Performed by Bachar Mar-Khalifé
Original song by Georges Moustaki
This version is included in the compilation "Musique de fête, vol 2" released on sept 30th 2021 by Nowadays Records
(p) 2021 Balcoon (c) Paille Musique

"Danse tant que tu peux danser, danse autour de la terre,
Libre comme un poisson dans l'eau, comme un oiseau dans l'air,
Léger comme le vent qui danse dans les arbres
Ou le mât d'un bateau qui danse sous la vague.

Danse tant que tu peux danser sur les pavés, sur l'herbe,
Sur une table de bistrot, à l'ombre des tavernes.
Viens, laisse-toi porter par toutes les musiques
Qui sortent d'un piano ou d'un vieux tourne-disque.

Danse tant que tu peux danser, danse autour de la terre,
Danse dans les bras de Margot ou Julie de Nanterre,
Danse pour retrouver l'amour et la folie,
Danse pour éblouir ton âme qui s'ennuie.

Danse tant que tu peux danser, danse autour de la terre,
Pour ne plus porter sur ton dos la mort et la misère
Et tu verras jaillir les sources souterraines,
Et les torrents de joie qui coulent dans tes veines.

Danse tant que tu peux danser, danse autour de la terre,
Danse pour qu'un printemps nouveau balaye les hivers.
Danse comme l'on vit, danse comme l'on aime,
Danse comme on écrit sur les murs un poème.

Danse tant que tu peux danser, danse autour de la terre,
Danse tant que tu peux danser. Viens, le bal est ouvert !
Danse tant que tu peux danser, danse autour de la terre,
Danse tant que tu peux danser. Viens, le bal est ouvert !"

Danse

SHANTISAPANA | Root Radio 02/01/2022

Elias Rahbani - Dance Of Maria

Whenever Rogér's name came up in conversations, it nearly automatically ended up in a praise of his outstanding musical talents. Right off, it caught my interest because neither had I heard of Rogér Fakhr nor could I find any infos about him on the internet. So Issam recounted how they even used to be flat mates for some time and constantly working on music together. Eventually their collaborations came to an end after Rogér emigrated to the USA. In fact, I got to know he initially was on tour as part of Fairuz's band in the US and just decided to stay there ultimately. At some point, Issam mentioned how he had actually kept some of Rogér’s music on tape in his basement but also he couldn’t play it to me before Rogér would green light that. 

As the story goes, at that period of time a multitude of projects were ongoing and I somehow missed out of inquiring further. Yet Rogér’s name kept on coming up in conversations with musicians of the same generation in Beirut steadily. No matter whether it was Ziad Rahbani, Munir Khauli or anyone else talking about him, every single mention would almost inevitably be followed by a huge praise for his music and approval of his talent. 

The disparity between him being so highly appreciated amongst his peers, while somehow simultaneously not being part of the researchable musical history of Lebanon (at least to me!) of the last decades, baffled me and at some point I just asked Issam for Rogér’s contact. After we exchanged some emails and he ended up sending me a selection of music recorded in the late 1970s in Beirut. While some of that material had never seen a release, others were released on his album “Fine Anyway” - back in the time, he had hand copied around 200 cassette copies of that album. 
To put it short: I was blown away! The music was a mixture of folk with touches of other genres. Maybe one could also refer to it as “singer-songwriter”, since all of the songs were Roger’s own compositions. Songs of unique beauty both musically as well as lyrically. At the same time they gave me the feeling of them being somehow time and space isolated capsules. Nothing really revealed, where they could’ve been recorded and without knowing it was Beirut, my first guess maybe would have rather been California, sometime in the 1970s. The immersive effect of his compositions and voice are just incredible. I was stunned and proposed Rogér to work on a re-release, which he politely declined, saying he had no interest in this music being reissued. 

Fast forward a year or two, Beirut had been rocked by the horrible explosion of it’s port on the 4th of August 2020. We (everybody at the label) were truly shocked and after the initial paralysis had vanished and we managed to check in on friends, whether they are ok or in need of something, thoughts on how to help with the rescue and relief efforts happening locally developed. Not being physically able engage with the support groups on site, we figured it would be the most evident idea to put together a compilation featuring some of the Lebanese musicians we had met and adore such as Ferkat Al Ard, Munir Khauli, Toufic Farroukh and Abboud Saadi in solidarity. We managed finalize the compilation within 24 hours and after we were nearly done I thought why not at least let Rogér know about it. He called me back within an hour, excited to be part of the project. In the meantime, his perspective on the idea of reissuing his music had shifted and he was welcoming the idea to make his music heard by a new generation. 

All songs written, arranged and composed by Rogér Fakhr. 

The album was licensed from Rogér Fakhr. We pay 50% of the profits of this release as royalties. Only project related costs are deductible from the gross income, research and travel costs come out of our own share. Publishing rights were not included in our agreement.

Habibi Funk 016: Rogér Fakhr - Such A Trip Through time

pre-order: https://habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/azmanah-salb

taken off the forthcoming fadoul lp on habibi funk. more infos and pre-order coming soon.

fadaul is maybe our fav discovery from traveling north africa. his raw and energetic recordings are pretty stand alone in the arab world. we have invested quite some time into research but we were not able to find too much infos about this guy. a mystical figure.



Habibi Funk 002: Fadaul (Fadoul) - Sid Redad (Pre-Order link in the describtion)

Zero Is The Magic Number

LE BOURDON

Chemsi

Hems

pre-order: https://habibifunkrecords.bandcamp.com/album/habibi-funk-007-an-eclectic-selection-of-music-from-the-arab-world

"Without Fadoul we would have never started Habibi Funk. I vividly remember  nding a copy of his now classic James Brown cover „Sid Redad“ in a dusty old shop, run by a man who once owned a record distribution and label called Mekauiphone in Casablanca. It took us around six trips to Morocco over the course of more than a year to  nd his family as Fadoul himself unfortunately died in the early 1990s. Over the course of time, we kept on  nding new records by him that were unknown to us (and recently also two studio tapes from two sessions at Boussiphone studios full of alternate takes and demo versions) and they all added to the picture of a wild heart, full of energy, creativity, yet no stranger to the inner demons a lot of artists struggle with. Fadoul was more than just a singer. He spent some time in Paris playing theatre, he painted, he worked as a circus clown for four years in the Netherlands, he recorded and also composed a single for a famous orange juice brand from Morocco.
His lyrics dealing with topics such as drugs and depression but also having good times paired with a musical backdrop that is always funky yet dirty and played with a real punk attitude. “Bsslama Hbibti is taken of a hardly known 7“ he recorded for Atlassiphone and picks up where the recording on Fadoul’s album on Habibi Funk left off. A raw sound aesthetic, an energetic performance, a mighty voice and a very lively atmosphere that was pre- served in the recordings. So far only the copy used for this release has surfaced. We have also started to work on a second album exclusively dedicated to Fadoul with a partial focus on his 1980s output consisting of his very unique takes on hiphop and reggae. This song, just like the “Al Man Saib” album, was licensed from Fadoul’s family."

Zero Is The Magic Number

Guess What 3000