Fairouz Lyrics - هالسيارة مش عم تمشي

I decided to look up the full version of this song because I had heard people singing parts of it several times on various TV shows. Fairouz's songs are a big part of Lebanese culture and the culture of the entire Arab world and this is a popular one that everyone seems to know. I like it because it has a catchy tune and it's actually about something concrete. It's about a car being broken down. You could translate the title as This Car isn't Going. This song is also good for learning Lebanese vocabulary. There are a lot things specific to Lebanese dialect in the lyrics. I've written out the lyrics to the song and put a vocab list at the end. Vocab words are in red.





اسمك شغلك ضيعتك
انا اسمي زيون
عندي بالمدينة محل بيع صحون
وستي من ضيعة كحلون
الله معك ع كحلون


Your name, your job, your village?
My name is Zayoon.
In the city I have a shop where I sell dishes.
And my grandmother is from the village of Kahloon.
God with you to Kahloon.


هالسيارة مش عم تمشي
بدنا حدا يدفشها دفشة
يحكو عن ورشة تصليح
وما عرفنا وين هي الورشة


This car isn't going
We need someone to give it a push
They talk about a repair shop
But we don't know where the repair shop is


مبارح شفناهن رايحين
على قمر العشاق طالعين
و نحنا بمطرحنا واقفين
والسيارة مش عم تمشي


Yesterday we saw them going by
They were going to lovers' moon
And we are stopped in our place
And this car isn't going


يغيب نهار يطل نهار
والناطر ناطر على نار
بيجي مختار بيروح مختار
والسيارة مش عم تمشي


A day goes by and another day dawns
And the waiter waits on a fire
A mayor comes and a mayor goes
And this car isn't going


و يا أهل ميس الريم ضلوا اتذكروني
كلما حبو اثنين تبقوا اتذكروني
لا تنسوا زيون لا تنسوا زيون
اللي ستها من كحلون
مطرح اللي بيبكي وبيحفر الحسون
اسمه على خيال الحور
بكحلون

Oh people of Mais al Reem, remember me.
Whenever two people fall in love, remember me
Don't forget Zayoon. Don't forget Zayoon.
Who's grandmother is from Kahloon.
Where the goldfinch cries and digs
his name on the poplar's shadow
In Kahloon


Vocabulary List:

1. سِت (sit) - lady. This word can be used to refer to a woman who is married or to a grandmother. In this song it means grandmother. This is not to be confused with the word 6 which is either ست or ستة . There's an Egyptian show called راجل و ست ستات (A man and 6 women) who's name plays on the similarity between these 2 words.

2. دفش (dafash) - to push. This comes from the MSA word دفع (dafa'a) which means the same thing. In Lebanese they will take the last letter of a word and change it to a ش (sh) sometimes. Another example is the word قبش (qabash) which means "to bury". It comes from قبر (qabara) which means the same thing. I'm sure there are more words that do this is well. If you see a word you don't know and it ends in a ش (sh), just try to think of words you do know that just have a different last letter. You might be able to figure out the word.

Also, in the song the lyric goes بدنا حدا يدفشها دفشة (we need someone to give it a push). That literally means "we need someone to push it a push".

3. قمر العشاق ('amar al'asha') - the moon of lovers. If someone is "going to lovers' moon" it's just a way of saying they are in love.

4. مطرح (matrah) - place/location. Same thing as مكان (makan).

5. الناطر ناطر على نار (alnaatr naatr 'ala nar) - literally "the waiter is waiting on a fire". نطر (natar) means "to wait". الناطر (alnaatr) just means "someone who waits". It isn't the guy at the restaurant who serves you that we call the waiter in English. This sentence just means they are "waiting anxiously". Imagine if you were waiting for something and having to stand in a fire while you waited. That's the feeling this conveys.

6. مختار (mukhtar) - village leader. No real translation for it in English. Chief or mayor would be the closest.

7. ضل (dal) - stay/remain.

8. الحسون (alhassoon) - goldfinch (popular bird in Lebanon)

9. خيال (khyaal) - shadow

10. الحور (alhoor) - poplar tree (popular tree in Lebanon, but not as popular as the الارزة , the cedar)