Qusai - The Job/قصي - الوظيفة

I don't remember how I came across this song. I think YouTube suggested it to me, but I'm really glad it did. I love it! The singer's name is Qusai and he has lived in both the USA and Saudi Arabia so he knows Arabic and English both very well. This song is like 1/3 English and the rest in Saudi dialect. I'm not going to translate the lyrics it into English because I would make a lot of mistakes since I'm not so great at Gulf Arabic. I understand about 90% of it though. Credit goes to مدرسة المشاغبين for the Arabic lyrics.

اسمع ركز
دور على رزقة مؤمن
المصلحه المعرفه الواسطه
عندي شهاده عساها
عندك خبره اتمناها
انا عارف معليش
كلنا نبغى لقمه العيش
بس لسه بلدي فيها خير
كانت الدنيا عفيفه
والناس قلوبها نظيفه
لو تبغى لقمه شريفه
قوم دور على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
كانت الدنيا خفيفه
والناس قلوبها نظيفه
صحيح القعده ظريفه
بس برضو لازم وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه

دورلك على وظيفه
حاير وعقالي مايل
طاير في الزحمه طاير
عندي انتر فيو
موعد لا ينسو
فهموني علموني
ياترى ح يوظفوني
عاطل يقولو عليا
باطل ولا حسو بيا
كل يوم رايح جاي
لا قهوه ولا شاي
هجولوني بهدلوني
بالظهر ما يرحموني
كانت الدنيا عفيفه
والناس قلوبها نظيفه
لو تبغى لقمه شريفه
قوم دور على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
كانت الدنيا خفيفه
والناس قلوبها نظيفه
صحيح القعده ظريفه
بس برضو لازم وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
ااه من اللي بيصير فينا
رايحين لغيرنا و سيبينا
احنا اولى منهم
بس ما نستغنى عنهم
يا ناس كفايا خلاص
الفاس وقع فلـ
اسمحلي ماهو وقت الاكل
حظر اوراقك واتكل
لازم يكون عندك كل شي
ولا يقولو انت فين جي
ولا تقعد تقول ما فيا
خلي عندك مسؤليه
العيب للاسف مو منك
من ناس قدي و فـ سنك
لو ما تعرف احد ارجع ع البيت
بس لا تندم وتقول ياليت
بدري لا تستسلم
اسعى يا خيل وقدم
ياكبار احنا معاكم
بس تعبنا جري وراكم
ادوالواحد حقه
وادولو هوا في وقتو
واهتموا باولاد البلد
لا تسيبوهم كده فلت
هقلك اخرت الفلم
انو سلاحك العلم
يجي
سافر لا خلوني شويه
قادر افيد البقيه
عندي شهاده وقدرات
استشاره وخبرات
وقفوني شغلوني
من الراتب لا تحرموني
دوراتك دوراتي نفسيه
خبراتك خبره حياتيه
معشم نفسي من امس
والمكتب ورى الشمس
غيروني انقلوني
بس لا لا تسيبوني
كانت الدنيا عفيفه
والناس قلوبها نظيفه
لو تبغى لقمه شريفه
قوم دور على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
كانت الدنيا خفيفه
والناس قلوبها نظيفه
صحيح القعده ظريفه
بس برضو لازم وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
دورلك على وظيفه
يالله ياسيدي
خذلك كذا واحد فيتامين واو حلو
ومعاه صورتين شمسيه
وملف اخضر علاقي
وامسك الدرب وان شاء الله تتوظف
ما ينفع الا كده اصلا للاسف
ااه طيب
الواسطه تقتل الكفائه يا جماعه
والبطاله بدايه الضياع
والشغل ما هو عيب
والله يوفق الجميع
سلام
من جد شغل

Assi El Helani: Lebnani w/ Lyrics

The song لبناني (Lebanese) by عاصي الحلاني (Asi El Hillani) was released after the 2008 election in Lebanon and was an immediate hit. It's a nationalistic song about Lebanese heritage and how people from Lebanon should be proud to be Lebanese. To me Asi Al Hellani sounds a lot like فارس كرم (Fares Karam). They both sing in really deep voices and have the same kind of accent, but I like Fares Karam so it's not a bad thing. Here is the song along with the lyrics and translation. I'm sure you'll enjoy it... unless maybe you're Syrian. Just kidding. :P




غطي الشمس بفي جبينك
Cover the sun (light) with the shade of your brow
بيحقلك وطنك دينك
Your country and your religion are your rights
لو هالدني سألت مينك؟
قلن انك لبناني
If this world asked, "Who are you?" Tell them that you're Lebanese

بطل السلم و بطل الحرب
Hero of peace and hero of war
همزة وصل الشرق الغرب
The connector between the east and the west
تتظل تحب و تنحب
To continue loving and being loved
بيكفي انك لبناني
It's enough that you're Lebanese

لبناني و مطرح ما تروح
Lebanese and everywhere you go
حامل وطنك قلب و روح
You carry your country with your heart and soul
و منك عطر المجد يفوح
And from you the perfume of glory wafts
عطر التراب اللبناني
The perfume of the Lebanese soil

لبناني و كلما بتطل
Lebanese and whenever you appear
بتوزع حبك عالكل
You spread your love to everyone
و الإيدين عليك تدل
And your two hands point out
و تعرف انك لبناني
And know that you are Lebanese

لبناني و اسمك مكتوب
Lebanese and your name is written
ع حد السيف المسحوب
On the blade of the unsheathed sword
لون حروفه حبر قلوب
The color of its letters is the ink of hearts
كلمة وحدة لبناني
One word, Lebanese

لبناني و تسلم هالإيد
Lebanese and bless your hands
اللي بتعرف تعطي و تزيد
That know how to give and exceed
و تخلق بعد الأزمة عيد
And create a holiday after the crisis
و عيد المجد اللبناني
The holiday of the Lebanese glory

غطي الشمس بفي جبينك
Cover the sun (light) with the shade of your brow
بيحقلك وطنك دينك
Your country and your religion are your rights
لو هالدنيي سألت مينك؟
قلن انك لبناني
If this world asked, "Who are you?" Tell them that you're Lebanese

Childrens Song اسناني واوا Asnani Wawa

This is another song by the Birds of Paradise طيور الجنة, a really popular group that sings songs for kids. This انشودة (hymn) has about 4 million views on YouTube. The dialect is Syrian and the lyrics along with translation and explanations are below the video. It's about cavities and brushing your teeth!



