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PHOTO CREDIT: Above photo by John Rickman Photography, San Jose, California.

Εσύ Εσύ
(Esi Esi, also known as Ahe Ahe)

(You, You)

 

 

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the Arabic-Greek duet "Esi Esi" (Εσύ Εσύ), which was sung by Amr Diab and Eirini Papadopoulou as a duet. The Arabic name for the song is "Ahe Ahe". Also included is a pronunciation guide for the Greek lyrics so you can sing along if you like.

Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source.

ABOUT THE PHOTO: Amr Diab and Eirini Papadopoulou together, in a scene from the music video for this song.

About Amr Diab

Amr Diab was born in Port Said, Egypt on October 11, 1961. Although his father worked for the Suez Canal Corporation, he possessed a fine singing voice of his own and encouraged young Amr to sing. The boy's talent showed itself at an early age. One evening when he was only 6 years old, Amr accompanied his father to a festival in Port Said. When they visited a local radio station, Amr was invited to sing the national anthem, "Baladi, Baladi". The governor of Port Said praised him and gave him a guitar as a prize.

Diab's musical talents extend beyond his singing - he also knows how to play oud and piano. Amr Diab graduated from the music program at the Cairo Academy of Art in 1986.

His first album, Ya Tareeq, was released shortly afterward and proved to be an instant success. However, the spectacular hit song that brought him to worldwide fame was his release in 1996 of this song, "Habibi, Ya Nour el Ain." It garnered the title of Arabic Song of the Year, and with its Spanish fusion sound it defined a new genre of music known as "Mediterranean music."

Diab was one of the early artists to record music which later became known as al jeel, or "generation" music - the genre of pop music created for the under-25 generation of young Egyptians in the 1980's and 1990's.

According to Let's Go Egypt, Diab is the best-selling Arab recording artist of all time. He has received the World Music Award in the category of "Best-Selling Arab Artist" three times - in 1998, 2002, and 2007. In 2003, Amr Diab won two major awards in a poll done by Nile Variety TV. One was "Best Music Video" for the song, "Ana "A'ayesh," and the other was Best Singer.

Amr Diab has a daughter from his marriage to Sherine Reda (Mahmoud Reda's daughter), and three children from his later marriage to Zinah Ashour.

 Amr Diab

About Eirini Papadopoulou

Eirini Papadopoulou, the original artist who recorded this song, was born in 1985 to Greek parents living in Kazakhstan at the time. The family relocated to Greece when she was a young child. In 2001, she and her older brother starred in the movie August 15th. Papadopoulou achieved her fame through competing on the television singing competition The X Factor Greece in 2008. After the show, she began working as a singer at a nightclub with other prominent Greek artists. Her first success came through a collaboration with composer/lyricist Fivos. She competed on the 2014-2015 season of Greece's Dancing with the Stars, coming in second.

A personal note from the translator regarding Papadopoulou:

I'm proud to say that Eirini is Pontian-born in Kazakhstan and came to Greece when she was 5. She spoke no Greek. Many Pontian families fled to Eastern European countries, and many returned to Greece in the 1990s as a result of war in Eastern Europe.

Eirini has been very vocal about the racism and bullying she received in mainland Greece as a child due to her being an Anatolian Greek child born in Eastern Europe. Many of our Anatolian people who were born in Eastern European countries don't actually identify with the countries where they were born. I have many friends and colleagues from Eastern Europe born to Anatolian Greek parents, and they are offended if you call them native to those regions.

The Anatolian Greeks play a major role in mainstream Greek music, both past and present. We are proud of our contribution.

Song: Esi Esi (You, You), 2020

Lyrics: Ayman Bahgat Kamar (Arabic) and Petros Imvrios (Greek)

Music: Mohamed Yehia

Bouzouki: Dimitris Lappas

Accordion: Thanos Stavridis

Original Artist: Amr Diab and Eirini Papadopoulou

Dance Style: Belly Dance

Τραγούδι: Εσύ Εσύ, 2020

Στίχοι: Αιμαν Μπαχγατ Καμαρ κ Πέτρος Ίμβριος

Μουσική: Μοχαμεντ Γεχια

Μπουζούκι: Δημήτρης Λάππας

Ακορντεόν: Θάνος Σταυρίδης

Πρώτη Εκτέλεση: Αμρ Ντιαμπ κ Ειρήνη Παπαδοπούλου

Χορός: Οριεντάλ, Χορό Της Κοιλιάς, Ανατολίτικος Χορός, Τσιφτετέλι, Χανούμικο, Κελικός Χορός, Συρτός, Συρτοτσιφτετέλι

 

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Lyrics

Numbers in parentheses refer to footnotes that appear at the bottom of the translation.

