Most-played in Iraq

According to Baghdad blogger ‘Last of Iraqis’, this song has been downloaded on over 80% of mobiles and computers all over the country. The lyrics, written by Iraqi singer Husam Al-Rasam, are hostile, but not violent, towards the presence of America. 'Last of Iraqis' says that the song reflects the feelings of many of the people there. You can post your questions to him on his profile page.

'A new country'

Excerpts:

Didn't they tell us that we would live in a new country, that things would get better?

Why don't we learn to look after our own country?

Today, there's a ‘Khansa' [see explanation below] in every lane.

Before, we never forgot the dead.

Now, we bury them in the morning and forget them by midday.

Today, everything has been destroyed and the country pillaged.

We can no longer tell the difference between a policeman and a thief.

But our country is a sun that cannot be hidden by the stars.

And it will rise again and our voices will sing once more.

Foreigners, leave, this is our land.

Commentary from ‘Last of Iraqis’

For this video I used a song released a few months ago by the popular Iraqi singer Husam AlRasam. It's called ‘A new country'. It's highly popular and I'd say that over 80% of Iraqis have downloaded it. There's something strange about the song, even though I've heard it countless times it still gives me goose pimples. On an emotional level, the translation doesn't do it justice. The song refers to ‘Khansa', the well-known Arabic poet. She went blind after crying for her brother who died in battle."

4 December 2007

Link to Last of Iraqi's blog.