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

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.

Disney Songs in Arabic w/ Lyrics on YouTube

I was browsing YouTube the other day and came across 99meemo99's channel. He's a Sudanese guy living in Dubai who has made 56 videos of Arabic Disney songs (Lion King, Little Mermaid, Hercules) with the lyrics written out and translated into English. It's great that he translates these popular songs for free for people trying to learn Arabic. Most of them are Egyptian since that's the language they dub Disney movies in for the Arab world. He's also got the Pokemon theme song, Digimon songs, as well as some other anime songs. Here's the Ducktales opening song from his channel. They translated Duckberg to Duckistan lol!




الحياة دي زي العاصفة هنا في بطستان
عربيات و طيارات
حاجة.. حاجة جنان
و نحل فوازير
عيزالها وقت كتير

This life is like a storm, here in Duckistan.
Cars and planes
Something, something crazy
And we solve puzzles
That take a long time

قصص بطوطية
كل يوم مغامرة جديدة
قصص بطوطية
فيها لعبة و فكرة اكيدة
قصص بطوطية

Ducktales
Every day there's a new adventure
Ducktales
With a definite game and idea
Ducktales

و في خطر حواليك
و غريب بيجري عليك
تعالو بسرعة و شوفو معانا

And there's danger around you
And a stranger is coming at you
Come quickly and look with us
قصص بطوطية
كل يوم مغامرة جديدة
قصص بطوطية
فيها لعبة و فكرة اكيدة
قصص بطوطية
حتلاقو ضحكة و فكرة مفيدة
قصص بطوطية

Ducktales
Every day there's a new adventure
Ducktales
With a definite game and idea
Ducktales
You'll find laughs and a beneficial idea
Ducktales

Myriam Fares - Eih Elly Byehsal Lyrics

The song Eih Elly Byehsal (ايه اللي بيحصل) has been around for about a year, but the music video was just released by Melody Music this week. Myriam Fares (ميريام فارس) is Lebanese, but she sings this song (and a lot of her songs) in the Egyptian dialect because there's a bigger audience for it and it's more widely understood. The lyrics aren't very complicated, but I added explanations for the words and phrases that I thought might be a little bit difficult.




ايه اللي بيحصل
What's happening?

انا عمري النهاردة تولد من جديد
ده عيد النهاردة و مش اي عيد
Today my life is born again.
Today is a celebration, and not just any celebration.

Comments: عيد can mean feast, holiday, celebration, and things like that. The only one that makes sense here in English is celebration. النهاردة means "today" in Egyptian. It's a combination of the two words النهار meaning "day" and ده meaning "this".

يا حبيبى يا حبيبى
انا عاشقة و اوصف بأيه الغرام
ده راح مني تاه مني كل الكلام
ياحبيبى يا حبيبى
Oh, my love. Oh, my love.
I'm in love and how can I describe this passion?
This has made all my speech leave me and be lost.
Oh, my love. Oh, my love.

Comments: تاه means to be lostايه اللي بيحصل
ايه اللي جرالي مالي كده سرحانة بايه
What's happening?
What has happened to me, what's wrong with me, why am I so preoccupied like this.

Comments: ايه اللي جرالي means "what happened to me". مالي means "what's wrong with me". You can say مالك to mean "what's wrong with you". كده means "like this" and is used a lot in Egyptian. سرحانة means "preoccupied" or "lost in thought". It's the feminine form since it ends in ة

ايه اللي بيحصل
ايه اللي جرالي مالي حالي متلخبط ليه
What's happening?
What has happened to me, what's wrong with me, why am I all mixed up.

Comments: متلخبط means "mixed up" or "confused". It probably comes from the MSA word خلط meaning "to mix".

رجعتلي روحي بنظرة عينيك
فداك عمري كله ما يغلاش عليك
يا حبيبي يا حبيبي
You returned my soul to me with one look from your eyes.
My whole life is for you and it costs you nothing.

Comments: فداك means "for you" as in "I would sacrifice my life for you". ما يغلاش عليك literally means "it is not expensive for you".

يا هوايا اللي غيرلي معنى الحياة
و رجع لقلبي حياة و مناه
يا حبيبي يا حبيبي
Oh my love who changed the meaning of my life
And brought back life and hope to my heart.

