tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post7207694118874689701..comments2024-02-05T17:15:59.703-06:00Comments on hawgblawg: Omar Souleyman's new release "Wenu Wenu" (and the question of politics)Ted Swedenburghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05355038670178440138noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-60286239645227826702016-01-04T21:15:38.297-06:002016-01-04T21:15:38.297-06:00Dear 'Anonymous' -- If you had done some r...Dear 'Anonymous' -- If you had done some research on me via Google or even looked a bit at the blog I venture it would be hard for you to say I know very little about Syria and the Middle East. Souleyman did a pro-Asad song, journalists claim he isn't political...journalists do research and ask tough questions of the people they interview all the time, it's their job. I am a fan of Souleyman and also fully understand why he might have done a pro-Bashar song. It would be interesting to hear him explain why he did it, but I will never get to ask him. Cheers.Ted Swedenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05355038670178440138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-56714169317965686492015-11-29T20:30:50.318-06:002015-11-29T20:30:50.318-06:00Nice article apart from the political comments. It...Nice article apart from the political comments. It's pretty obvious you don't know much about Syria and the Middle East (cannot understand one without knowing the other and the culture/history) so why even mention the subject is my question? Perhaps why you "wonder why none of the journalists who have interviewed Souleyman bothered to do the research to find this, and ask the question" is because you lack the decency they do (which isn't a question of intelligence btw, but more of a sign of respect/courtesy). Also, just to be clear, you didn't do any research, because if you did I wouldn't be here making light of this. All you did was regurgitate the libel and slander, divide and conquer politics, and toxicity, manifest in neo-liberal dogmatic propaganda subconsciously because you are too intellectually lazy and naïve to have a perception (or be open to the idea that a different POV exists) that isn't influenced by the mainstream media. So please, in the future, be aware that perpetuating ignorance -- conscious or not -- is not only hurtful but deadly, too. Also, I surmise what you consider "research" is fundamentally flawed and would recommend becoming better acquainted with the process. Unfortunately you are not alone in matters concerning these topics (Assad, Syria, the Middle East) but my hope is that it can change and by leaving this comment I hope I can say I at least somehow contributed to that and that I tried. Will leave you with the popular Arabic proverb: "If speech is silver, then silence is golden." All the best.<br /> <br /> <br /><br />ps: Please publish this article so the message can live on. Don't let ego get in the way of truth, in the way of peace, of lives. Making mistakes is what makes us human. Learning from our mistakes is progress. Progression is evolving.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-67390338111913038862013-10-28T10:19:59.020-05:002013-10-28T10:19:59.020-05:00Thanks so much for the illuminating and generous c...Thanks so much for the illuminating and generous comments, Hammer!<br />Ted Swedenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05355038670178440138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-18911194890032629692013-10-27T20:41:45.531-05:002013-10-27T20:41:45.531-05:00@AnonymousHoward:
Yes, Omar is a huge fan of the P...@AnonymousHoward:<br />Yes, Omar is a huge fan of the President as well as almost all of the south-western Houran plain; where he came from. This isn't a political song, though: it's just what people feel urged to do when there are plenty of sides to take to or choose from, and that's when they simply go back to whatever form of veneration they had before this farcical revolution hit Syria. I have here to stress the obvious fact that Omar Soul-lay-man (mind) has zero-percent political agendas, whatsoever. The people of Houran are interested in music, smoking, and kungfu-powerful red tea drinking and something there they drink called '<i>metteh</i>; which is a stingent herb.<br />Oh, and yes... They copulate a lot.<br /><br />@Ted:<br />Nice post. I heard the newly-released album by Omar, but there is one thing to point out, musicologically-spieling, about this particular song:<br />This is a remake of one of southern Syria's (and, northern Jordan's for that matter), best and most-danceable tunes '<i>Warda, Warda</i>'. Omar's lyricists just took off a few words, and he mumbled the rest into sweet cacophonia. Remember, these tunes are all actually old <i>debke</i> ones, and people have been dancing to them since the late 1800's, so that's why they keep devolving and (in the case of this song), 'unvolving' them over and over again.<br />Still, the dancing blows are all there.<br /><br />H.H.Hammerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09462766826817071023noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-4950160622331236402013-10-27T17:57:49.364-05:002013-10-27T17:57:49.364-05:00Oh, that's a shame. I guess your point about ...Oh, that's a shame. I guess your point about the difficulty of standing up to the pressure to sing songs like that holds though.<br />AnonymousHowardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16959984769184103267noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-63974574162588042702013-10-27T14:20:52.810-05:002013-10-27T14:20:52.810-05:00Since I posted this I was told by someone who has ...Since I posted this I was told by someone who has good contacts in Syria that this was regarded as a pro-Bashar song, and that Syrians still remember that Omar put it out. So, no, not ironic.<br />Ted Swedenburghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05355038670178440138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15240575.post-81344033948464594472013-10-27T13:35:19.554-05:002013-10-27T13:35:19.554-05:00I'd assumed, not understanding more than a cou...I'd assumed, not understanding more than a couple of words of Arabic, that the Bashar song was ironic: "Bashar, darling of the people", seems a bit much to be song with a straight face. Is it not?AnonymousHowardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16959984769184103267noreply@blogger.com