“Beirut, I’m sorry”: Esmeralda’s song honours her childhood friend, Mr. Ralph Mellehe, one of the many firefighters who lost their lives in the port blast of August 4, 2020

Bambi just came across an English song about Beirut on YouTube.

This song was written/composed by a young Lebanese singer-songwriter called Esmaralda. It is a tribute to her childhood friend, Mr. Ralph (Mellehe) almost a year following his tragic death in the surrealistic Beirut explosion.

This song moved Bambi’s heart, especially that she had honoured Mr. Ralph Mellehe in an older post (shown at the end of this one). In her older post from 2020, she mentioned that he loved Fußball-Club Bayern München, just like her (and actually her entire family). Indeed, Bambi grew up fascinated by this soccer team that she had the chance to bump into in Germany almost 30 years ago. Well, Thanks again to FC Bayern München & to Germany for having paid a beautiful tribute to Ralph. Thank you, journalist (and dear sister) Roula Douglas for having re-tweeted its message of August 12, 2020 (8 days after the tragedy). May his memory be eternal…

May Esmaralda and Ralph’s family members find some peace in their hearts, despite the cruel pain of their loss. May justice be finally served for Ralph and for all the other 217 victims (children and adults), 6 000+ injured folks (many of whom are still suffering), 300-400 000 homeless people, and ALL the traumatized survivors (MANY left their country since the surrealist Beirut port explosion).

Talking about trauma, meet 9-year-old Jad who is also a soccer fan. Look at his beautiful smile :). Bravo to him for having overcome his fear of leaving his place (due to anxiety following the blast)! Thank you UNICEF, France for having helped him in his achievement with an online psychotherapy.

To conclude this post, bravo and thanks to Esmerlda for her song, along with her own moving words in introducing her song (https://youtu.be/_5__Z4wSt3E): “It’s almost a year since the explosion and still no answers, no closure. We still have nightmares, we are scarred and we are broken. You took our souls, our loved ones, our houses and our lives. You burned our forests, you polluted the air we breathe, and the funny part is: you would never take the blame. This song is a small piece of my mind. It’s about the things I felt but could never say, mixed with a line from Feiruz’s famous song “Li Beirut”. To all the people that can relate to my song, I hope it helps you heal just a little bit like it helped me. Personally I have lost my childhood friend; Ralph: this one goes out to your beautiful soul. I am really glad that I got to be your friend. To all the souls who were lost on that tragic day and every other day, due to their ignorance, I say: “You will always be remembered and loved”. Beirut in this song is not only our beloved city, it is every Lebanese out there, every person suffering, every family, every parent and every beautiful soul we have lost! We don’t deserve the pain and hardship we are being put through…and for that: “Beirut, I’m sorry”.

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His name is Ralph. His body was found today. Like Bambi, he was a fan of FC Bayern München…