Traditional muwashshah from the 9th century.

لما بدا يتثنى 
حبي جماله فتنا
أمر ما بلحظة أسرنا
غصن ثنى حين مال
وعدي ويا حيرتي
مل الرحيم شكوتي
في الحب من لوعتي
إلا مليك الجمال
أمان أمان أمان أمان

As she appeared, her pace oh so proud, my love seduced me with her beauty. Oh! How the look in her eyes enslaved us! She is like the branch that captivates as it moves. Will she respond mercifully to my complaint? Who can understand the pain inflicted by this love, but the beauty queen?

Lama Bada Yatathanna (لما بدا يتثنى)

Traditional.

يا مو يامو يا ست الحناين يا مو
تسع شهور وانتي حاملتيني 
وبعدا تعبتي كثير تا جبتيني 
وعذبتك كثير لتربيني 
وضاعت الترباية فيني يا مو
يا مو يامو يا ست الحبايب يا مو 
يا مو يامو يا ست الحناين يا مو
يا ما بردتي يا ما لتدفيني 
يا ما جعتي لتطعميني 
وكام جوز جرابات رقعتيلي 
وكل هالشيء ما بين فيني
يا مو يا مو يامو يا ست الحبايب يا مو 
يا مو يامو يا ست الحناين يا مو
شوما عملت ما بكافيكي 
وربي وحده القادر يكافيكي 
ارضي علي من قلبك وسامحيني 
ربي يطول عمرك ويخليكي
يا مو يامو يا ست الحبايب يا مو 
يا مو يامو يا ست الحناين يا مو

Mother, mother, you above all are beloved! Mother, mother, you of all the most loving! For nine months you held me, pregnant with me, your agony to bring me to life, and did I make it easy to raise me - your efforts were in vain - oh! Mother! How often, how often, you were cold that I was warm, how often were you hungry that I was fed, and all the socks that you would darn - all of these things - bereft of me! Mother!  Whatever I may do, not enough to repay you, only God can give your reward. May I be kept in the grace of your forgiveness, and your life may He prolong and protect.

Ya Mo (يا مو)

Written, composed, performed and recorded by Mehdi Messouci in Berlin, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Laurent Blot in Paris, France.

Video: https://vimeo.com/52499604

Placing my heart between the hammer and the anvil. Away you make all my demons hide. Higher stake. Falling in between. A twist of fate. Chase these thoughts away. Away and late. Foreseen plights. Words of spleen. I'll chase away your pencils. Away you make all my demons hide. Higher stake. Falling in between. A twist of fate. Chase these thoughts away. Away and late. Come here closer, you're all I'll ever want. Walking highways unseen, the trail is going uphill.

The Hammer & The Anvil

Recorded, mixed, written, composed and performed by Mehdi Messouci.
Mastered by Alexandre Mazarguil at UFO Studio in June 2013.

We Shall Writhe In Pain

Recorded, written, composed and performed by Mehdi Messouci.
Mixed and mastered by Alexandre Mazarguil at UFO Studio in June 2013.

The Weather Vane

Written, composed, performed and recorded by Mehdi Messouci in Berlin, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Laurent Blot in Paris, France.

If he asks about me, oh me, tell him I'll be with her there where sunflowers watch over me. Teach me how to stop panicking each time you take me to the top, terrified we might both fall in a headlong, be apart and end up back where we both belong. I must learn to put my trust into your hands. Oh lust fills my heart with dust, fills it with sand.

Sunflowers

Written, composed, performed and recorded by Mehdi Messouci in Berlin, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Laurent Blot in Paris, France.

I'm counting the days as I try not to stray from the way you showed me before you rushed to that shore far away. I rise and I fall and I wait for your call like a stone, as mute as a wall. I have run from it all but the phone. But I'm not amused for I'm being abused by the man that I used to be. And I wonder as we muster, will it ever be the same? And I wonder as we muster, am I sane? I sit on the edge of a roof without age in the sky, and instead of clouds the blankets unfolds before my eyes. I grab and a make a million of flakes out of them and I drop them on thee. And I wonder as we muster, will it ever be the same? And I wonder as we muster, are we sane?

Blankets

Written, composed, performed and recorded by Mehdi Messouci in Berlin, Germany. Mixed and mastered by Laurent Blot in Paris, France.

I know it looms, my heart it tells for we are doomed like everybody else. There comes a time when legs can't move and bells can't chime and hearts can't choose. At once we'll stop to be, to breathe, and off we'll chop each other's memories. Just guess how sad and guess how weary and guess how mad we both will be. When nothing's left but our regrets and deepened clefts and dimlit sets, will we behave? Will we believe in what we have or will we grieve? It freezes my heart to know we both will die and die alone. After our life, what will we keep? Beyond all strife, beyond our sleep, I'll hold your smile as a keepsake and wonder why it was not fake.

The Keepsake

After Our Life

VÆV is a one man project based in Berlin, Germany.

VÆV

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