SOUNDTRACK: A-WA-“Ya Shaifin Al Malih” NPR’S SOUTH X LULLABY (March 20, 2016).
A-WA are three sisters from Yemen. They sing in Yemeni Arabic. And they have a dance single out (see the video shot in their neighborhood where three guys wears tracksuits and baseball hats with tassels).
For this Tiny Desk, they are also in a hotel room. Unlike with Mt. Wolf, this room is dark and then an electric guitar starts playing.
The lead singer begins singing this song (in Arabic). It is a Yemeni folk song about a love that hurts. “There’s an enjoyable love and there’s a love that gives you heartache.” It is a sad aching song.
After a second verse the three sisters start singing in harmony
It’s in the next verse when the three-part harmony becomes really distinctive, and the song feels even more intense.
It’s a far cry from a dance song, but an interesting listen to voices you don’t hear much in song.
[READ: February 10, 2016] “The Grand Shattering”
The August 2015 Harper’s had a “forum” called How to Be a Parent. Sometimes these forums are dialogues between unlikely participants and sometimes, like in this case, each author contributes an essay on the topic. There are ten contributors to this Forum: A. Balkan, Emma Donoghue, Pamela Druckerman, Rivka Galchen, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Ben Lerner, Sarah Manguso, Claire Messud, Ellen Rosenbush and Michelle Tea. Since I have read pieces from most of these authors I’ll write about each person’s contribution.
I have read only one thing by Michelle Tea. But I really enjoyed her contribution to this forum. She discusses giving birth by Cesarean and losing a lot of blood. She was in the hospital for four days. And although the room itself was ugly, the view (on a hill in San Francisco) was magnificent.
She and her wife spent those four days holding their baby and basically being a in a bubble. Michelle would breastfeed and her wife would do most everything else. People marveled at what a great team they made.
I was also fascinated by their conception story. They used the sperm of a drag queen and used Michelle’s wife’s egg which were implanted in Michelle. (Michelle had fertility issues and her wife’s eggs were fine).
She talks about how people who grew up with less than happy families marvel at their happiness.
It’s a very satisfying essay.
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