THE ARAB WORLD

Batwannis Beek by Warda. Lyrics: http://www.shira.net/music/lyrics/batwannes-beek.htm

Warda Al-Jazairia (وردة الجزائرية -The Algerian Rose) was a well-known Algerian-Lebanese singer. Born 1939 in France to a Lebanese mother and Algerian father, she started singing at 11 and quickly became known for her patriotic songs. When she married in 1962, her husband forbade her to sing. In 1972, Algerian president Houari Boumédienne asked her to sing to commemorate Algeria’s independence. She performed with an Egyptian orchestra. As a result, her marriage broke up and she dedicated her life to music. 

She moved to Egypt, where she married Baligh Hamdi, performing many of his songs and those of other Arab composers, quickly rising to fame and releasing several albums per year. She has starred in a few films. At the height of Panarabism, Gamal Abdel Nasser requested that Warda be given a part in a production by Mohammad Abdelwahhab entitled My Great Homeland (Watani Al-Akbar). The song was performed by the biggest stars at the time incl. Abdel Halim Hafez, Shadia, Sabah, Nagat Al-Saghira, and Faida Kamel. It denounced Colonialism and urged for a united Arab People to defeat foreign occupation. Warda died in May 2012 in Cairo from cardiac arrest. She was 72. Her body was flown back to Algeria where she was given a state funeral and was buried in Algiers’ El Alia cemetery, which is reserved for national heroes.