Kids Song: The Rabbit and the Fox (الأرنب و الثعلب)

This is another popular song by the Birds of Paradise طيور الجنة . Like all their songs it is strangely catchy and very popular. It's in the Syrian dialect, but even if you aren't used to hearing it spoken it's a pretty simple song. Basically the rabbit asks him mom if he can go out and play. She tells him no because the the fox might get him. Is he supposed to stay inside all the time? I don't know. Anyway, the rabbit goes to the orchard and runs around and sniffs a rose. Then the fox sees him and chases him. The rabbit hides in a hole and the fox gets lost in the orchard. The rabbit goes home crying and his mom tells him that he should have listened to her. You could probably understand this song even if you didn't know a word of Arabic since the video shows everything that happens. That's great for learning a language though. Enjoy!




ايش صار للأرنب لما ما رد على امه؟

• What happened to the rabbit when he didn't listen to his mom?

Comments: ايش means "what" in Syrian. Most of the time رد means "respond" or "reply", but here it means "obey" or "listen to". You'll notice that they say إم instead of أم in Syrian dialect. صار means حدث , "happened".

قال الأرنب لامه, إسمحي لي روح العب ماما

• The rabbit said to his mom, "Let me go play, mom."

قالت له لا يا ماما. يمكن يجيك الثعلب. يمكن يجيك الثعلب

• She said to him, "No." The fox might come for you.

Comments: She says يا ماما which is strange to English speakers since she's talking to her son, but this is something Arab parents do when they talk to their kids.هز الارنب بكتافه ما سمع كلمة امه. راح يتمشى على البستان و يقطف ورد و يشمه

• The rabbit shrugged his shoulders and didn't listen to his mother's words. He went walking to the orchard and picked a rose and sniffed it.

Comments: هز means "to shake", but "shrugged" works better when talking about shoulders. They say وارد but that's just to make it go with the rhythm. They mean ورد

شافه الثعلب, هجم عليه!! صار يركض و هو خوفان. و تخبأ في جحر صغير. و ضاع الثعلب في البستان

• The fox saw him and attacked him. He started running and was scared. He hid in a small hole and the fox got lost in the orchard.

إجا الأرنب لامه و عيونه مليانة دموع

• The rabbit came to his mom and his eyes were filled with tears.

قالت له ثاني مرة, خلي كلامي مسموع

• She said to him a second time, listen to my words.

Comments: Literally خلي كلامي مسموع means "let my words be heard."

Naya: I wish بتمنى

Naya نايا is a new Arab pop singer and as far as I know this is the only song that she's done. I think she'll be pretty popular. She smoking hot and it doesn't look like she's had any plastic surgery. The afro-Arab staring at her throughout the song cracks me up.



قالت عينيك حاجة و حسيت اني محتاجة تاخدني - Your eyes said something and I felt that I needed you to take me
في حضنك انت وانسا كل الدنيا دي - and hug me and forget this whole world

• تاخدني في حضنك انت - Literally this mean "take me into your bosom"

بيروح خيالي معاك بعيد بحلم كتير - With you, my imagination goes far away and I dream a lot
بس الأكيد إنك حبيبي الي ياما حلمت بيه - but you are definitely my love that I have always dreamed of

• ياما - always

بتمنى اعيش في قربك و اتهنى - I wish to live close to you and be happy
و تبعد الأحزان عنا - and that you keep the sadness away from us
أنا و انت - me and you

هستنا ياخدني حبك للجنة - I will wait for your love to take me to paradise
و تضحك الدنيا عشانا - and the world will laugh for us
يا ترى إمتى - I wonder when

• هستنا - remember that the ه at the beginning is for future tense so, "I will wait"
• يا ترى - here the يا isn't referring to anyone. It's just a saying that means "I wonder". There is also يا ريت which means "if only"
  

بحلم تكون لي وتملا دنيتي عليا - I dream that you will be mine and fill my world
و نفسي يا حبيبي أقولك إنت بالنسبالي ايه - and I want to tell you, my love, how much you
mean to me

• إنت بالنسبالي ايه - Literally "what you are in relation to me"
  

شايفا في عينيك أجمل كلام - I see the most beautiful speech in your eyes
مستني ايه؟ ما تقول قوام - Why are you waiting? Why don't you say it quickly?
بداري حبك يا حبيبي عني ليه - why are you hiding your love from me?

