Fairuz – Old Jerusalem

Lesson Brief arabicmusictranslation.com
In this set, you will prepare to listen to Fairuz's song Old Jerusalem. The song was released a few years after the 1967 Six Day War between Israel and neighboring Arab states, which resulted in a crushing defeat for the Arab armies and the loss of Arab sovereignty over Jerusalem. One of the war's lasting and most haunting legacies was Israel's capture and occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Fairuz is singing about the days of old Jerusalem before the war and loss of Jerusalem. While listening to the song you'll notice that Fairuz pronounces many words differently, as she is singing in the Lebanese dialect, which similar to Palestinian dialect takes on different pronunciations from MSA (Fusha). For instance:
  • She will not pronounce the ق (Qaf)
  • She will pronounce ال (al) as "il"
  • She will use the prefix b ( ب ) before present tense verbs and will put عم before certain verbs to convey something that is ongoing.
Fairouz

icon FlashCards