Original Lyrics

Pronunciation

English Translation

Verse 1 (In Greek)

Verse 1 (In Greek)

Verse 1 (In Greek)

Περνάς μπροστά μου pernas brosta mou You pass in front of me,
και ο κόσμος γυρίζει ke o kosmos yirizi and the world is turning.
χαμογελάς hamogelas You smile,
και τα πάντα φωτίζεις ke ta panda fotizis and you light up everything.
με βλέπεις, σε βλέπω me vlepis, se vlepo You see me, I see you,
και όλα αλλάζουν ke ola allazoun and everything changes.
μου δίνεις ζωή mou dinis zoi You give me life
μαζί και όπου βγεί mazi ke opou vgi [as long as we are] together and wherever it takes us. (1)
     

Chorus (In Greek)

Chorus (In Greek)

Chorus (In Greek)
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
ο έρωτας μου εσύ o erotas mou esi you are my love.
σ΄εσένα θα χαρίσω s' esena tha hariso To you I will give
ολόκληρη ζωή olokliri zoi a full life.
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
τα πάντα εσύ ta panda esi everything you are,
περνάς από μπροστά μου pernas apo brosta mou you pass in front of me,
και γίνομαι τρελή ke yinome treli and I go crazy.
     

Chorus (In Greek)

Chorus (In Greek)

Chorus (In Greek)
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
ο έρωτας μου εσύ o erotas mou esi you are my love.
σ΄εσένα θα χαρίσω s' esena tha hariso To you I will give
ολόκληρη ζωή olokliri zoi a full life.
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
τα πάντα εσύ ta panda esi everything you are,
περνάς από μπροστά μου pernas apo brosta mou you pass in front of me,
και γίνομαι τρελή ke yinome treli and I go crazy.
     

Instrumental

Instrumental

Instrumental
     

Verse 2 (In Arabic)

Verse 2 (In Arabic)

Verse 2 (In Arabic)

في حد نشوفه بالعين نبتسم fi hadin nushufih bialeayn nabtasim There are people who make us smile from the eyes when we see them.
نسلم والموضوع يتحسم naslim walmawdue yatahasam And everything is settled by the moment we shake hands with them.
جماله بالإيد عمره ما يترسم jamaluh bial'iid eumruh ma yatarasam Their beauty can never be sketched by hand,
ظلم لتفاصيل حلوة كتيرة فيه zalam litafasil hulwat katirat fih it would never do justice to their beautiful features.
     

Chorus (In Arabic)

Chorus (In Arabic)

Chorus (In Arabic)
أهه أهه أهه Ahe, ahe, ahe There she goes, there she goes, there she goes.
فرحة حياتي أهه farhat hayati, ahe There goes the joy of my life.
ماهو دا اللي لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه mahw da ally lamaa eadaa, kulw 'itjnn ealayh That's the one everybody went crazy for when she passed by.
أهه أهه أهه Ahe, ahe, ahe There she goes, there she goes, there she goes.
فرحة حياتي أهه farhat hayati, ahe There goes the joy of my life.
من ساعة لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه min saeat lamaa eadaa, kuluwa 'iitjinun Ever since she passed by, everybody's been going crazy for her.
     

Chorus (In Arabic)

Chorus (In Arabic)

Chorus (In Arabic)
أهه أهه أهه Ahe, ahe, ahe There she goes, there she goes, there she goes.
فرحة حياتي أهه farhat hayati, ahe There goes the joy of my life.
ماهو دا اللي لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه mahw da ally lamaa eadaa, kulw 'itjnn ealayh That's the one everybody went crazy for when she passed by.
أهه أهه أهه Ahe, ahe, ahe There she goes, there she goes, there she goes.
فرحة حياتي أهه farhat hayati, ahe There goes the joy of my life.
من ساعة لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه min saeat lamaa eadaa, kuluwa 'iitjinun Ever since she passed by, everybody's been going crazy for her.
     

Instrumental

Instrumental

Instrumental
     

Verse 3 (In Arabic)

Verse 3 (In Arabic)

Verse 3 (In Arabic)

نساني الناس مين مشي مين وصل nisani alnaas mayn mashi min wasal [When I'm with her,] I forget people, who comes and goes.
دا الورد قصادي وأنا عيني في العسل da alwird qasadi wa'ana eayni fi aleasl In front of me, I see [only] roses, and I have my eyes in honey.
والنبي بقى دا اللي في بالي لو حصل walnabii baqaa da ally fi baly law hasal Oh God, if what I want comes to pass,
أنا كدا مش عايز حاجة بعديه 'ana kda msh eayiz hajat bedyh then I wouldn't want anything more after that.
     