• ما تقول قوام - Literally "don't say quickly", but it means "why don't you say it quickly" or "you aren't saying it quickly", referring to the "beautiful speech" in his eyes.
• بداري - hiding
  

Myriam Fares: I'm Not Selfish أنا مش أنانية

You can spell ميريام فارس's name like 100 different ways. If it were me I would spell it "Miriam Faris". I think that way is most likely to get pronounced right by English speakers but it seems the most common way is how I put it in the title. The music doesn't start in this video until 1:12 so go there if you want to skip all the dramatics. I don't usually like slow songs but this one is an exception. I pretty much like every song she does and I'll probably post more in the future. The official Melody Music Group channel on YouTube has 6 of her songs and is always putting up more songs from popular current Arab musicians. I didn't really like Arabic music at first, but I've found that most music will grow on you if you listen to it enough.




حاول تختار بيني وبينها - Try to choose between me and her
حاول ...حاول - Try... try
الاحسن تظلمني وتظلمها - Or else you will hurt me and hurt her
(the root ظلم means "to treat unfairly")
(الاحسن usually translates to "the best" but here it means "or else")
حاول...حاول - Try... try
خلي في قلبك وحدة وبس - Let there be only one in your heart
(خلي means "to let" here. For example: خلينا نمشي means "let's go")
وحدة ...وحدة - One... one
علشان تقدر بيها تحس - So that you can love her
(حس literally means "to feel", but "so that you can feel her" doesn't translate well o.O)
حب وحدة - Love her alone
اما لو احنا معاك الاتنين - If the 2 of us are with you
انت مفيش عندك قلبين - you don't have 2 hearts
علشان بيها وبيا تحس - because you have feelings for me and for her


انا مش انانية...انانية ...انانية - I am not selfish... selfish... selfish
انا عايزاك لي لوحدي - I want you for myself alone
انا مش انانية ...انانية...انانية - I am not selfish... selfish... selfish
انا ممكن اسيبك و امشي - I might just leave you and go
قرر تبقى معاها ولا معايا - Decide if you're going to stay with her or with me


لا محصلش وكل ده كذب - It never happened and this is all lies
انا من بعدك عمري ما احب - I have never loved anyone but you in my whole life
مهما تقولي ومهما تعيدي انت لوحدك جوه القلب - No matter how many times you say and how many times you repeat "you are the only one in my heart"
اوعى تقولي كلام مش صح - Don't say things that aren't true
(اوعى means don't. اوعى تعمل هيك - don't do that)
لا ياحياتي كلام مش صح - No my love, things that aren't true


انت عايش لي وعايش بيها - You are living for me and you are living for her
عايش ...عايش - Living... living
نصك ليا ونصك ليها - Half of you for me and half of you for her
عايش ...عايش - Living... living
كذب عليا وكذب عليها - You lie to me and you lie to her
كذبة ...كذبة - Lies... lies
لا بترضيني ولا بترضيها - You don't satisfy me and you don't satisfy her
صعب نحس - It's hard to feel
قاسم قلبك ليه نصين؟ - Why do you divide your heart into 2 halves?
عشان كدا ما احناش حاسين - Because of that neither of us are feeling
لا انا ولا هي هنرضى بنص - Neither I nor her will be satisfied with half

بابا تليفون Dad, Telephone - Arabic Children's Song

This song is awesome and pretty simple to understand so it should be a good learning tool if you're starting out. It's by a group called طيور الجنة (The Birds of Paradise) that sings a lot of great songs for kids such as اسناني واوا which I guess you could translate as (My teeth hurt) and also أنا البندورة الحمرة (I am the red tomato). Their songs are all in Syrian Arabic and all really cool!

I don't think the words in this song need much explaining. It's just a matter of looking at the text as they sing and matching what you hear to the words written down. قدوة might not be a word you've heard before. It's an MSA word and means "an example".



بابا تليفون - Dad, telephone!
قلو مو هون - Tell him I'm not here (Literally, tell him not here)
بابا بيقلك هو مو هون - Dad tells you that he's not here

مو قلتلي يا بابا ان الكذب حرام - Didn't you tell me, Dad, that lying is wrong
و انو إللي بيكذب يا بابا الله بيزعل منو - And that God gets angry at those who lie
عينه ما بتقدر إتنام والناس بتبعد عنه - They can't sleep and everyone stays away from them

بتعلمني و بتنسى يا بابا اللي قلتو - Dad, you teach me then you forget what you said
انت القدوة يا بابا و انت المثل الأعلى - You are my model and (high) example
ما تزعل مني يا بابا يا عيوني و اغلى بابا - Don't get mad at me, Dad. Oh precious apple of my eye.

