FAIRUZ IN THE MORNING; UM KULTHUM AT NIGHT

Is it really almost the middle of July? This is insane! Summer always feels like it’s flying by way too fast. I feel like I’m losing my mind because I planned a dinner date with S at Sofra, an Arabic restaurant in Watertown, that closes early! I can’t believe I didn’t check when they close. Luckily, while I wait for S to join me so we can figure out a new dinner plan, Sofra has some nice outdoor seating, so I’ll just type away at my computer while I enjoy the balmy evening and watch some Pokemon Go players zigzag around the sidewalks. 


  

So, I want to talk about something that is really close to my heart: the great Arabic singing legends that fill my home with finger-snapping classics. Specifically, there are two of them, and I love both of them dearly as if they were my own grandmothers. Fairuz and Um Kulthum. 

 

I’ll give you an idea of how awesome these ladies are. Fairuz has released over 800 songs in her lifetime, while Um Kulthum is known as the “Star of the East” just because she’s that amazing. Families and public places still play both of these ladies’ classic songs even though they’re decades old. Four orders of generations all around the Middle East listen to and love these singers, knowing all the words to dozens upon dozens of their songs. In terms of their popularity, I would argue that there is literally no equivalent in the western world. Comparatively, the Beatles may come close, but it’s not like every family listens to them weekly, if not daily.

In a lot of places around the Middle East, or at least with S’s family, there is a strict standard for listening to these two melodious ladies. Fairuz is played during the morning, and Um Kulthum is only for the night. At first, I found this humorously endearing, and then I quickly fell in line with tradition because, listening to their repertoire, they each fit perfectly within their allotted listening time frame. Fairuz’s jazzy tone, with ethereal references to long-gone love or dreamily poetic metaphors about eyes of snow, fits perfectly into slowly waking up over a cup of Turkish coffee; Um Kulthum’s sultry voice wavers with the passion of love realized, and her classic Arabic orchestra swells with her crescendos to create a sense of drama that a listener can only best appreciate in a moody, late night café with shisha (or hookah) in hand.

When I hear Fairuz, I think of morning sunlight shimmering through the curtains, hours-long brunches in our garden under the olive vine trellis, and family humming those familiar tunes while sipping from steaming cups of mint and ginger green tea. When I hear Um Kulthum, I think of all my favorite cafés in the Middle East, smoke-filled and bustling with laughing friends as they gather around tiny tables and chat late into the night.

For some people, the distinction of when you can listen to either singer is pretty strong. When I went with S to a weekend away with a group of Arab friends, I tried to be the DJ for an evening. Fairuz accidentally came on, and three different people stopped what they were doing to look up and demand a different song! I couldn’t have pressed the “next” button faster!

And I totally agree with it. So if you haven’t heard of these ladies, I highly recommend a listen, but try to listen to Fairuz over breakfast and Um Kulthum after dinner, and then you’ll see what I mean!