We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Galilean Lullaby (Tahlileh Jaliliyyeh)

from Reem Kelani: Live at the Tabernacle by Reem Kelani

/

  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      £1.15 GBP  or more

     

  • Buy the Full Digital Album

about

I first came upon these lyrics in a book on Palestinian popular literature by Nazarene poet Tawfiq Zayyad (1929–1994). Zayyad documented various oral traditions from the Galilee, including the lyrics of this lullaby.

As with many lullabies from around the world, the lyrics are sad, even ominous. Although the final chorus asserts a positive outlook, this is not always true. No one put this better than Nablus–born British journalist Paul Foot (1937–2004) who wrote the following in his review of this song in The
Socialist Worker,1993: “Hardship can and often does go on forever, or at least for a lifetime. But what the song meant was that people cannot go on being battered forever without resisting.”

lyrics

Our loved ones have left home
Gone away, without saying goodbye…
When I went by their place one morning to salute the mulberry tree,
No one was there to invite me in…
All I found was a crying bird
Regret stopped me short and pinned my feet to the thorny ground...
I sought in vain to learn what had become of them
From the houses where they once lived
Alas, my tears stained the walls of their homes…
O cameleer of the caravan!
If you come across them
Let them know that I still cry for them
Tell them my loving eyes haven’t yet closed in sleep
The good nights are gone that should have lasted forever...
Do tell our loved ones who’ve moved away,
That for anyone, hardship never lasts forever
Never lasts forever… Never lasts forever…

credits

from Reem Kelani: Live at the Tabernacle, released March 11, 2016
Lyrics: Traditional Palestinian
Music: Reem Kelani (MCPS)

Reem Kelani - vocals
Bruno Heinen - piano
Tamer Abu Ghazaleh - 'oud
Ryan Trebilcock - double bass
Antonio Fusco - drums

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Reem Kelani image

Reem Kelani London, UK

Reem Kelani is an independent artist. Please buy Reem’s music & support her work.
Get your copy of Reem's 2022 EP release "The Singer Said: Bird of Dawn". Reem's amazing booklet comes with the download!

contact / help

Contact Reem Kelani

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this track or account

If you like Reem Kelani, you may also like:

Bandcamp Daily  your guide to the world of Bandcamp

On Bandcamp Radio

Saxophonist Isaiah Collier chats about his new LP and the influence of Pharoah Sanders.
listen now