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3 Foreign Songs Sampled By Fairuz, Including A Soviet Tune!
Most of us have heard the story of Fairuz suing Madonna over the use of her Easter chants in the single Erotica, but what about times when Fairuz herself has sampled foreign music? Lebanon’s most illustrious and internationally recognized artist has had her fair share of foreign-sampled hits during her long career. We have compiled three of the most major foreign samples that appear in Fairuz’s discography right here, take a listen and tell us what you think.
Kanou Ya Habibi – Polyushko Polye
Released in 1974, Kanou Ya Habibi is home to an iconic tune from the heart of the Soviet Union. Real Fairuz-heads will remember that the song starts with an instantly recognizable melody that has Fairuz humming over it. Well, that melody is not actually an original creation but a re-arrangement of the Soviet Polyushko-polye.
The original song was composed by Lev Knipper, with lyrics by Viktor Gusev in 1933. In it, the journey of a young Red Army recruit who leaves his home to defend the union is chronicled in an epic musical layout. The song was most famously played by the Red Army Choir.
Fairuz is not the only artist to have been inspired by the song. It was translated to English by Paul Robeson in 1942, covered by Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson in 1967, and turned into Meadowlands by American rock band Jefferson Airplane.
Ya Ana Ya Ana – Symphony No. 40
Released in 1972, Ya Ana Ya Ana is another one of Fairuz’s major early hits, with her catchy singing finding a home atop Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 40. Mozart had composed the symphony 184 years earlier in 1788 and is said to have never heard it actually performed.
Another theory states that Mozard heard the symphony performed in 1802 at Baron Gottfried van Swieten’s home. However, the execution was so terrible Mozart had to leave the room. We’re sure he wouldn’t leave the room when he hears Fairuz and the Rahbani brothers’ version.
Alongside Fairuz, the symphony would go on to also inspire great artists such as Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert, in addition to many orchestras around the world. Listen to it below and tell us if Fairuz did it justice.
Li Beirut – Concierto De Aranjuez
Released in 1984, Li Beirut has regained popularity over the last few years as Beirut goes through a new set of struggles similar to those that inspired the original recording during the war period. However, the song’s wonderfully melancholic melody is not an original creation, but a sample of Joaquín Rodrigo’s Concierto De Aranjuez.
The arrangement is considered to be Rodrigo’s most popular and was released in 1939. Rodrigo, who was blind since the age of 3, composed the music in Paris with a unique combination of guitar and orchestra sandwiched in between the end of the Spanish Civil War and the impeding Second World War.
Rodrigo was actually not a fan of one of the first re-interpretations of his work in Sketches of Spain by American jazz musician Miles Davis. His wife would go on to describe the event as “an act of piracy” in a later memoir. However, it said Rodrigo eventually accepted the jazz and pop renditions of his work that were spreading, with close to 35 samples of the song appearing today.