Arabic Children Songs: Flash From The Past
Arabic Children Songs and Lullabies
There are countless songs from our parents' childhood that becomes part of our own. From culture to culture this differs within the same language. From songs about washing up, birds, and going to sleep. All of these are old children songs so don't expect to find anything new here. Grab your little sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew or whoever you like to share these with! Some videos are poor quality simply because there is a lack of good footage. Others are audio only because the ones with the original footage had bad audio quality. Can't have the best of both worlds eh?
Get Comfy, Here We Go!
Down memory lane that is..
Here are the top old school children's songs listed here. It took some time to find some of these songs since I did not know their original names or who sang them. I listed the singers if I knew who sang them and after the videos will write a bit about what each one is about for those that don't understand Arabic.
Some of the more well known ones
1) Mohammed Fawzi - Mama Zamanha Gaya (Mother Will be Coming)
2) Fairouz - Yallah tnam Rima
3) Omaima Khalil - Nami Nami Ya Saghira (Sleep Sleep Little One)
4) Nelly - Kan Fi Farasha (There Was a Butterfly)
5) Ya Asfoor Alasafeer (Oh Bird of Birds)
6) Ghasil Woojhak Ya Amar
Some of The Songs and Their Meanings
Mohammed Fawzi - Mama Zamanha Gaya (Mother In Her Time Will Come)
He starts off singing to his baby that in time mother will come and starts telling the baby stories of misbehaving children. The boy that the doctor gave him a shot because his legs were weak since he did not drink milk each morning, and how since that day he drinks milk and has big muscles. Also he sings about the boy that plays with matches and ended up burning his hands. Now he does not play but till now his hands hurt him...
This song is basically about what kids should not be doing because it is bad for them. That their mother will be home and will be upset with them for being bad. It sounds rather bland but if you hear this song you'll love it as much as I do. The laughing baby that cries when her dad tells her about the bad things makes it ever so cute.
Omima Khalifa - Nami Nami Ya Sgira (Sleep Sleep Little One)
A beautiful piece on its own without any instrumentals is a lullaby the mother is singing to her little girl. She tells her to sleep in the dark till it moves away and a big light shines on them (the sun) which will light up the whole neighborhood. She tells her to sleep that tomorrow her dad will come with lemons and gifts of a skirt and shawl to help her stay warm. The song continues about how her hair is black and hand picked that those who love her will kiss her and so on. It is a lovely song one of my all time favorites. I sing it to my own little one at bedtime.
Find the Arabic lyrics here.
Fairouz - Yallah Itnam Rima (God Help Rima Sleep)
A beautiful lullaby by Fairouz that if you think about it not only is sweet but cute in it's own right. Here she is singing to Rima (the little girl) in a form of a prayer to God. God help her sleep, may she grow loving fasting and prayer, may she grow healthier each day. Then my favorite two lines:
Let her sleep let her sleep I will cook for her a pigeon.
Oh pigeon don't believe it, I am just joking till Rima sleeps.
From here she talks about how beautiful Rima is and slips into a sort of story. A beautiful song that starts out sweetly pleading with Rima to sleep and flows into a kind prayer then finally a story.
To read a translation that you might find useful go here.
If you found a mistake and would like to point it out please do.
If you have a recommendation for a song you think should be here please share!
Have a question or anything else to say feel free to write..!