Saturday, July 28, 2018

Teapacks - Ya Mustapha



Ever since the nation-state law passed, and even a bit before that, I've had a heavy feeling in my heart which I now identify as sorrow and shame. I usually try not to bring up politics when giving a spotlight to Israeli artists but in this case I feel that Teapacks are sending a clear message that they want to embrace cultural diversity in a time when it's being challenged. I realize that some viewers might be baffled to see an Israeli group singing in Arabic but about 50% of the Jewish population in Israel descends from countries under Muslim rule and older generations grew up listening to Arabic music and watching on Israeli TV the traditional Friday afternoon Arabic movie, which is now a thing of the past.

The Youtube description: A new single from Teapacks-this time a Teapacks version to a trilingual song (French, Arabic, and a bit of Italian) which came out in Europe in 1960 by Bob Azzam, an Egyptian singer with Lebanese ancestry and was sung by the Jewish-French-Turkish singer Dario Moreno in the 1962 film "El-Hob Kedah"-(This is Love) starring the singer Sabah. The song was composed by the famous Egyptian composer Mohamed Fawzi. A fun song of love and friends. Teapacks' rhythm department gave it a different beat, Kobi Oz mixed a bit the inner order and added new notes and Daniel Krief stands out with her voice and joy. The song is a yearning for happy days when nations were more together and less separate. An innocence of cultural abundance.

تعال يا مصطفى
تعال يا عيني
تعال يا مصطفى
تعال يا عيني
تعال يا مصطفى
يا ابن السرحان
جيب تعميرة عجمي
و لف على الجيران

Tu m'as allumé avec une allumette
Et tu m'as fait perdre la à tête
Chéri je t'aime chéri je t'adore,
como la salsa de pomodoro

يا مصطفى يا مصطفى
أنا بحبك يا مصطفى
سبع سنين في العطارين
دلوقتي جينا
Chez Maxim

واما ييجي كيفه كيفه
يشرب على كيفه كيفه

يا مصطفى يا مصطفى
أنا بحبك يا مصطفى
سبع سنين فى العطارين
دلوقتي جينا
Chez Maxim

[in Hebrew]:

Come ya Mustapha
Come my eyes

Come my eyes
Come ya Mustapha
Bring fun
And go among the neighbors

You lit me up with a match
And you made me lose my mind

Honey, I love you
I love you, ya Mustapha
Like tomato sauce

Ya Mustapha, ya Mustapha
I love you ya Mustapha
Seven years in Atttarin
And now we came to Maxim

And when his fun will come
He'll smoke with fun

Ya Mustapha, ya Mustapha
I love you ya Mustapga
Seven years in Atttarin
Now we came to Maxim

Saturday, July 7, 2018