Nice Music to Listen to While Laying Down and Staring at the Ceiling
So, you just finished with that assignment for the day and want to sit back on your bed to enjoy time away from your laptop. And what better way to get a small getaway while staying home than to listen to some music. I live in a studio where my view is the window of my next-door neighbor's living room. She is a person in her 70s and often waves at me as soon as I sit at my desk in the morning to start with my classes. One day, I opened my window for her to listen to some music together and some of the songs here are part of those sounds that were shared.
Papooz - Ulysses and the Sea
Some lyrics to start with that are quite relatable right now in terms of travels and time passing: “I sailed the seven seas while you sat down on your chair …, it’s every day the same, clouds pass me by.” Although the lyrics are sung in English, Papooz is a French band created in 2015 and based in Paris. One of the two members of the band is called Ulysses. And this song is dedicated to his name taken from Homer’s book, the Odyssey. It has a peculiar beat to it that makes one feel like they are floating in a blissful environment.
La Femme - Où Va le Monde
I can’t truly pinpoint what exactly is La Femme’s type of music but I’d qualify it as psychedelic pop/rock. I found out about this band a few years ago and got quite attached to their sound. If you know the band Velvet underground, I think you might like La Femme, because they sound quite compatible. “Where is the World Going” is the title of this song here. The first thing I thought of when watching the music video of this song while making the playlist is, *cringe* “where are your masks people?” And just this thought made me reflect on times that we are living in, and how things are so different in today’s world. Where IS the world going? A question I ask myself every time I read/listen/watch the news around the world.
Mashrou' Leila - Roman
Mashrou’ Leila, meaning “Leila’s Plan” in Arabic, is a band born in Lebanon. This song really brings me the chills, which is a general sentiment felt when listening to Mashrou’ Leila songs. Although the lyrics are in Arabic, you can understand the feeling conveyed solely through the beat of the music and the tonality of the singing. The drummer of the band, Carl Gerges, came to AUP to give a presentation about his work as an architect in Professor Sultan al Qassimi’s class. In their songs, the band takes on issues that the majority of the progressive youth and people in the middle east and Arab world know as recurrent in their lives. The music video presents us viewers with the stereotypical image that many have of how women in the Arab world dress.So, what this video and the message behind it is trying to do is to change that perception The band stated that the clothing chosen for this music video is there to stress on their ethnic background, in a way that is more stereotypically seen by Western media. The lead singer of the band, Hamed Sinno, is openly gay and this causes fury in the eyes of states and authorities in this region in particular. During their concert in Cairo in Egypt back in 2017, an audience member called Sarah Hegazy was arrested and imprisoned by the authorities for waving a rainbow flag. She took her own life this year, after all the trauma she has gone through. I know it is hard these days to get out of bed and it is hard to be surrounded by people you are close to (and people in general), but I just want you to know that you are not alone. If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, do reach out to the counselling centre at AUP, that will be of great support. There is also the European Emergency Services: 112 and International SOS: +33 1 55 63 36 35.
Amadou & Mariam - Je Pense à Toi
Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia are two blind singers from Mali who joined both their voices and instruments to create music. They have won the contest Victoire de la Musique in the years 2005 and 2013 for two great albums, Dimanche à Bamaco (Sunday in Bamaco) and Folila. The song I have attached here is the one that made it as a hit on French radio and made them popular in France. “Je Pense à Toi” meaning, “I am Thinking About You,” Amadou & Mariam also teamed up with artist Manu Chao in songs like "Senegal Fast Food", a song that makes you want to shake your head with your eyes closed and shimmy around your studio. If you’d like to check up more on Manu Chao, you could listen to songs like "Bongo Bong", or "Desaparecido" from his 1998 album Clandestino.
POLO & PAN - Canopée
I think it’s safe to say that even if you don’t understand French, you can still dance to this electro beat song. Polo (Paul Armand-Delille) and Pan (DJ Peter Pan have given a very summery vibe to their music, that also somehow works with rainy weather. For a similar sound, you could also look into a band called L’Imperatrice. Polo & Pan made a mix-tape in May 2020, during the confinement period in France, called Home Sweet Home. I watched them live in Beirut in a bit of a low-key performance they once did in a nightclub called DECKS. Their sound gives out disco vibes with a hint of electro.
