From Lennie Clark's Web Site:

Linda, Linda
(Linda, Linda)

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to "Linda, Linda", which was sung by Samir al-Tawil. Also included is a transliteration of the Arabic lyrics into the Roman alphabet so you can sing along if you like.

This song was a hit in the Egyptian dance clubs in the late 1970's. The composer, Samir al-Tawil, was an oud player from Damascus. He lived in the U.S. for a time in the late 1960's and early 1970's, then moved to Egypt where he played in clubs and taught music at the University of Cairo. He was a cousin to the late actor, Danny Thomas.

Another artist who recorded this song was Haim Moshe. His version became a huge underground hit in Israel in 1983 in the genre known as Mizrahi music. According to the book Popular Music and National Culture in Israel, it sold 200,000 copies. Although the title and the melody were the same as Samir al-Tawil's original, the lyrics for his version were different. The translation on this page is based on al-Tawil's version.

Lyrics: Samir al-Tawil
Music: Samir al-Tawil

Lyrics

Note from Lennie Clark: Linda writes that this is an old transliteration / transliteration and is spotty in places. She believes that in the last line, where it says, "They are so sweet", that is a polite way of saying "You are so sweet".

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

		Artist: Sirocco Album Title: Sirocco Volume 2
		Artist: DJ Nader CD Title: Music for the Hips

Acknowledgements

About the Person Who Provided the Translation

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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