Roman - Mashrou’ Leila
“The video self-consciously toys with the intersection of gender with race by celebrating and championing a coalition of Arab and Muslim women, styled to over-articulate their ethnic background, in a manner more typically employed by Western media to victimise them. This seeks to disturb the dominant global narrative of hyper-secularised (white) feminism, which increasingly positions itself as incompatible with Islam and the Arab world, celebrating the various modalities of middle-eastern feminism. The video purposefully attempts to revert the position of the (male) musicians as the heroes of the narrative, not only by subjecting them to the (female) gaze of the director, but also by representing them as individuals who (literally) take the backseat as the coalition moves forward. So while the lyrics of the verses discuss betrayal, struggle, and conflict, the video revolves around the lyrical pivot in the chorus: ‘aleihum (charge!) treating oppression, not as a source of victimhood, but as the fertile ground from which resistance can be weaponised.”
مش ناوي إبلع أكاذيبك I don’t intend to swallow your lies الكلام رح يحرق حلقي The words would sting my throat. مش ناوي شرّح نواياك I won’t dissect your intentions; خلّي لسانك بقفصه Leave your tongue in its cage. خلّي الوقت الذي أعطيته لك You can keep the time I gave you; وأخنق النفس التي كنتها لك Strangle what self I was for you, بسّ قبل ما تقبرني But before you lay me to rest, قلّ لي شو كان سعري Tell me what cost I came at.
عليهم عليهم عليهم عليهم Charge..Charge..Charge..Charge
الدود ينحت جسدي Worms sculpt my body now. الأرض تحضن جلدي The earth cradles my skin. كيف بتبيعني للرومان Why’d you sell me to the romans? الدود ينحت جسدي Worms sculpt my body now. الأرض تحضن جلدي The earth cradles my skin. كيف خسرتك للرومان How’d I lose you to the romans?
عليهم عليهم عليهم عليهم Charge..Charge..Charge..Charge
كيف بتبيعني للرومان Why’d you sell me to the romans? كيف خسرتك للرومان How’d I lose you to the romans?
