Saria al-Sawas - Get Up and Let's Dance, Girlسارية السواس - قومي لندبك ولدةGoomi lanidbich welda

This is a folk song popular in Eastern Syria and other parts of the Arab world. The title varies: Gumi lanidbich/tanidbich welda " قومي لندبك \ تندبك ولدة " and it means "get up so we can dance (together) girl." It is a clear representative of the "debke دبكة" genre, which is a popular form of folk dance in the Mashriq. Simply put, it's a line dance where you hold hands and dance in a circle. For a more detailed explanation, see here. To see some debke in action, click here.

There are many versions of this song that can be found on this internet. I will present the Saria al-Sawas (سارية السواس) version with some translation and explanation and then supply some others. Saria is actually a woman, but the lyrics work better if the singer is imagined as male.

قــومي لنــدبــك ولده وندبك الغــوالــي

Get up and let's dance girl and make the others (al-ghawali) dance
Notes: to be more specific, she's using the verb "to debke (nidbich)" and "to make (someone) debke (ndebbich)"

واحط ايدي بيد الشوق وافرحك يا غـــالـــي

I'll put my hand in the hand of love/passion and make you happy, my precious
Notes: since the form of dancing debke involves dancing hand in hand side by side, putting one's hand in the "hand of love" actually refers to putting his hand in hers

شنو السبب زعــلانه سلمت ما رديتي

What's the reason you're upset, I said hi but you didn't respond

عــشرين عله وعــله جــوى القلب حطيتي

You've put twenty and one sicknesses/maladies in my heart

يـا بـنـيـه يـالــوراده راعـيـة الـقـلابيــه

Oh girl, oh flower-girl, oh pigeon-keeper
Notes: according to my web research, القلابية qalabiya is a highly coveted breed of pigeon

مشهوره بكثر عنــاده زينه يالعقيديــه

You're famous for being so stubborn, beauty of the Aqidis (Aqidi refers to a Bedouin group living in Easter Syria)

Adel Mohsen

لاحظت في الموقع ترجمة الأغنيه .. ( وهي بالمناسبه ترجمه رائعه )

لكن في نهاية الأغنية توجد كلمة " يالعقيدية " حيث لم تجدوا معناها ..

وهي نداء لأصل الفتاة التي يراقصها صاحب كلمات الأغنية

والعقيدية أو العقيدي هو أحد الأصول الشهيره التي تنتشر في... بادية سوريا .. حيث بدأت هذه الأغنيه الفلوكلوريه ..

وهي ترمز لقبائل بدو سوريا التي " تعاقدت " على الحرب ضد قبيلة " شمر " من الجزيرة العربية ..

فقط أردت الإضافه إلى ترجمتكم الرائعه .. مع كل الشكر لجهودكم

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Ali Dyoub (علي ديوب)

This version is a little bit more "raw" for lack of a better term. It's from a live performance and while the main verse is the same, the rest differ entirely from the version above. It gives a sense of a live debke performance, with the singer improvising variations on the lines, making appeals to the crowd to dance and sometimes calling to people by name such as the hosts or musicians, and referencing himself. I also say this version is a little bit more raw because some of the lines are a bit racier and even combative. As two examples, in one line he refers to being chest to chest with a girl and kissing her on the lips "صدري ع صدره وبيمصمصني بشفاته" and in another he curses his mother for "getting pregnant and bringing (him) into the world" يلعن بيك يا امي ليش حبلتي وجبتيني . I'm not sure of the context in this performance but typically singers are hired to perform at social events.

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Fariha al-Abdullah (فريحة العبدلله)



In this version the song and repetition of verses takes a different form.

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Sami Clark (سامي كلارك)



This is a completely different song that is a mountain debke from Lebanon, but the words are so similar that I think the two songs must be related somehow. Even if it's not it's a great video worth watching. The main verse says "get up so we can dance girl (different words but same meaning), and put your hand in mine"(Goomi taner'os ya sabiyi, w-eshbiki ideyki bi-iydeyi قومي تنرقص يا صبية واشبكي ايديكي بايديي )

I didn't find a whole lot on these songs, so if anyone has any information on the origins or other versions please share!