From Lennie Clark's Web Site:

Yaho
(Yaho)

This page contains a translation into English of the lyrics to "Yaho", which was recorded by Hakim.

Hakim is known worldwide as a superstar of Egypt's musical genre known as shaabi. He used modern instruments such as bass guitar and keyboard to bring an updated sound to the traditional music, and added a beat that proved to be a hit on dance floors in the discos. As a child in the town Maghagha, Hakim formed his own band and played shaabi hits made popular in the past by Ahmed Adawiyya and others. His father, the mayor of the town, pressured him to attend the University of el-Azhar in Cairo, in hopes Hakim would follow a professional career path instead of music. However, once in Cairo, Hakim made contact with the musicians of the Cairo cafes and received organic musical training. Following graduation, he returned to his musical path. He formed a band back in Maghagha, which quickly became popular around the province of Minya. Today, Hakim enjoys superstar status, known for his innovative fusion of traditional music with a modern day pop sound. He has won much acclaim, including the prestigious Kora Award in 2000 for the category Best North African Singer.

Lyrics

What
Why
Who
Yes
Him* again
I'm just
I mean
It's just
He tormented me easily
Sold me and if he lost me what am I to do?
Are we going to repeat it again?
With his hands into wounds, he tossed me
And when he called me, what am I to say to him
We are spoiling him, oh Ya ho
And pleasing him oh Ya ho
And no one but us could please his eye oh ya ho
He makes mistakes and I make up for him oh yaho
And I'm tired of forgiving him, oh Yaho
From the bitterness of his wound I said
Yo Yoh Yaho
Although he made me mad at him
But my soul is for him
Oh Yaho
And I'm tired of forgiving him, Oh Yaho
From the bitterness of his wounds I said
Yoh Yoh Yaho
Yaho Yaho Yaho
Although he made me mad at him
But my soul is for him
It's that my eyes missed him and are dying for him
It's that my eyes missed him and are dying for him

If he came to you you'll tell without saying
In front of his eyes desire is in a state
And I seriously ask with a hundred telephone calls

We're spoiling him Oh Yaho
And pleasing him Oh Yaho
And no one but us can fill his eye Oh Yaho
The brain went nuts while he's away and I never lived up to his suspicions and betrayed him
The brain went nuts while he's away and I never lived up to his suspicions and betrayed him

Me love anyone else -- impossible
The desire that drives you crazy
His heart is like a ghazala
His heart is like a ghazala
I'm near screaming I'm just -- I mean -- it's just that he tormented me so easily
Sold me and if he lost me
What am I to do

(*Tarik writes that in Arabic culture because it is considered improper to make a direct reference to a woman publicly, the singers will often say "he" instead of "she". It is understood that the subject of the song is female.)

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

Artist: Hakim CD Title: Yaho Amazon Store:

Translations of
Hakim's Songs on This Site

Acknowledgements

About the Article

This translation was sent in a "post" to the Middle East Dance List email-based discussion group by Tarik Sultan, and he has given his permission for it to be printed Lennie Clark's "Arabic Song Translations" web site.

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.