Existential laughter | Aha Ahu (1973)


Is this nervous laughter or throat-clearing in the face of overwhelming beauty? Existential laughter in the face of, well, everything? Could it possibly be so vulgar as to be suggestive of orgasmic sounds?

A proper timeline for Ahmed Adaweya's three 1973 singles for Sout El Hob has not been established. Discogs lists "Aha Ahu" after "El Sah El Dah Embo" and because there is no iron-clad evidence supporting a provable timeline, I've decided to follow the website's lead.

For the title track, newcomer Mohamad al-Masri supplies both lyrics and music. al-Masri doesn't seem to exist before this record; however, in 1974 he'll team up with Ahmed again, providing lyrics and music for the smash hit "Habah Fok We Habah Taht." He also creates the music for Samir Koukou's infectious "I'm Koukou." 

(Listen to Samir Koukou's "Ana Koukou")

al-Masri then seems to drop off the map for over a decade, reemerging with credits on a handful of late 1980s releases by the likes of Alexandrian shaabi singer Hamdi Batshan and Sabrin.

"Aha Ahu"'s B-side, "Sit Al Banat Ya Shabatan," is composed by Hamidou, whose half dozen releases skew toward the belly dance end of the spectrum. The lyrics are penned by Mustafa Bin Al-Zaman, whose existence does not seem to be provable beyond this release.

Trying to Google translate from the original Arabic "Aha Ahu"'s lyrics:


أهو أها أهأ أهأ اهو
الحليوه اللي في نحيتنا حكايته مع حكايتنا
الحليوه اللي في حتيتنا حكايته مع حكايتنا 
زي المواويل وحكاوي الليل
واحنا الصابرين والصبر قليل
من شوقي بنوح ببوح بقول
 أهو أها أهأ أهأ اهو
يا ولدي يا كبدي يا جليبي يا حبيبي يا الحليوه
اكمنه جريب مني وتملي يطل علينا 
واخدنا معاه وادينا في كلام بموده وليه
من شوقي بنوح ببوح بقول
أهو أها أهأ أهأ اهو
يا ولدي يا كبدي يا جليبي يا حبيبي يا الحليوه
قولناله من الهوا دوبنا ورضينا عشان مكتوبنا 
وياريت يا اجمل حبيبنا متكنشي علينا تقيل
طول ليالي بنوح ببوح بقول
أهو أها أهأ أهأ اهو
يا ولدي يا كبدي يا جليبي يا حبيبي يا الحليوه
من بعد ده كل ارتحنا وبسرعه نسينا جرحنا 
وبليلة العمر فرحنا واتاري الصبر جميل 
ولعمري  بنوح ببوح بقول
أهو أها أهأ أهأ اهو

... it's unclear what "From my longing, I will say what I will say: Ahu Aha Aha Aha Ahu" means, exactly.

Is this nervous laughter or throat-clearing in the face of overwhelming beauty? Existential laughter in the face of, well, everything? Could it possibly be so vulgar as to be suggestive of orgasmic sounds?


If "Aha Ahu" was indeed released right after "El Sah El Dah Embo," it's a proper follow-up, given the odd use of language in both titles, as if banking, in part, on playful language (or language-play) as a selling point. The release proves moderately successful, with two distinct editions, though both in Egypt. The original pressing (see image at top of page) seems to highlight the odd use of language and that it's this guy, our guy, Ahmed Adaweya, fucking with the language like that. (The second and last Sout El Hob pressing abandons that incredible cover in favor of a double portrait of Ahmed in a collared shirt and jacket and even possibly a tie, the semiotics of which I've no clue how to read.)

(Listen to "Aha Ahu")

(Listen to "Sit El Banat Ya Shabatan")

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Domestic bliss | An Evening at Home (1976)

Image
  The newlyweds in March 1976 While writing and posting the first several entries of this project, I learned that Ahmed's wife, Nousa, passed away suddenly on May 16, 2024. Nousa helped guide, shape, and protect Ahmed and his legacy for most of his adult life and her sudden absence casts a shadow long enough to darken even this humble project on the other side of the world. Upon his return from London in early 1976, Ahmed Adaweya marries Wanisa Ahmed Atef, better known as Nousa. Their relationship is strained almost from the beginning, as Ahmed is often on the road, performing internationally, while Nousa, according to Ahmed Naji's " The Woman Who Devoured Adaweya ," suffered his absence so severely, her hair began to fall out. The couple would apparently soon separate, with the initial plan of divorcing, before reuniting for good in 1978. This gives Ahmed's second cassette of 1976, An Evening at Home , additional resonance, a hint of bittersweetness, if not irony
Read more

Fame Monster | Jouz Walla Fard (1978)

Image
  That boy is a monster (Mo-mo-mo-monster) That boy is a monster (Mo-mo-mo-monster) That boy is a monster (Mo-mo-mo-monster) That boy is a monster-er-er-er-er 1978 is another hyper-productive year for Ahmed, who releases two full-length cassettes. Based on this year and last, our man seems to have settled into an annual pattern: Release one ass-whupping cassette album doing what it is you do best, an album that blows away any possible competition simply by you being your own bad self, followed by a gobsmacking, goalpost-moving follow-up that catapults the genre into uncharted (if highly charting) territory.  Had anyone else released Jouz Walla Fard , we'd remember them for having hit an all-time shaabi high point; but this is Ahmed, and it's almost too easy to take his exceptional if less innovative work for granted. Ahmed and crew , we should say. Accordionist and composer Hassan Abou El Seoud once again provides the music and arrangements for this joint, and we're treated
Read more

Big pimpin' | Adaweya in London (1976)

Image
  While in England's capital, Ahmed experiences one of the biggest highs and bitter lows of his early career. Ahmed's 1976 opens with a residency at the Omar Khayyam in London. London may seem like an odd choice for him to have visited that year, but according to this 1976 Guardian article by David Hirst , the city was teeming with Arab visitors and immigrants hungry for entertainment. ( A post by Asmahan of London about her 1977 visit echoes this .) The Omar Khayyam in it original building on Cannon Street. It later moved to Regent. "The Arab visitors," Hirst writes, "now almost exclusively male and wearing Western dress, are likely to head for a nightclub or a casino. If it is Crockford's to which they may have been drawn by sumptuous advertisements in Arabic magazines, they can retire to an 'Arab room' with Egyptian hostesses in attendance. If it is to the Omar Khayyam nightclub, they will find an ambience, decor, floorshow, staff, and clientele so
Read more