Haifa Wehbe: Laik El Wawa

Another popular song by Haifa Wehbe with some nice vocab and sayings. She's a babysitter and her boyfriend comes over and they have to take the kid out with them to a party. If there are any questions or anything you'd like explained better please ask. I try to comment on the things people might find difficult, but sometimes I miss some things that were difficult or didn't make sense for me when I was first learning but that now I understand.

ليك الواوا بوس الواوا خلي الواوا يصح - Look at the boo boo, kiss the boo boo, let the boo boo heal.

ليك - look
بوس - kiss
خلي الواوا يصح - let the boo boo get better

لما بست الواوا شيلتو صار الواوا بح - When you kissed the boo boo you removed it. The boo boo disappeared.

لما - When
صار - became
بح - gone, vanished, disappeared

بقربك خبيني غمرني و دفيني - Hide me close to you, cover me and keep me warm.

بقربك - in your proximity (close to you)

انا من دونك انا بردانة اح - Without you I am cold. Ah!

من دون - without

ليك الواوا ليك - Look at the boo boo, look!

الليلة احلى سهرة عند حبابي - Tonight there's the greatest party at my boyfriend's

سهرة - the verb سهر means "to stay up all night". A سهرة is a party where you stay up all night.
عند - this literally means "at" but if you wanted to say "at my friend's house" you could say عند صديقي without saying house, بيت
الليلة - you'll notice that she says الليلي . In Levantine they change the ة to a ي in many (but not all) words. The word for "a kiss" is بوسة but they say بَوسي

بدو ياني البس احلى تيابي - He wants me to wear my nicest clothes.

بدو - in MSA this means Bedouin, but in Levantine this means "he wants". بدي would be "I want".
ياني - me

بلبس لعيونك يا حبيبي كل جديد و دح - I'll wear them for your eyes, my baby, all new and nice.

دح - nice, good

بوثق فيك و بدي تبقى حدي - I trust in you and want you to stay by my side.

بوثق - she says بوسق which is common. In Levantine (and Egyptian) they change the ث to a س in a lot of words. Another example would beثابت

انت بين الناس الاغلى عندي - Among the people you are the most precious to me.

و آخر همي شو ما يقولوا غلط ولا صح - And my last concern is what they (people) say, whether it's wrong or right.

ما - in a lot of places ما means "don't" or "not" like in ما بدي "I don't want", but in other situations, like this one, it isn't a negation. It means "that" or "what". Another example is عمل شو ما بدك "do whatever you want". It's kind of confusing but after hearing it many times you get used to when it means "not" and when it means "that" or "what".
ولا - or. They used this a lot more commonly in the dialects than أو

Dana Halabi: 100/100

As I've said before listening to songs is a great way to learn a language. Songs are meant to be catchy and stick in your mind. This song by دانا حلبي is in Egyptian even though she is from Lebanon. Lots of pop singers start out singing in Egyptian even if they aren't from Egypt since that way they'll get the largest audience. Then once they have a big audience they can go back to singing in their dialect too. Singers like this help break the stereotype of Arabs. They don't all wear غترة و عقال و برقع. They can be just as sexy as US pop stars! Horray! The singing doesn't start until 1:31.



بالحب انا والله لسة استاهل واحد على خمسة - In love I still only deserve 1/5
استاهل - "I deserve". The MSA equivalent is استحق
لسة - still
واحد على خمسة - imagine that she's being graded on a scale of 1 to 5. She gets a 1/5 in the test of love.

باللعب شاطرة وشقية و انا واخدة 100/100 - In playing around I'm skilled and naughty and I get 100/100
لعب - playing around
شاطرة - clever, skilled
واخدة - the root is أخذ in MSA. It means to take.


لما ارقض انا وانت تبص حأرقص لك على وحدة ونص - When I dance and you are watching, I will dance for you in the 1 and 1/2 time.
وحدة و نص - this is a kind of time in Arabic music. In western music we have 2/2 and 4/4 and 6/8 measures. You'll know what I mean if you've ever played sheet music.1 and 1/2 time is most popular in Egyptian belly dancing.

