On Saturday, a single missing verse from Majida El Roumi’s performance of Ya Beirut shook the nation.
The country hasn’t stopped talking about the incident since it happened on August 1st. The missing verse that gives the reason why a revolution is born began trending on Twitter in Lebanon and abroad.
Ya Beirut, whose lyrics belong to the late and highly revered poet Nizar Qabbani, was basically defiled when the chorus singers were forced to exchange six powerful words for “la, la, la, la, … .”
Why? Because it included the word Thawra (revolution).
The revolution is born from the womb of sorrows.
However, that’s not how the song was actually rehearsed up to a day before the concert.
A newly emerged video from the rehearsals shows that the song was clearly being practiced in its original unaltered form, respecting its integrity.
In the video, you can hear the choir proudly singing the lyrics: “The revolution is born from the womb of sorrows.”
So, what happened that it was performed differently at the celebration of the Lebanese Army Day?
Apparently, there was a last-minute decision to remove the six-word lyrics and replace them with a “la la la la… .”
Besides, although apparently meaningless, these “la la la la…” sound like “no, no, no, no…” in Lebanese in that song that calls for an uprising.
Apparently, any song justifying the revolution was apparently a no go, considering the fact that this Thawra is against the ruling elite and, people have been arrested for anti-government comments.
As widely reported by activists on social media since then, the event was organized by members of anti-revolutionary parties.
According to ET Bl Arabi, the Lebanese artist Michel Fadel, who was responsible for orchestrating the concert, was forced to remove the phrase two hours before the launch of the ceremony.
Here’s the rehearsal video where you can clearly hear the choir singing the beautiful words:
On a positive note, the censoring has reignited the fire of the Lebanese revolution, which now has a new slogan and a new song to blast in the revolution squares.
In fact, a call has been already circulating social media for a demonstration on Saturday that will take off from Martyrs’ Square under the new slogan… “The Revolution is born from the womb of sorrows.”
