Assi Hallani is a Lebanese dude a very proud one and vocal about his nationality He is also about Arab unity and being one, never mind that his own family and daughter boast about being Canadians. So when the tragic bomb went of in that busy Beirut neighborhood, Assi brought back one of his old songs about his favorite city. Assi made a dozen of songs for Beirut, many of them are throwaway tracks, not this one I think.
The song is good because it has been made in as style that Assi has not been known for, the sobering and calm sweet style. Assi's songs usually have a lot of showing in them. Now, you can call the song a vintage style as the images of the city tell tales of its rich history.
I do not know who wrote this song, but it sounds awfully similar to the songs that Kathem Al Saher does. So that means it was written by the mighty Syrian poet Nizar Qabani. Assi gets many things right, I feel this song worked out well for him. But seriously, I do not think songs change anything. We are used to making songs for Palestine and they have changed little. Sure they cheer up some people or break the hearts of some, but the reality does not live in a song.
عاصي الحلاني كليب اغنية بيروت
Wikipedia only lists Assi as performing one song with Qabani's lyrics, "al-Qarar." I'm a little confused by the formatting on this page http://assialhallani.hooxs.com/t121-topic (Do the credits go with the lyrics above or below the stars?), but regardless, Qabani's name isn't listed. http://assialhallani.hooxs.com/t121-topic
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