fairouz. Her voice doesn’t die, it isn’t her voice, its our voice, it’s Lebanon voice. Through happiness, and sadness her voice was there. She sang for the souwwar aka revolutionaries (she is a SSNP member lol), she sang for the green mountains of Lebanon, she sang in prayer to the most Holy of people… she sang for everyone and everything, she sang for us.

Lebanon blasted from Fairouz to the world at a time when the Arab World was heavily influenced by Egyptian music and cinema. She sang in the Lebanese accent, in a melody that was simply Lebanese, and in a voice as magical as the heavens. The Rahbani brothers personified Lebanon with lyrics of village life, simplicity, love, and longing… and with each person, a voice is born… and Fairouz became that voice. She was the voice of the personified Lebanon. She expressed her love for Lebanon and it’s life with such passion and pride… it was almost like she sang for a lover instead of a nation.

During the Lebanese Civil War, Fairouz shifted from the “famous singer” to a voice of defiance, hope, and a reminder of the once beautiful Lebanon we had. It’s funny because I’ve read many pieces of writing on the Civil War… many would talk about the militia men listening to Fairouz when they woke up, and when they drove around. Pretty ironic if you ask me, as they were destroying the body and soul of these songs. Nonetheless, I always used to watch the video when Fairuz took to the stage in Damascus to sing “I Love You, Lebanon” for the first time. She seemed like she was speaking over the heads of her audience, over the mountains, and across the border to the people of her country, facing chaos and an uncertain future at the time. I haven’t watched it in a while, but I remember how she shook her head and her shoulders as she sang the words “I told them our nation will be created anew. A dignified Lebanon and a defiant people.” She was reassuring and yet…demanding, as if telling the Lebanese people to be defiant, telling Lebanon it will come back one day. During the Civil War she refused to sing in Lebanon, as she did not want to be seen as choosing one group over another. She preformed in Paris, Canada, Syria and various other places… but never in the country she would not move out of.

I grew up listening to Fairouz. It was not a morning if we did not hear Fairouz’s voice blasting from the radio or on television. I remember we had a VHS tape which had two of Fairouz’s films on it. My favourite was “Bint el 7aris”, where Fairouz was the daughter of the town’s guard. She would dress up as a man at night and expose the rich towns people for what they really were, after the mistreatment of her father. It wasn’t the acting which made me love Fairouz in the film, but instead the songs like “Nasim 3alayna el hawa”, “Tirri ya tiyara tirri” and “tik tik tik im sleiman”. I grew up with these songs, every Saturday I would watch this film… it connected me to Lebanon when I was in Canada. The town in that film was beautiful, the accents, the life… it was amazing. For someone in Canada, this film was the only connection to their homeland, as satellites were not that big in the 1990′s here. Her personality comes out in this film… soft and caring as her voice…strong, proud, and defiant as her presence on stage.

So why the all of a sudden post on Fairouz? Well… I was reading of the debates and legal actions against her by her brother-in-law’s family. I can’t help but say I’m a little bit disgusted. Fairouz is not theirs…she is ours, she is Lebanon’s. She is my childhood, my father’s childhood, and the good times of my grandfather. She was the connection to Lebanon while we were outside of the country, the encouragement during bad times, and no good event is complete without her voice. To hold her back is absurd…at least it is to me. The protests by Lebanese and other Arabs around the world, are example of what Fairouz really means to us. Something about her sticks to us, the young, just as much as it does with the older generations. She never forgot Lebanon, and so the Lebanese have not forgotten her. With most of the Lebanese on her side, and the Arab world (celebrities as well) voicing their opinions in her favor… I think things will be okay. I have not followed up on this, and don’t know what the recent advancements are… but hey… it’s Fairouz, she’ll be ok, and singing louder than ever .

This is the film I mentioned… it’s the one that I grew up with in the cold and icy Canada. I was lucky enough to find this video on Youtube.com, so I chose video number 5. It has one of the sings I mentioned in it (3:39 in the video), with one of my favorite scenes (starts at 5:44 in the video), the simple love and jealousy between two lovers (I would like to see those days again btw), the simplicity in it, the little things they used to do, the funny and quirky conversations… all of it.  Enjoy!

Oh and This part of the movie is good too… LOL.