From Lennie Clark's Web Site:

El Helwa Di
(That Sweet One)

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to "El Helwa Di", which was recorded by Sheik Sayed Darwish, Dania, and others. Also included is a transliteration of the Arabic lyrics into the Roman alphabet so you can sing along if you like.

An alternate spelling for the song title is "Il Hilwa Dee". On the CD titled The Best of Dania, there are two different arrangements of this song. One is titled "Cou Cou (Beirut Biloma Chillout Version)" and the other is titled "El Hilwa Di (Cou Cou)".

Another way of spelling the composer's name is "Cheikh Sayed Darwiche".

Music: Sheik Sayed Darwish

Listen to MP3 Clips of this Song

	Instrumental version performed by Salatin al Tarab Orchestra
	Sung by Dania, the version titled "El Hilwa Di (Cou Cou)"
	Sung by Dania, the version titled "Cou Cou (Beirut Biloma Chillout Version)"

Lyrics

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

		Artist: Samir Srour & Soheir Zaki CD Title: Cairo Plus
	Listen to Clip of Track 2 Listen to Clip of Track 5	Artist: Dania CD Title: The Best of Dania The song appears twice on this CD, once under the title "Cou Cou (Beirut Biloma Chillout Version)" which has sound effects of a rooster crowing, and once under the title "El Hilwa Di (Cou Cou)".
		Artist: Hend Zouari CD Title: L'Envol
		Artist: Ron Yuval Ensemble Featuring Najwa Gibran CD Title: Under the Olive Tree
		Artist: Middle Earth Ensemble CD Title: Passage
	Listen to Clip	Artist: Salatin El Tarab Orchestra CD Title: Casbah Bellydance
		Artist: Salatin El Tarab Orchestra CD Title: Cafe Hookah - Exotic Flavours from the Orient
		Artist: Various CD Title: Arabian Nights
		Artist: Dania CD Title: The Renaissance of Arabic Classics for Clubbers This CD contains Dania's version, and the song title is listed as "Cou Cou".
		Artist: DJ Nader CD Title: Music for the Hips

Acknowledgements

About the Translator

This translation was made by Nicole Ibrahim.

About the Person Who Provided the Translation

This translation was provided for use on this web site by Linda Grondahl.

Linda Grondahl's background is that of a devoted lover of Arabic music and dance. She danced with Amina and the Aswan Dancers for many years. She took Arabic percussion with Mary Ellen Donald, Su Su Pampanin, George Dubai, Vince Deldado, and Tony Lammam. She took Arabic singing from Nicole Ibrahim, Mimi Spencer, Georges Lammam. On the oud, she studied under Nazir Latouf, Mimi Spencer, Abdullah Kdough. She was a member of the Aswat Arab-American Choir under the direction of Elias Lammam. She is now a member of the El Ashaab dance troupe, and Tahneen, the all-girl, all-American Middle eastern music ensemble. They have played for Arab and American events, and for many years at the Rakassah festival.

"I just saved whatever I could get my hands on, for years", writes Linda, "and really don't know why. It was always so dificult to get music, so I just kept on saving."

Linda lives in San Francisco, California. Her favorite color is any shade of purple.

About the Source

This article originally appeared on Lennie Clark's web site, "Arabic Song Translations." Lennie created this web site in 2002 as a response to discussion on the Internet regarding incidents of dancers who performed inappropriate sensual dances to religious music. Lennie's web site resided on a free web hosting service known as Geocities. When the planned October 2009 closure of the Geocities web hosting service was announced, Lennie and Shira agreed to move the contents of Lennie's site to Shira.net. To explore all the articles and song translations that once appeared on Lennie's Geocities site, visit Lennie's portal page here on Shira.net.

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