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| First Set
Irroh (The Soul) by Maryem Tollar "Fire, love, and guilt in your heart fill the soul with tears oh love of my heart" Shalam Salom words by Ehab Lotayef, music by Maryem & Ernie Tollar- A song that uses the Arabic and Hebrew words for peace to call for just that In the Middle East. Ya lel (Oh Night) by Ernie Tollar - "Ya lel, what are we fighting for? Ya Lel, what's needed most can't be gotten in a war" Baghdad 1258 words by Ehab Lotayef, music by Maryem Tollar - In 1258, the Mongols, led by Hulagu, destroyed Baghdad. The city burned for seven days, and some historians estimate that as many as 800,000 people were killed, including the Caliph and his family. Ya Habibi (Oh my love)- Music by Maryem Tollar, Arabic words by Samira Meshal, English words by Maryem Tollar - This song was written for a friend who lost the love of her life. Nassam 'Alaynal Hawa by The Rahbani Brothers - made famous by Lebanese singer, Fairuz. This song is a play on the word "hawa" which means "love" as well as "the air" or "the breeze". "Bring the love from the intersection of the valley Oh air, the love has penetrated, take me back home [to my country] Oh love has come flying in on the air Someone is waiting for me [back home] I swear Take me to them, oh air Oh fear, in my heart that I'll get old in a foreign land And my home country won't recognize me Take me back home" Ghannili Shway Shway - by Riyad Al-Sombati - originally sung by Om Kalsoum in the film "Sallama" "Sing to me softly softly, sing to me and you can have my eyes" SECOND SET Omneya - Part 1&2 - by Maryem Tollar - Celebration of the arrival of Omneya, Maryem and Ernie's daughter Ye Tintu Tizalin - by Tilahun Gessesse - An Ethiopian song (sung in Amharik) sung to a friend who is far away and whom the singer hasn't seen for a long time. The singer misses this person very much and says to them "you would not recognize me if you saw me and see how I've aged" 24 Days - by Ernie Tollar - about a child who survived in this world for only 24 days Aylul Fi Montreal - words by Iliya Abu Madi, music by Maryem & Ernie Tollar An Arab immigrant's impressions of Montreal in the fall; written in the first years of the twentieth century. It is probably the first song about Canada in Arabic. "The colours melt like the colours of midmorning And the melodies get mixed up and the smell of incense spreads I'm not in the world of imagination or sleep But it's as if I am there, for the magnificence of what I see God Bless beautiful Montreal and her proud high mountain How many times I stood by its river My body doesn't drink from it, but my soul does Oh people are these facts or dreams? And Me? Am I awake or have I been drugged? Qaddukal Mayyas - Traditional Arabic Folk song - "You carry yourself with dignity, Oh love of my life You move with ease, like a supple young branch, You are the most beautiful of all, in my eyes Glory to the one who created you, my moon" Il Helwa Di (The Beautiful One) - by Sayyid Darwish A song of revolution: the images in this song are things the people of Egypt from the villages and the country side could relate to - a woman getting up to make the bread and the rooster crowing at dawn, and the workers getting up and using their tools in their work - but the underlying message is for the people to fight back and take Egypt back for the Egyptians. It was written when Egypt was colonized by the English. Habeebit Mama (Mama’s little love)- words & music by Maryem Tollar - Another Celebration of Omneya.
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