This week I chose the song Hela Hela by the Egyptian rock band EKS. It took me a while to find a song this week as I wanted to find something that better showed me the culture of the people who live in this middle eastern region. What drew me to this song rather than the others I’d listened to was how the musicians introduced the song. It felt as though I was being spoken to. The lead vocalist Ramy Essam began singing and my heart just broke. His vocals were clear, and low in a baritone-bass range. The lyrics of this song talk about a hard working person who feels mistreated by God. I thought this song was really beautiful and deserves a listen 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIG5GoKKoAk
Hela Hela
Why should I walk barefoot, when I am your compound maker
Why is my furniture naked, When I upholstered your mattresses
Why is my house ruined, when I am your cupboard’s carpenter
This is my faith, may God hold you accountable
You’re living in towers of lintels, and I am the one who built them
You’re furnishing mattresses with canes, and I am the weaver of its footnotes
My God it is not envy, but I am blaming you
From morning to evening, and the hammer is in my hand
I’m being patient with this mistreatment, even on my birthdays
My pathway is hung, and I’m working on pulling it back
My walking denudes you, and I’m ashamed of approaching you
Why do you make me collapse, and I am the builder of your happiness12
What you cover your body with is my cotton and my linen
My family on the day of my burial, couldn’t find my shrouds
Even the days of sorrow, and I am going away and leaving you behind
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