Bish Bosch | Ahom...Ahom...Ahom (1981)


While it seems unlikely the uber-prolific Ahmed Adaweya waited three years from his apparent last release to this one, I'm cataloging this one now because it's the next in line for which there is an undisputed release date. Also, given its response to the national turbulence in its release year (1981), it shares a particularly strong relationship to 1978's Salam Murabae.

On October 6, 1981, Egypt's third President, Anwar Sadat, was assassinated by members of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad. The motive was likely Sadat's participation in the Camp David Accords (see this post). 

The assassination was immediately preceded by Sadat's large-scale imprisonment and arrest of numerous ideological and political "enemies" under the guise of a "national emergency." But the unrest had reached a boiling point earlier in the year when, on June 6, a failed military coup led Sadat to begin to crack down on the opposition.

Days after his death, Sadat was replaced by his former Vice President, Hosni Mubarak, who remained in office for three decades until the 2011 revolution.

There is no question that some, if not all, of Ahom...Ahom...Ahom is a direct response to at least some of these political events, especially given the tracks "Shish Bish" and "6/6." "Shish Bish" is a Turkish strategy-driven board game, similar to backgammon, that literally means "Six Five," and which remains wildly popular throughout the Mediterranean.


Overall, the album swells with thick, frothy orchestration and a subtle but ever-present electric bass buoying each track to new sonic heights. The first track, "Hez Ya Hob," which I believe means something like "Shake Oh Love," snakes its way from an upbeat minor key bouncy pop opening, through dark, minor-key excursions that soon brighten hopefully before popping back into the "pop." In the major-key section, Ahmed recites the word in triplicate that becomes the album's title: "ahom ahom ahom." Ahom has a number of meanings, chief of which is "important" or "most important." But it has other potential shades, including "feel," "deject" and "trouble." Brilliantly, the orchestra goes major-key and light during the fade-out while Ahmed's voice laments in a minor-key run, setting us up for the rest of this beautiful, bumpy ride.

This might be Hassan Abu El Seoud's (music) and Hassan Abo Etman's (lyrics) singular triumph, an even greater album perhaps than 1977's high-water mark, Bint El Sultan.



(Listen to "Hez Ya Hob")

(Listen to "Shish Bish")

(Listen to "6/6")



(Listen to "Alayh Tayhih")

(Listen to "Wilad Algharam")

(Listen to "Mawwal Atshan")

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