From Lennie Clark's Web Site:

Ala Heisbi Weidad Galbee Ya Bouya
(It All Depends Where My Heart Takes Me, Oh Father)

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to the song "Ala Heisbi Weidad Galbee Ya Bouya", which was sung by Abdel Halim Hafez. Also included is a transliteration of the Arabic lyrics into the Roman alphabet so you can sing along if you like. Ala Hesbi Wedad Albi Ya Bouya (It All Depends On Where My Heart Takes Me, Oh Father), 1966 Lyrics: Salah Abu Salem Music: Baligh Hamdi Original Artist: Abdel Halim Hafez A song with a similar title appears on a CD by Hossam Ramzy titled Best of Baladi and Saaidi, but that melody is an entirely different song. Another way this song title can be spelled is "Ala Hasb Wedad Alby Ya Boya", "Ala Hasby Kalbi", or "Ala Hasb Weddad Qalbi". Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source. About Abdel Halim Hafez Abdel Halim Hafez was born in 1929 in a village north of Cairo. He was orphaned at a young age. His mother died a few days after giving birth to him, and his father died five years later. After a few years of living in an orphanage, he went to live with his aunt and uncle in Cairo. At age 14, he joined the Arabic Music Institute in Cairo. His big break came in 1953 when he was recruited to do a live radio performance to substitute for another artist who was unable to do it. This performance was heard by Hafez Abdel Wahab, the supervisor of musical programming for Egyptian national radio, and he opened doors for the young artist. Abdel Halim Hafez was known as both a singer and a movie star. His music, in particular, appealed to young women because of its romantic character. At the peak of his popularity in the 1960's, he was famous both as a singer and as a movie star. He was known as the "Dark Nightingale."

Lyrics

Note from Lennie Clark: Linda (the person who provided this translation) does not remember where she got this song. She said that it would be played by the old-time Arabic musicians, and is still played at Amira restaurant in San Francisco, especially when older people are in the audience.

* Amawal is non-rhythmic, very emotional singing, usually at the beginning of a song

** "My eye", and "my night" are endearments

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

		Artist: Abdel Halim Hafez CD Title: Ala Hasb Weddad
		Artist: Nabil Al Sayed CD Title: Oriental Sax

Acknowledgements

About the Person Who Provided the Translation

Linda Grondahl's background is that of a devoted lover of Arabic music and dance. She danced with Amina and the Aswan Dancers for many years. She took Arabic percussion with Mary Ellen Donald, Su Su Pampanin, George Dubai, Vince Deldado, and Tony Lammam. She took Arabic singing from Nicole Ibrahim, Mimi Spencer, Georges Lammam. On the oud, she studied under Nazir Latouf, Mimi Spencer, Abdullah Kdough. She was a member of the Aswat Arab-American Choir under the direction of Elias Lammam. She is now a member of the El Ashaab dance troupe, and Tahneen, the all-girl, all-American Middle eastern music ensemble. They have played for Arab and American events, and for many years at the Rakassah festival.

"I just saved whatever I could get my hands on, for years", writes Linda, "and really don't know why. It was always so dificult to get music, so I just kept on saving."

Linda lives in San Francisco, California. Her favorite color is any shade of purple.

About the Source

This article originally appeared on Lennie Clark's web site, "Arabic Song Translations." Lennie created this web site in 2002 as a response to discussion on the Internet regarding incidents of dancers who performed inappropriate sensual dances to religious music. Lennie's web site resided on a free web hosting service known as Geocities. When the planned October 2009 closure of the Geocities web hosting service was announced, Lennie and Shira agreed to move the contents of Lennie's site to Shira.net. To explore all the articles and song translations that once appeared on Lennie's Geocities site, visit Lennie's portal page here on Shira.net.

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