Goodbye Fairuz

She gave them a pleasure they did not deserve. So much for her claim that she "sings for the people". The play she performed in Damascus,  the "Arab cultural capital" for 2008, is ironically about a despot who wakes up from his slumber every full moon to steal his people and then goes back to sleep. Fairuz, who can barely sing at 73 years of age, and who refused to sing in Lebanon during the civil war, stood on the Syrian stage today and gave the 24-hour despots what was bestowed on her by her own people-- the ones her new audience is burning alive.

Fairuz the singer died when her voice tragically aged. But her art was kept alive by the people who worshipped her as a symbol of their existence, and as a nostalgic reminder of home. Today, she betrayed them, and their memories. Syrian media hailed her "return to her people". Let them have her. Many of us will pretend that she died in the war, like many other people and things of value.

One last time:

نسم علينا الهوى من مفرق الوادي

يا هوى دخل الهوى خدني على بلادي

Comments

[Bad Vilbel]

Indeed.

You guys have all heard my somewhat harsh stance on this matter. So I'll spare you repeating it....

[Charlie]

Fairuz is another SSNP individual who has returned to her people in Syria. Please keep the old hag there.

[Jeha]

Good riddance to the myth, I'll keep the singer, and the songs.

In any case, with all the local rat race, I missed it. Actually, I never went to any of her concerts; her voice died before my time, and most of her performances were playback. Still, I do not mind if the despot had his day and saw a good demonstration of playback. Let the baby have his opium; this does not change the fundamentals, and no Bashar will take away "Bhebbak Ya Libnan".

[Tareq]

Ya 3eib Ilshom 3aleikom
She is singing for the people as she always did. She is not singing for a regime. She is a myth and a legend and will remain to be so. Let her alone, let her be, dont insult our last living legend. The only true symbol. And please when you you dont know dont speak especially about the tech nical capabilities of her voice

[Bad Vilbel]

Funny, all this outpouring about Fairuz got me thinking about one of the biggest afflications we have in Lebanon. This aversion we have for treating human beings as normal mortals, and not deities. This "Haram aleikum, Fairuz is a legend" bullcrap is exactly the same mentality that I see displayed everytime some dumbass with a turban utters some idiotic comment, and no one wants to call him on it because he's a "sayyed" or a patriarch, or a sheikh, or a zaim. This is exactly why the Lebanese are like sheep. Now I'm not advocated complete disrespect for our elders, or for religious figures, or whathaveyou. But people need to start understanding that these folks are not demi-gods. Fairuz is human and has failings and political leanings, just like everyone else. Same goes for every patriarch, sayyed and sheikh this side of the Litani. Stop staring in awe, pick your jaw off the floor and start thinking for yourselves, people. I don't care if it's Fairuz or the Pope....they all have failings.

[R]

Unlike the romanticized Lebanon that she sings about, and like the real Lebanon that she is a product of, Fairouz is both talented and deeply flawed not to mention morally ambiguous. When viewed from that light, her actions should be seen as simply being influenced by the people around her, but more importantly they should be viewed as product of the environment that produced her (and many of us) - an environment that we are striving and hoping to change.

[marillionlb]

Screw Fairuz and most of what some of you label LEGENDS. Who gives a crap where this old hag, has been diva sings? As far as I am concerned she can sing anywhere she wants (but far away so that I don't hear)we have bigger problems to deal with to be waisting our efforts on the likes of her.