Various - Choubi Choubi! (Folk And Pop Songs From Iraq)

Choubi = a type of music which is usually danced to in a style called ‘Debkeh’

Most tracks are traditional but were recorded in the 80’s to the early 90’s.

1. early 90’s pop song about Lebanon’s struggles
2. choubi tabla played in a southern Iraqi style
3. choubi music saluting Debkeh dancers
4. a cover version of a Sadun Jabir song about losing a lover
5. traditional choubi song made up of a medley of well known
traditional lyrics, including “they fucked us early in the
morning” - a reference to the Iraqi Mukhabaraat (Security
Police); accompanied by some of the best tabla drumming
you’ll hear anywhere
6. traditional choubi urging women to throw away the ‘Abayah‘
(the body-length black cloak, a symbol of religious
conservatism)
7. a traditional choubi lament for a lost lover
8. an ode to a beautiful girl
9. pop music - the title is better translated as ‘This is what
I wish for in life’
10. traditional choubi song sung in an Iraqi Bedouin (desert
nomad) dialect, delivered a ‘Muwaal’ style (sad song ) /
accompanied by musicians playing Nye (small headed violin),
tables and bass drum
11. urban love song in a Muwaal style
12. a tribute to the City of Baghdad
13. 80’s party song
14. choubi in Muwaal style; an ode to the physical beauty of a
woman
15. 90’s keyboard pop music; comparing Palestine to a woman
16. “you won’t find anybody better than us / go and try to find
someone better than us / but you’ll come back to us”