Music-Related Links

Table of Contents

Lyrics

• Shira.net. Stay right here on Shira.net for translations to over 120 songs, including ones sung in Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Armenian, and Hebrew.
• Oriental Dancer. Translations to over 100 Arabic songs.
• Al Mashriq's Fairuz Page. Translations to 20 songs by the famous Lebanese vocalist, Fairuz.
• Asra's Arabic Song Translations. Lyrics to 15 Arabic-language songs.
• Oghnia. Large number of lyrics translations.
• Arabic Song Translations. Index to translations listed alphabetically by song title makes it easy to find books, CD liner notes, and other web sites with translations.
• Beatrice Curtis. Translations for a few lyrics.
• Arabic-Lyrics.com. Translations for 16 songs by Abdel Halim Hafez, Amr Diab, Kazem el Saher, and Nawal el Zoghbi.
• Marleen's Tarkan Place. Translations for 47 songs on Tarkan's first four CD's, plus pictures, info, and more.
• Tarkan Online. Translations to the 12 songs that appear on Tarkan's CD titled "Karma".
• Al Mashriq's Nour El Houdda Page. Translation to Ya Garat al Wadi, a song popularized by Nour El Houdda.
• The Lyrics Of Farid's Songs. Translation to Ya Gameel Ya Gameel.
• Madame Mozuna's Caravanserai Translations for three songs.
• 1000and1.de. Translations from Arabic into German for three songs. (It links to my site for the English translations.)
• Raqs with Kashmir. Translations for a few songs.
• Arabic Song Lyrics and Translation. Includes over 650 songs.

Musicians

• Brothers Of The Baladi. In Oregon.
• Omar Faruk Tekbilek. In New York.
• Pharaoh's Daughter. In New York City.
• Harry Saroyan. In Riverside, California.
• Mary Ellen Donald. In Oakland, California.
• Sirocco. In Capitola, California (near Santa Cruz).
• Eric N. Peterson. In Atlanta, Georgia.
• Yunyk. In Tyler, Texas.

General

• Al Mashriq - The Levant - Lebanon & The Middle East. Extensive information about Lebanese culture, including Middle Eastern music.
• Arab Music (From Music In Our World). Article written by Ali Jihad Racy and Jack Logan about Arabic music. Major influences that have touched Arabic music over the course of history such as contact with assimilated cultures, contact with Medieval Europe, etc. Structure of modern-day Arabic music, including a discussion about maqam and iqa.
• Jas's Dumbek Rhythms. Teaches the various rhythms used in Middle Eastern music! Includes diagrams illustrating how to play each rhythm, and sound files that illustrate what it sounds like!
• Farid El Atrache Web Site. Extensive information about this well-known actor, singer, and composer. His popular movies in the 1940's did much to legitimize Oriental dance as an accepted art form in the Arab world, each of them featuring a beautiful dance scene by Samia Gamal or another talented dancer.
• Mohammed El Bakkar. In the 1950's and 1960's, records by this artist were widely distributed and enjoyed among American belly dancers. Biographical information and a bit of fun in the Sightings section.
• A Man From Egypt. MIDI files of about 10 songs. Warning: this page automatically loads with a MIDI that you can't turn off.

News Stories

• Egypt’s Pop-Music Clashes and the “World-Crossing” Destinies of Muhammad Ali
  Street Musicians. How changing Egyptian tastes in music affect its long-time Mohammed Ali Street music business.
• The Other Face of the Video Clip: Sami Yusuf and the Call for al-Fann al-Hadif. Commentary on music videos in the Arab world.
• Ahmed Adawiya: The King Is In the House. Profile of the shaabi singer Ahmed Adawiya.
• With An Ear to the Ground, Singer Gets Arab World's Beat. Profile of Shaaban Abdel-Rahim which appeared in the Washington Post.