How Ziad Rahbani Inspired Arabic Music Lovers
Summary
In r/Lebanon, a community member reflects on how Ziad Rahbani and the Rahbani family's music sparked a lasting interest in Arabic language and culture. The post connects Fairuz, socially conscious lyrics, and humorous songs to personal musical influences, sharing why this legacy resonates beyond Lebanon.
Ziad and the Rahbani family got me into Arabic language and culture
Hello everyone-- I'm an American lurker on your sub. I'm not of Arab descent, but I lived for a year in Jordan and for several years in Dearborn, MI, which has a large Lebanese diaspora community. I just wanted to post something about the death of Ziad Rahbani because he meant a lot to me too, even if I end up doxxing myself in the process.
My family and in particular my late grandmother have always been fans of music that had social commentary. My grandmother sang, up until the week she passed a few months ago, at a Folk music center in our city in California and did weekly singing sessions at her retirement community. Many of the songs she sung were by Americans who, like Ziad, used the lyrics of their songs to address issues of the time. Some of the artists included Pete Seeger, whose songs were influential in the Civil Rights Movement for black Americans in the United States. She and everyone in my family also always enjoyed Tom Lehrer, who passed yesterday, who wrote songs full of sarcasm that poked fun at US institutions and culture (Ziad even had a very similar voice to Lehrer).
I studied abroad in Jordan as part of my Middle East studies major to learn Arabic. When I was there, I tried my best to immerse myself in music from the region. Naturally, this led me to Fairuz, many of whose songs I still have memorized. It also led me to Ziad. I listened to all of his plays. I listened to and memorized much of his music. In the US we're generally under the impression that there's not a great degree of free speech in the Arab world, so the commentary in songs like Ana Moush Kafer and Shou hal ayyam was a bit of a pleasant surprise to me. His music could be quite funny, as in marba dalal (which I still have memorized) or poignant (bala wala chi), which also very much reminded me of the musical tradition I grew up in.
More importantly than the music itself though is that Ziad and his family have blessed me by helping me get to know and relate to people from an entirely different background than the one I gr...
Post Author: /u/InvisibleDeck
Content Warning: None