يا بابا اسناني واوا
Dad, my teeth hurt

Explanation: واوا is basically the equivalent of the English term "boo boo". It's a word used by children for a small wound or some pain. Haifa Wehbe has a song called ليك الواوا (Look at the boo boo).

وديني عند الطبيب
Take me to the doctor.

ما عاد بدي شوكولاته بس بدي اشرب الحليب
I don't want chocolate anymore but I want to drink milk.

Explanation: ما عاد means "no longer". It is used in MSA as well.

السوسة نخرت في سناني
The worm has decayed my tooth

Explanation: سوسة means "woodworm". Back in the day people believed that when your teeth decayed it was worms eating your teeth. The word تسوّس means "worm eaten" or as we would translated it in English "cavitied".

اه يا اسناني
Ahhhhh, oh my teeth.صورلي الدكتور سني
The doctor took a picture of my tooth for me.

فرجاني ست السوسة
He showed me the cavity.

Explanation: ست means "woman" and sometimes "grandmother". Here I just translated ست السوسة to mean cavity, but it means literally "the lady worm". It's a kids' song, can't take it too literally :)

قاعدة جوى مبسوطة
It (the cavity) was sitting inside happily

بسيطة يا بسبوسة
It's a simple matter, sweetie.

Explanation: They say بسيطة when something can be taken care of easily. It just means "simple". بسبوسة is a Middle Eastern dessert.

والله لا اكل تفاح
I swear I won't eat an apple.

و رح انسى هالحلويات
And I will forget sweets.

رح اكل خضرا و حليب
I will eat vegetables and (drink) milk.

ما بدنا شبس و غازات
We don't want chips or soft drinks.

Explanation: غازات means "soft drinks". It comes from the English word "gas" since the drink are carbonated.

بالسواك و المعجون انا عندي حملة تنظيفات
With a miswak and with toothpaste I have a cleaning procedure

Explanation: سواك is a stick that Muhammad used to clean his teeth and it's mentioned in the Koran so lots of Muslims use it. The English word for it is "miswak" which I hadn't heard of until now. The word حلمة means "campaign" most of the time, as in حملة إنتخابية (election campaign), but here "cleaning campaign" wouldn't make much sense in English so I said "procedure". This is something that a lot of people never understand when learning a language. Each word in the foreign language does not always have an exact translation into another language. You have to translate the word into your language in a way that makes sense and conveys the right meaning. You can't always give the word the definition that you find in the dictionary or in a word list.

Ouf ouf - Nelly Makdessi Lyrics

Nelly Makdessi نيللي مقدسي is a Lebanese pop singer affiliated the the Rotana label. Ouf ouf is her most famous song and what's interesting is that it's simply a Turkish song taken and translated into Arabic. The original singer of the song is Gülşen Bayraktar, a Turkish pop star. I have to say that the Arabic version sounds a lot better though, but maybe I'm biased. Let's see what you think.




على حالك انت بعدك
You are still the same.
ما بتعرف ابدا شو بدك
You never know what you want.
مين مفكر حالك يعني
Who do you think you are?
ما تحلم رح ابقى حدك
Don't dream that I will stay by your side.

Comments: بعد can mean "after", but here it means "still". بعدك بالمدرسة means "you're still at school".
لا تحاكيني ولا تخبرني
Don't talk to me and don't tell me anything.
انا قلبي ياما صبرني
My heart has always given me patience.
من غيرك انت مين
Other than you, who?
ضيع من عمري سنين
Years of my life are lost.

اوف اوف لا تسهرني و لا تحيرني
Ouf, ouf. Don't make me lose sleep and don't confuse me.
اوف اوف يللي مطير عقلي مني
Ouf, ouf. Oh one who has made me lose my mind.
اوف اوف منك ياما جن جنوني
I've gone crazy because of you many times.
بحبك انا داب عيوني
My eyes melted in your love.
يا مجنني حل عني
Oh one who has made me crazy, get away from me.

Comments: يللي مطير عقلي مني literally means "the one who has flown my mind away from me". اوف is a word that Arabs say when there are fed up with or tired of something. ياما means "lots" or "many times". جن جنون means "to go crazy". "He went crazy" would be جن جنونه and حل عني means "get away from me" or "leave me alone".

انا دربي مش ع دربك
My path is not on your path.
و لا قادر قلبي يحبك
And my heart is not able to love you
انا بحالي و انت بحالك
I'm the way I am and you're the way you are.
خلي غيري يجرب حبك
Let someone else try your love.
ياما ليالي و انا سهرانة
There have been so many nights that I couldn't sleep.
بدي من هلق تنساني
From right now I want you to forget me.

مش وقت اللي بدك فيك
ترجع لي لا ما فيك
You can't just come back to be whenever you want to. No, no you can't

Comments: This literally says "Not the time that you want can you come back to me, no you can't". فيّ here means "to be able to". It's different from في meaning "in" because it has a shadda on the ya.