OrelSan - La Pluie (feat. Stromae)
This is a song I particularly enjoy as it combines two artists I really like. Both OrelSan and Stromae have their own music signatures that I think merge so well together. Orelsan is much more into rap sound, while Stromae’s music is much more electronic and pop. Both have so much charisma and some sort of elegance when it comes to lyric and music writing. La Pluie was particularly played this month because it actually helped me look at the bright side of things that are maybe not so enjoyable. It is quite reassuring when you listen to it and makes you think that as bad as things seem, it’s going to be ok. Lyrics I really love from this song are, “Toujour autant de pluie chez moi, mais il fait quand même beau” meaning, “it’s always raining in my town, but nonetheless the weather is still nice."
Buena Vista Social Club - El Carretero
The group Buena Vista Social Club is a band originating from Cuba that took its name after a 1940s members-only club venue. The venue was a hub for performers and musicians to gather and share their art. During its best years, it assembled Afro-Cuban musical styles. In Cuban society these clubs were members-only and determined according to ethnicity since there was the institutionalization of racism and slavery of Afro-Cubans. In 1996, Ry Cooder, a musician and songwriter from the United States, accompanied by Nick Gold, a British music producer, came to Havana, and with the aid of Cuban Musician Juan de Marcos González helped to revive this style of music since its decline around the 1960s during the Cold War. They gathered traditional Cuban musicians and some of them were veterans that had already performed at the Buena Vista Social Club. Sometime later, Ry Cooder worked with Wim Wenders, a German film directed, to produce a documentary about the making of this band. This film won an Academy Award in 1999 and the album, Buena Vista Social Club, gained more attention. It’s safe to say that it’s an underrated album in present times as it is not so talked about. But I really encourage you to watch the documentary if you’re interested and listen to the wonderful album! I also wanted to point out and remind you that this is still an issue and a topic that one should not forget about: Black Lives Matter.
Tigran - Road Song
Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian musician. He is most known for his piano playing and progressive experimental jazz sound. His work mostly consists of original compositions influence by Armenian folk music. Adding to that, he wanted to be part of a thrash metal band when he was younger and enjoyed rock music in general, so you can listen to those sound references in some of his songs. I was especially listening to "Road Song" this past month, after having read, heard and watched everything happening to the Armenian people and the Republic of Artsakh. I personally think he is a very underrated musician, just like many other artists from the region. I am half Armenian, as my father’s ancestors travelled from Armenia to Lebanon during the Genocide in 1914. I still hang on to those roots. "Road Song" chants the story of the forceful exile of a people. Whether it is back in 1914 or the last weeks and months. Here is a link to help the Armenian community.
Ibrahim Maalouf - Beirut
The final song (I say final solely regarding categorization in this list, you are of course free to listen to it in the order that pleases you), reminds me of home. Most of us are international students, and during these times, we miss a part of our lives back home. Wherever you are from, it’s nice to listen to music that is a reminder of something familiar; a memory, a place, a smell, and loved ones. This song reminds me of morning Lebanese coffee smells in the garden in front of my house, where my mom and her friend talk about what’s happening in their lives. It reminds me of nights in the village where my grandmother lives and where the smell of orange blossom fills the air. It reminds me of good times. The moment where the song starts sounding more rock makes me think of late-night walks with my friends during the revolution that happened in the city last year and the determination of the people to get together, unite and help one another. It reminds me of the Beirut explosion that recently took away many lives, homes and memories. But, it’s safe to say that hope will forever fill my heart for better days for the country I am from. I am grateful for all the moments I have lived. This song reminds me wholesome times, where laughter and cries merge and helped shape the person I am today. Let's stop normalizing destruction in the Middle East and Arab region, people have became numb to all this trauma, but let us mobilize to stop it. If you’d like to make a donation to help Beirut and its people you can check out: Beit el Baraka or the Lebanese Red Cross.
Here is a Spotify Playlist of the songs I mentioned and some others from the same artists: Peacock Plume Playlist.
