Arabic language music for a wedding
September 24, 2013 4:53 PM Subscribe
A good friend of mine is getting married soon, and is looking for some Arabic language music for her wedding ceremony. She is of Lebanese Christian descent, and I believe would prefer more secular music. Any poppy, or dance floor-friendly, or romantic, or classic, or beautiful suggestions would be much appreciated!
Azar Habib is internet famous for being the source of the Hatten meme, which I will totally admit is how I discovered him, but his catalog has a lot of good stuff in it, much of which is love songs. Here is a playlist!
posted by capricorn at 5:14 PM on September 24, 2013
posted by capricorn at 5:14 PM on September 24, 2013
The Lebanese restaurant near us plays a lot of Nancy Ajram. I have no idea what she's singing about, but the videos of her's that they play on constant rotation are all quite cinematic and the songs can be pretty poppy and upbeat. Here's an example: Mashy Haddy.
posted by ralan at 7:00 PM on September 24, 2013
posted by ralan at 7:00 PM on September 24, 2013
Nancy Ajram is fine but I think the song linked doesn't have the best lyrics (not a fluent speaker but it sounds like she's talking about a guy who is always looking at other girls--maybe a native speaker can correct me?). A better song by her would be maybe "Ah W Nus" or "Akhasmak Ah" (on a mobile, but they've got slightly more fitting lyrics--I find her voice kind of grating but YMMV).
Besides her, maybe Ragheb Alama? He's Lebanese Shia but the songs are all secular. I've been to Arabic weddings where they played "Geny", but other good songs would be "Saharouny El-Leil", "Bahwak" (actually I think any Arabic song titled "Bahwak" or "A7ebak" would probably be good...it means "I love you"), "Habib 2alby", or "2orbak Nar".
One of my favorite singers is Nawal Al-Zoughbi. Maybe "Hobbak B3ayouni Maktoub" (Your Love is Written on My Heart), "Ma 3andi Shak", "Toul 3omry" (really upbeat and salsa-influenced), and "Ala Fein" which I think is a beautiful, slightly slower song. "7abibi Dyali" is also slower and romantic.
And for an Egyptian singer, Amr Diab is amazing. "Nour Al-3ain" is super classic but I'm not sure if it's played at weddings? "Law Ashany" is very danceable but totally in Egyptian dialect (all his songs are, not sure if that's a negative), "W 7ikayatek Eih" is more melodic and very sweet, "Tamally Maak" is also well-known and slow and romantic.
Amr Mustafa is good too. Maybe "Yeshhad 3laiyah" or "Awl Ma Aul". "Helmt Beek" is slower and more romantic.
If I think of more I'll post them here and if you have problems finding the songs (Youtube transliterations might differ from mine), please Mefi mail me (sorry for being techno-incompetent)! Hope this helps.
posted by Papagayo at 6:15 AM on September 25, 2013
Besides her, maybe Ragheb Alama? He's Lebanese Shia but the songs are all secular. I've been to Arabic weddings where they played "Geny", but other good songs would be "Saharouny El-Leil", "Bahwak" (actually I think any Arabic song titled "Bahwak" or "A7ebak" would probably be good...it means "I love you"), "Habib 2alby", or "2orbak Nar".
One of my favorite singers is Nawal Al-Zoughbi. Maybe "Hobbak B3ayouni Maktoub" (Your Love is Written on My Heart), "Ma 3andi Shak", "Toul 3omry" (really upbeat and salsa-influenced), and "Ala Fein" which I think is a beautiful, slightly slower song. "7abibi Dyali" is also slower and romantic.
And for an Egyptian singer, Amr Diab is amazing. "Nour Al-3ain" is super classic but I'm not sure if it's played at weddings? "Law Ashany" is very danceable but totally in Egyptian dialect (all his songs are, not sure if that's a negative), "W 7ikayatek Eih" is more melodic and very sweet, "Tamally Maak" is also well-known and slow and romantic.
Amr Mustafa is good too. Maybe "Yeshhad 3laiyah" or "Awl Ma Aul". "Helmt Beek" is slower and more romantic.
If I think of more I'll post them here and if you have problems finding the songs (Youtube transliterations might differ from mine), please Mefi mail me (sorry for being techno-incompetent)! Hope this helps.
posted by Papagayo at 6:15 AM on September 25, 2013
Oh, also! Kazem Al-Saher is Iraqi (but sings in Modern Standard, always) and he's almost over-the-top romantic. I'm not sure if there's a 'classic' or wedding standard song by him, but "A7ebini" is beautiful (really long and both slow and fast at different parts) and "Kul 3am W Anti 7abibati"is more danceable and also lovely. I haven't heard a heartbroken or totally non-wedding-appropriate song from him but it's possible, although really I think the majority of his oeuvre is Nizar Qabbani poetry set to music so you're probably good in the lyrics department.
posted by Papagayo at 6:23 AM on September 25, 2013
posted by Papagayo at 6:23 AM on September 25, 2013
I have a soft spot for Hisham Abbas, but I guess that's probably kind of dated by now. But "Habibi Da" is sooooooooooo dance-floor friendly!
posted by like_a_friend at 9:21 AM on September 25, 2013
posted by like_a_friend at 9:21 AM on September 25, 2013
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posted by timsteil at 5:03 PM on September 24, 2013