Must Know Songs: Spring Semester

From level 2 on, please pick a song each week to familiarize yourself with. Keep an ear out for songs you might like to dance to at student shows!

These songs are on the "Must Know" list for being staples that you might hear a band play, they are more ordered by their fame and popularity rather than how easy they are to dance to. In the future, I hope to have more info about each song up on my site. For now, I'll just include playlists of each song.

Check out the playlists, one song each week, and try to get a little familiar with what stays the same and what changes from version to version. Really, if you just listen to enjoy, you'll probably absorb these things. Try to notice if there are certain bands or styles you gravitate towards.

Click the song title to reach a whole playlist of examples!

Ya Moustafa and the multi-lingual lyrics.

Longa, a Turkish song that I am not aware of lyrics for.

Hadouni Hadouni continues the theme of songs popular with Am-Cab bands. Tentative lyric translation via facebook.

Tamra Henna is from an Egyptian movie staring Naima Akef. I have it with subtitles if we want to do a movie night, the plot is similar to "my fair lady", except it upholds the idea of people staying in their caste. Lyric translation.

Zay el Asal is a song from Lebanese singer Sabah. Here's the translation.

Haramt Ahebek is a song from Warda. The lyrics are about a betrayal so it's a bit less popular for dancing to.

smaouni is also by Warda and very popular with competition dancers. The Lyrics are in this video.

Lama Badda Yatta Thana is based on a centuries old poem that was latter put to music. It is my go to for the semai rythm.

Lessa Fakir is an Om Kalthoom classic, with all the bitter sweet complicated love themes you'd expect. ​

Leylet Hob is one of the most popular songs for dancing. I've had a band describe it as "a big girl song" in terms of working with the music and pacing. It's another Om Kalthoom classic. The title translates to "love night" and I've heard people assume a honeymoon at the translation. It is a passionate song. ​