و اغني غنوة شقية و تديني 100/100 - and I'll sing a naughty song and you'll give me 100/100
تديني - you give me. In MSA تهديني from the word هدية meaning gift. I guess they just drop the ه in Egyptian.

مدرسة الحب انا خشتها دروس الحب انا نستها - I went to the school of love, but I forgot the lessons (of love).
خش - means to enter. Very common word. Make sure you know it!


باللعب قالوا دي هيه دندونة البنت اللعبية - in fooling around they say, "That's her! Dandoun. The best player of the game."
دندونة - this is a nickname. Arabs do this a lot and this girl does it even more. She also calls herself دودو which she might decide against if she knew the meaning in English lol. I watch a show called تامر و شوقية and شوقية has the nickname شوشو. It's a common thing to have nicknames in the Arab world. More common than in the US.

دوق دوق قرب دوق ملبن طيب مش محروق - taste, taste, come closer and taste a tasty marshmallow that isn't burned
This is my favorite line of the whole song because it rhymes lol.
دوق - in MSA it's ذوق and it means taste
ملبن - I've seen this translated as marshmallow and Turkish delight among other things. If you type ملبن into Google you'll get an idea as to what it is.

مش رح تعرف غير ما تدوق وتديني 100/100 - you won't know unless you taste and you'll give me 100/100

The Old Man with the Cane: Faris Karam

This is one of my favorite Arabic songs and Faris Karam is one of my favorite singers. He's Lebanese and this song has a lot of words that someone who only studied MSA wouldn't know, so insha'allah you'll learn some new words.



ضيق لبسك ما عندك أوسع منه
Your clothes are tight! Don't you have any looser ones?

تلت رباعة ولاد الحي فيك جنوا
3/4 of the boys in the neighborhood are crazy about you
تلت رباعة - three fourths
فيك جنوا - literally "in you they go crazy"

ختيار على العكازة عنت ع باله الجازة
The old man on the cane is thinking about marriage
ختيار - "old guy"
عكازة - cane
عنت ع باله - means the same thing as خطر ع باله. It "came to his mind" or "occurred to him"
الجازة - marriage

طفل اللي حاملته أمه يكاغي أسمك ع تمه
The child being carried by his mom babbles your name
يكاغي - means to "goo goo gaa gaa" or "speak like a baby"
تم - mouth

عجبت خيه سحرت بيه ودوبت عمه
His (the baby's) brother likes you, you enchanted his father, and you melted his uncle
خي - is how you say أخ (brother) in Lebanese
سحر - to enchant
بي - is اب (dad)
دوب - is ذوب (melt)

هاي دي يقلك يقبرني هاي دي يصفر ويغني
This one says "bury me", and this one whistles and sings
هاي دي - this one
يقبرني - literally "bury me", basically like saying "I'd die for you"

وتلاميذ المدارس ولا واحد فيهم دارس
And not one of the students at school are studying

أنت مرقت سرقت حرقت الاخضر واليابس
You passed by, stole, and burned the green and the earth
مرق - means "passed" it's the same thing as مر in MSA
سرق - stole
حرق - burned
الأخضر و اليابس - By "green" it means "plant life", and يابس is anything dry which means "the ground". Basically with this line he's saying that she turns everything upside down when she walks by.

غيرت عملت عجقة سير ع المفارق ع المفارق
You turned and caused a pile up at the intersection
عجقة سير - means a backup or clogging of traffic
ع - in Lebanese they use this sometimes instead of على

عالم تسأل بعضا مين يلي مارق
Everyone is asking each other "who passed by"
بعض - this word is used to mean "each other" here. If you say مع بعض it means "together".
يلي - means which. It's the same as الذي and التي in MSA
مارق - is the فاعل form of مرق which means "to pass by"

بوليس اللي ع الاشارة ولعت بقلبه نارة
Fire has welled up in the heart of the policeman at the stoplight
الاشارة - means "stoplight"
ولع - means "to burst into flames"

سيارات يمشيهم عكس السير يوديهم
He is sending cars against the traffic
تمشى and ودى - mean the same thing, "to send"
عكس - opposite
السير - the traffic

عم يطلع فيك أنت ومش سائل فيهم
He's looking at you and not caring about them
عم - turns the verb into an "-ing" verb, so it makes "look", "looking"
يطلع - look
سائل - "to care about" or "be concerned with"

واللي شعراته شابه يتحسر ع شبابه
And the one who is old is longing for his youth
شعرات - feelings
شايب - to get old
تحسر - to long for
شباب - youth

واللي من مرته خايف يعمل حاله مش شايف
And the one who is scared of his wife pretends that he isn't looking
مرته - his wife
خايف - scared
يعمل حاله - literally "does his condition", but that doesn't makes sense. It means to "make himself" or "pretend" here.

