Bambi just came across Mr. Julien Sfeir’s beautiful song and immediately thought of sharing it with you, dear readers. Fadi, if you read this post, listen carefully to the lyrics : ).
According to L’Orient Today (https://tinyurl.com/4ruwtszu), Angers-based Julien Sfeir is a Franco-Lebanese pharmacist and musician. His song is a “touching tribute” to his birth country and to his beloved grandma—Teta in Lebanese-Arabic—who recently passed away at the age of 101. Her name was Juliette. Born in Lebanon, she grew up in Senegal and settled in Le Mans, Sarthe, in 1981 until her death. She lived in the same apartment all her life almost until her last breath, states Mr. Sfeir. To use his own words, “Teta was everything. She was the family’s centerpiece”. May her memory be eternal and long live her grandson’s inspiring and uplifting creativity.
At the end of this post, and if you wish, you can read the lyrics of Mr. Sfeir’s song in both English and French, as reported by Musixmatch (via Google’s integrated AI). Even if his lovely song is meant to be light, sharing the Lebanese “joie de vivre”, the deep lyrics are thoughtful. They show much consideration for the people of Lebanon in their daily struggle to live with dignity at all levels, from basic safety to the significant cost of living.
Thank you Mr. Sfeir for your timely song, especially today with the worrisome news from our dear birth country.
They talk to me about a world that I don’t know
On m’parle d’un monde que j’connais pas
They tell me: You know there
On m’dit:Tu sais la-bas
...Well it’s your place
…Bah c’est chez toi
Except you my guy
Sauf que toi mon gars
You were born in France
T’es né en France
And you have lived in Sarthe since your earliest childhood
Et tu vis en Sarthe depuis ta plus tendre enfance
But you say that you are Lebanese
Mais tu dis que t’es libanais
Like Shakira
Comme Shakira
When you don’t even know how to count in Arabic to 3
Alors que tu sais même pas compter en arabe jusqu’à 3
Well, you’re not Arab?
Bah t’es pas arabe?
No, I’m Phoenician
Non, je suis Phénicien
“And what is Phoenician?”
“Et c’est quoi Phénicien?”
Well it’s not Arab
Bah c’est pas arabe
We tell you about a country that we present to you as Paradise
On t’parle d’un pays qu’on te présente comme Le Paradis
But you who don’t understand anything, you dream of the United States
Mais toi qu’as rien compris tu rêves des États-Unis
And one day you decide to go there
Et un jour, tu décides d’aller là-bas
Then when you arrive, they tell you
Puis en arrivant, on t’dit
“Ahla w sahla!” [= Welcome]
“Ahla w sahla!” [= Bievenue]
You hear words everywhere that you recognize
T’entends partout des mots que tu reconnais
Ready-made phrases that you’ve heard since you were born
Des phrases toutes faites que t’entends depuis que t’es né
And your grandfather here
Et ton grand-père ici
Everyone knows him
Tout le monde l’connait
You feel like you’re watching episodes that you missed
T’as l’impression d’mater des épisodes que t’as loupés
You see hair salons with your last name
Tu vois des salons d’coiffure avec ton nom de famille
You suddenly start wanting to call your son “Fadi”
Tu t’mets soudain à vouloir appeler ton fils “Fadi”
You hear the waiter say to you
T’entends le serveur te dire
“HABIBE” [Who needs a translation : )?]
“HABIBE” [As-ton besoin de traduction :)?]
And you think about your mother who your friends called
Et tu repenses à ta mère qu’appelait tes potes
“My dear”
“Mon Chéri”
It’s shit here
C’est la merde ici
But you don’t even see it
Mais tu l’vois même pas
When everything is fine with us
Quand chez nous tout va bien
“But Nah, it’s not okay!”
“Mais Nan, ça va pas!”
We tell you that’s how we live
On t’dit que c’est comme ça qu’on vit
That tomorrow might be over
Que demain c’est ptêtre fini
And in the face of so much grandeur, well you feel very small!
Et face à tant de grandeur, bah tu t’sens tout petit!
Then you realize you’re not the only one like that
Puis tu te rends compte que t’es pas le seul comme ça
From Senegal to Canada, there are plenty like you
Du Sénégal au Canada, il y en a pleins comme toi
Millions of Lebanese who never came
Des millions de libanais qui ne sont jamais venus
And you would dream of telling them: Don’t wait
Et tu rêverais de leur dire:N’attendez
The more I think about it
Plus j’y pense
And less I hope
Et moins j’espère
I grew up in a country where everything makes me desperate
J’ai grandi dans un pays où tout me désespère
The Switzerland of the Middle East, say the experts
La Suisse du Moyen-Orient disaient les experts
Rolex had to retrain in weapons of war
Rolex a du se recycler dans les armes de guerre
You know I know they don’t care about us
Tu sais je sais qu’ils se foutent de nous
But there’s nothing you can do, and it’s driving me crazy
Mais tu peux rien faire, et ça me rend fou
You talk about Paradise
Tu parles de Paradis
I see hell
Moi je vois l’enfer
And these madmen are playing with our nerves
Et ces fous furieux jouent avec nos nerfs
And when I say our nerves, there is also the stomach
Et quand je dis nos nerfs, il y a aussi l’estomac
When you see the price of a Shawarma today
Quand tu vois aujourd’hui le prix d’un Shawarma
Everyone has their own God
Chacun son dieu
Even if it’s the same for everyone
Même si c’est le même pour tous
I pray that one day his anger will splash on them
Je prie pour qu’un jour sa colère les éclabousse
Nothing remains of the cedar except the roots
Il reste rien du cèdre à part les racines
But it will grow back one day I imagine
Mais il repoussera un jour j’imagine
In the meantime, I can’t stay there anymore
En attendant moi, j’peux plus rester là
Mom, don’t blame me
Maman, m’en veux pas
I know you will understand
Je sais que tu comprendras
Then you realize that you’re not the only one like that
Puis tu t’rends compte que t’es pas le seul comme ça
From Senegal to Canada, there are plenty like you
Du Sénégal au Canada, y en a pleins comme toi
Millions of Lebanese who one day came
Des millions de libanais qui sont un jour venus
And you understand what they say
Et tu comprends qu’ils disent
“We can’t take it anymore!”
“On n’en peut plus!”
“We can’t take it anymore!”
“On n’en peut plus!”
We would all like to tell you that we are pissing you off
On aimerait tous vous dire qu’on vous emmerde
You are destroying the country that our grandparents left to us
Vous détruisez le pays que nos grands-parents nous lèguent
Day after day destroy the hope of living in peace
Bousillez jour après jour l’espoir de vivre en paix
But yallah, keep going
Mais yallah, continuez
You can never take away from us
Vous ne pourrez jamais nous enlever
The love of a devoted Teta [Teta = Grandma]
L’amour d’une Téta dévouée [Téta = Grand-maman]
Celebrate wanting to start again
Fêter à vouloir recommencer
This strength to never give up
Cette force de ne jamais abandonner
The chance one day to have been
La chance un jour d’avoir été
Lebanese
Libanais
Grandma: “It’s okay [Grandma: It’s ok]
Grand-mère:”Ça va [Grand-maman: Ça va]
It’s okay Teta [It’s OK grandma]
Ça va Téta [Ça va grand-maman]
How are you?
Ça va?
As if, like that
Comme si, comme ça
Once at the top
Une fois en haut
Once down”
Une fois en bas”.