Chorus (In Greek)

Chorus (In Greek)

Chorus (In Greek)
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
ο έρωτας μου εσύ o erotas mou esi you are my love.
σ΄εσένα θα χαρίσω s' esena tha hariso To you I will give
ολόκληρη ζωή olokliri zoi a full life.
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
τα πάντα εσύ ta panda esi everything you are,
περνάς από μπροστά μου pernas apo brosta mou you pass in front of me,
και γίνομαι τρελή ke yinome treli and I go crazy.
     

Chorus (In Arabic)

Chorus (In Arabic)

Chorus (In Arabic)
أهه أهه أهه Ahe, ahe, ahe There she goes, there she goes, there she goes.
فرحة حياتي أهه farhat hayati, ahe There goes the joy of my life.
ماهو دا اللي لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه mahw da ally lamaa eadaa, kulw 'itjnn ealayh That's the one everybody went crazy for when she passed by.
أهه أهه أهه Ahe, ahe, ahe There she goes, there she goes, there she goes.
فرحة حياتي أهه farhat hayati, ahe There goes the joy of my life.
من ساعة لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه min saeat lamaa eadaa, kuluwa 'iitjinun Ever since she passed by, everybody's been going crazy for her.
     

Instrumental

Instrumental

Instrumental
     

Chorus (Part Greek, Part Arabic)

Chorus (Part Greek, Part Arabic)

Chorus (Part Greek, Part Arabic)
Greek Section Greek Section Greek Section
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
ο έρωτας μου εσύ o erotas mou esi you are my love.
Arabic Section Arabic Section Arabic Section
ماهو دا اللي لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه mahw da ally lamaa eadaa, kulw 'itjnn ealayh That's the one everybody went crazy for when she passed by.
Greek Section Greek Section Greek Section
Εσύ, εσύ, εσύ esi, esi, esi You, you, you,
τα πάντα εσύ ta panda esi everything you are,
Arabic Section Arabic Section Arabic Section
من ساعة لما عدى، كلو إتجنن عليه min saeat lamaa eadaa, kuluwa 'iitjinun Ever since she passed by, everybody's been going crazy for her.
  1. This is a common Greek saying.

 

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Translations of
Amr Diab's Songs on This Site

Translations on this web site of songs performed by Amr Diab include:

  • Ahe Ahe Ahe (There She Goes, There She Goes, There She Goes). Duet with Eirini Papadopoulou. Partly in Greek, partly in Arabic. The Greek name is "Esi Esi" ("You, You").
  • Aktar Wahed (I'm the One)
  • Amarain (Two Moons)
  • Ana Bahebak Aktar (I Love You More). Duet with Angela Dimitriou. Partly in Greek, partly in Arabic. The Greek name is "Spasta" ("Break Everything").
  • Ana Ayesh (I Am Alive)
  • Gamalo (Her Beauty)
  • Habibi Ya Habib Albi Yadoob. Duet with Angela Dimitriou. Partly in Greek, partly in Arabic. The Greek name is "Elleos" ("Mercy").
  • Kan Andak Haq (You Had It Right)
  • Kol al-Kalam (All Your Words). Sometimes called "Kalast Feek Kol al Kalam".

 

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Translations of
______'s Songs On This Site

  • song
  • song

 

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About the Translator

This page was contributed by Panayiota Bakis, who is happy to share her culture and music she grew up with! Here's how Panayiota describes her background:

I always love engaging with intelligent like-minded people, especially artists. I love sharing anything and everything about my Hellenic culture and upbringing, especially music and dance. A conversation with me will bring you back to America's favorite Greek-American movie by Nia Vardalos called My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

I love investigating Greek culture, history, music, and dance. Speaking of investigating, I think I missed my calling, I probably should have been an investigator. Instead, I use those skills to dig and dig and dig tirelessly, often times falling asleep on my laptop... just to find the truth. But, most importantly, accurate truth. For me personally, and other respectable folklorists, my culture and accuracy are very important. Each generation of ethnic born artists has a duty to do the best it can to pass down our traditions as was taught to us. We have been given this artistic gift to be the gatekeepers of our heritage and culture.

Panayiota

 

 

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