قلبه دايب مثل الحمرة اللي فوق الشفايف
His heart is melting like the lipstick on your lips
الحمرة - lipstick
شفايف - lips

تتمشي مثل الغزلان دادي دادي
You walk like the gazelle
دادي - means how gazelles walk, like stepping lightly

ويزم عليك الفسطان شوية زيادة
And your dress scoots up just a little bit
يزم - "to raise" or "scoot up"
شوية - a little bit

وبخصرك لما تموجي مثل الطفل الغنوجي
And when you wiggle your hips you're like a pampered child
خصر - the mid section of the body
لما - whenever. It's the same as عندما in MSA
تموجي - to wave like a wave. موج means wave
غنوجي - spoiled or pampered

ختيار يجن جنونه ويدبلك بعيونه
The old man is going crazy and flirts with you with his eyes
يدبلك بعيونه - like when a girl bats her eyelashes at a guy or when a guy looks at a girl like he "wants some"

أنا خايف يوقع ع الارض وعكازه يخونه
I'm scared that he'll fall on the ground and his cane will betray him
يخونه - it will betray him.

النسوان اللي حواليك يحكوا بالهمس عليك
The women that are around you talk in whispers about you

واللي تشوفك قبالها تخبي منك رجالها
And whoever sees you coming hides her husband from you

و رفيقتها من غيرتها راح تقتل حالها
And her friend is going to kill herself from jealousy
غيرة - jealousy
حالها - herself

Bent Al Wadi - Girl of the Valley (بنت الوادي)

I guess Bent Al Wadi could be translated as "Valley Girl", but that makes me think of girls from San Fernando Valley California, so I think this way is better. Anyway, this is a really awesome song. This vid was the one with the best quality on YouTube.



انا انا بنت الوادي انا هنا هنا شمس وخضرة هنا - I'm a girl from the valley. There is sun and green here.

يدن الديك اصحى اوام اعجن واخبز و اسقي الحمام - The rooster crows and I wake up. I kneed the dough, bake bread, and give the pigeons water.

اومال دنا بنت بلد اوي اومال دنا حلوة وجدعة اوي - That's me, a girl of my country. That's me, very pretty and strong.

انام في وقت العشا و الفجر اقوم اصحى و انام مفرفشة كدا كل يوم - I go to sleep at dinner time and get up at dawn. I get up and sleep like this happily every day.

يدن الديك اصحى اوام اعجن واخبز واسقي الحمام
اومال دنا بنت بلد اوي اومال دنا حلوة وجدعة اوي

عجباني العيشة كدا اهو دا الكلام - I like life like this. That's right.
انا عمري هنا ابتدى اه يا سلام - My life began here. Oh yeah.

يدن الديك اصحى اوام اعجن واخبز واسقي الحمام
اومال دنا بنت بلد اوي اومال دنا حلوة وجدعة اوي


I really have no clue what اومال means, so if someone could fill me in I'd be forever grateful!

Bedouin Song and Translation

One of my Lebanese teachers exposed me to this song a while back. The singer's name is Fouad Hijazi (فؤاد حجازي) and he's from Jordan. My teacher called his dialect Bedouin and he pronounces the "qaf" (ق) like a "g" in several words in the song. He's singing about his cousin Radya and asking her where she is going. It took a couple listens for this song to grown on me, but I like it a lot now =). Most people I talk to say they don't see how I could like that noise, but any song with a Mijwiz (مجوز) in it I love. The Mijwiz is that flute-like thing they play that sounds kind of like a kazoo. It's in a lot of Arabic songs. A more modern song with it is واحشني ايه by Miriam Fares.

وين رايحة يا راضية يا بنت عمي الغالية - Where are you going, Radya, oh precious daughter of my uncle.

If you didn't know, marrying your cousin is A-OK in the Arab world. So yeah, this guy is singing a love song to his cousin. =\

قلبي أنا عم يتبعك و انت علي قاسية و انت علي قاسية يا بنت عمي راضية - My heart is following you and you are harsh towards me (and you are harsh towards me) oh daughter of my uncle, Radya.

He says قلبي as "galbi". The word عم is used a lot in Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. It just gives the verb that it is used before an -ing ending. Also, he says قاسية here as "gaasia".

ثوبك مقصب مخملي و العين سودا مكحلة - Your dress is shiny and purple and your eyes have black mascara on them.

The word مقصب (mugasab) is shiny (Hans Wehr says "embroidered with silver or gold") and مخملي is purple. سودا مكحلة sounds like "so dumb gahali" because he runs the words together. They say ة as a ي all the time in Levantine dialect. For example, لبنانية is pronounced "lubnanii" with no "a" sound on the end.

و بمشيتك تتمايلي زينة بنات البادية - And when you walk you sway. You're the prettiest girl in the baadya.

The word بادية just means the place where the Bedouin live. Usually out in the desert with tents.

يا بنت عمي راضية - Oh, daughter of my uncle, Radya

وين رايحة و ما في حدا ع الدرب و الليل إبتد - Where are you going when there's no one on the road and night has begun?

The word حدا means "anyone". Lots of times in Levantine dialect they'll just say ع instead of saying على. The word درب is road.

خايف عليك من العدى و انت لوحدك ماضية - I'm afraid that you'll get attacked while you're walking by yourself.

In all dialects they often use the فاعل (doer)form when they would conjugate the verb in MSA. He could say أخاف here and it would mean the same thing. Here, العدى is "an attack". It comes from the same root as عدو (enemy). لوحدك is alone or by yourself and ماضية comes from the root مضى which means to "pass by". At first I thought it meant "in the past" like you usually see in the news, but that doesn't make any sense here.

عودي لحمانا وارجعي واصغي لندايا واسمعي - Return to our safety and come back. Heed my call and listen!

Ok, the root عَادَ and رَجَعَ mean the same thing, "return" or "come back". إصغي and إسمعي both are imperative female for "listen". نَدَا means "to call out".

وين ربعنا ماشي معي نحظى بعيشة هادية - Where are our people? They're walking with me. Let's enjoy a life of peace.

In Hans Wehr it says that ربع is "a large group of people or a clan". Again, here he uses the فاعل (doer) form of the verb. ماشي.

Translated Songs on YouTube

One of the best ways to learn new things is by putting them to a tune. In 2nd grade I remember learning the US presidents and the state capitals by using songs and you can apply the same principal for learning languages. There are several channels on YouTube dedicated to taking Arabic songs and subtitling them with English. Here are some of my favorites:

• Ethnikation

Edit 10 February 2009: YouTube decided to ban Ethnikation's account citing copyright infringement. Her new account is Renrooni.

By far my favorite place to find subtitled Arabic songs is Ethnikation's channel. She takes requests for songs to subtitle and is great about responding to questions you post on the videos. As of right now she has over 100 songs and she is constantly adding more. I've discovered so many Arabic songs that I like that I never would have know about otherwise, plus she's pretty hot which is always a plus! Here's a recent song she uploaded called Ma Khalas ما خلاص by Samira Said.

• Frank Coffman

On this channel you'll find about 100 Haifa Wehbe songs. Some of them don't have subtitles, but most of them do. Haifa is probably the most well know pop singer right now in the Arab world. Some people like her, others says she's arrogant and don't like the fact that she's had plastic surgery (عملية التجميل), but you can still use her songs to help you learn.

• Clinton Caudill

This guy loves Nancy Ajram and has 15 of her songs subtitled on his channel. If you don't know who Nancy is, she is extremely popular in the Middle East and has a huge following. She's probably not as huge as Haifa, but the fact that she doesn't wear such revealing clothes might account for that. She's also had plastic surgery and you can see before and after pics here. Her style of music varies between love songs and pop. Clinton hasn't added any new songs for over a year, but the songs that are there are still very useful.


I like to find the lyrics written in Arabic so that I can look at them when there are words that I don't understand. Even if you see the meaning in English on the screen it's still nice to make sure you know what they're saying in Arabic. Here are some good sites for Arabic lyrics:

• allthelyrics.com Arabic forum
• shawshara.com
• arabicmusictranslation.com