Music plays an extremely important role in one’s daily life, no matter what culture background you belong to or where a person is from it is one of the most popular elements of entertainment. There are many genres of music and the difference in generations creates different tastes in music. In Egypt, most of they elderly people admire old artists from the 1940’s-1980’s such as Abdel Halim Hafez, Fareed El Atrash, Mohamed Abdel Wahab, and Om Kolthoom. Elderly people usually refuse to listen to newly
emerging music trends or singers and when they do they call it “low class” and “pointless” beats and voice. On the other hand, the youth are more prone to modern music but they are not a whole bunch who listen to the same singer or like the same lyrics they are divided into two social sectors which are low and middle-high class. In every socio-economical class there is a a favorite genre of music and some times there are some singers that stand out and become heard by both classes usually for notoriety reasons. The lower classes usually enjoy listening to sad tunes and lyrics that are about friends betraying each other , about the betrayal of life, or about being lonely using mainly “vulgar” sentences in comparison to the higher classes but these are their normal way of talking in their everyday lives. Thus, the music a lower class person listens to usually reflects the environment he/ she lives in, reflects the way they talk, and problems and miseries in their daily lives mostly family matters, economical crisis, and issues concerning the harshness on the government on people who do not have the power. Such songs are usually sang by people like Sa’ad El Soghayar, Shaaban Abdel Rahim, And Rico who used to live live in such communities and face the same problems and unfairness of the government.
As for the middle and high classes they tend to listen to love songs, songs where a lover is hurt or one party left the other and that reflects the problems they face and the love stories they live. The middle class usually listen to songs of a broken heart person due to not being able to marry the loved one because of economical reasons. Not only that, some of the high and middle classes listen to national songs which are usually sang by their favorite singers as middle and high classes are more aware than the lower classes about problems happening in the middle east. They listen mainly to Amr Diab, Moustafa Amar, Sherine, and Hisham Abbas. There is a common foundation between the three classes but mainly in the lower and the middle which is the “video Clip” phenomenon where men sit with each other on Cafés with satellites and comment about Haifa new breasts implants or Elissa's’. Men of these classes usually criticize their women about their wight and their looks in general as a solution women tend as well to watch those clips and try to imitate what they see blindly. There were as a result many cases of divorce due to men’s sexual frustration from their women in comparison to women like Haifa, Nancy, Elissa, and Dana. Therefore, music plays an integral role in people’s lives as it reflects their contemporary realities and the problems that every class in the Egyptian society faces.
Music that the lower classes listen to reflect their daily lives perfectly. For example one of the most popular singer who made their way to grab the attention of higher classes is Sha'ban Abdel Riheem. Sha'ban put the energy he had towards Israel in a simple song where he said it bluntly
“I hate Israel”. Not only that, when expressing love he said “ I love you, you donkey” which is not acceptable and rarely used in higher classes. He used the words that a person from an uneducated background and a lower class would use and understand which made him so popular ( Gordon 5). Not only Sha'ban, three years later launched a singer called Sa'ad el Soghayar was courageous enough to say in a song “ Not every woman that wears a revealing top is a chick”. Such words are not common or not said bluntly in higher societies in contrast with the lower classes where this is the way a male would tease a female. Those classes are mainly composed of Cab drivers, micro bus drivers, barbers, iron-men, and mechanics who enjoy listening to simple words that describes the current situations they are in and expresses their anger peacefully. When it comes to love songs in the lower classes the lyrics are mainly about hurt as a result of not being able to be with the loved one. That reflects the economic crises the lower classes are facing in Egypt because of the low wages they take. As a result, the songs about blame appear where the loved one is forced to marry another from a higher class with lyrics like “ I will not blame you or hurt you, you have always been immoral”. When those people listen to music from the higher class like for example a documentary was made by an Egyptian director called sheriff el Adma where he interviewed a micro bus driver making him listen to Moustafa Amar a singer that usually upper classes listen to he listened for about five seconds and could not help laughing which shows how classes in Egypt are not related to each other unlike in the past where music was a common background for all Egyptians as a unit. Such songs are as well an implication of the high amount of illiteracy in Egypt as the words chosen for the songs seem meaningful and effective to its listeners regardless of the horrible tunes used in them showing that they do not have an educated taste of music they just use it as an anger release strategy. Thus, music as a pop-culture that the lower class Egyptians created after the so-called “golden age of music” that used to be the unity of all Egyptians is one that reflects their feelings of sarcasm and anger towards higher classes, shows their deteriorating economic status, the increasing rate of illiteracy, and fragmentation of the Egyptian society in a whole.
The middle and higher classes are somehow near each other when it comes to the taste of music. they usually go or work in places that gives them the chance to listen to a wider varitey of music and pick what suites and speaks out for them. Middle and higher classes of people usually listen to love songs for example those of Amr Diab, Hisham Abbas, and Moustafa Amar whom as well sing hurt
emerging music trends or singers and when they do they call it “low class” and “pointless” beats and voice. On the other hand, the youth are more prone to modern music but they are not a whole bunch who listen to the same singer or like the same lyrics they are divided into two social sectors which are low and middle-high class. In every socio-economical class there is a a favorite genre of music and some times there are some singers that stand out and become heard by both classes usually for notoriety reasons. The lower classes usually enjoy listening to sad tunes and lyrics that are about friends betraying each other , about the betrayal of life, or about being lonely using mainly “vulgar” sentences in comparison to the higher classes but these are their normal way of talking in their everyday lives. Thus, the music a lower class person listens to usually reflects the environment he/ she lives in, reflects the way they talk, and problems and miseries in their daily lives mostly family matters, economical crisis, and issues concerning the harshness on the government on people who do not have the power. Such songs are usually sang by people like Sa’ad El Soghayar, Shaaban Abdel Rahim, And Rico who used to live live in such communities and face the same problems and unfairness of the government.As for the middle and high classes they tend to listen to love songs, songs where a lover is hurt or one party left the other and that reflects the problems they face and the love stories they live. The middle class usually listen to songs of a broken heart person due to not being able to marry the loved one because of economical reasons. Not only that, some of the high and middle classes listen to national songs which are usually sang by their favorite singers as middle and high classes are more aware than the lower classes about problems happening in the middle east. They listen mainly to Amr Diab, Moustafa Amar, Sherine, and Hisham Abbas. There is a common foundation between the three classes but mainly in the lower and the middle which is the “video Clip” phenomenon where men sit with each other on Cafés with satellites and comment about Haifa new breasts implants or Elissa's’. Men of these classes usually criticize their women about their wight and their looks in general as a solution women tend as well to watch those clips and try to imitate what they see blindly. There were as a result many cases of divorce due to men’s sexual frustration from their women in comparison to women like Haifa, Nancy, Elissa, and Dana. Therefore, music plays an integral role in people’s lives as it reflects their contemporary realities and the problems that every class in the Egyptian society faces.
Music that the lower classes listen to reflect their daily lives perfectly. For example one of the most popular singer who made their way to grab the attention of higher classes is Sha'ban Abdel Riheem. Sha'ban put the energy he had towards Israel in a simple song where he said it bluntly
“I hate Israel”. Not only that, when expressing love he said “ I love you, you donkey” which is not acceptable and rarely used in higher classes. He used the words that a person from an uneducated background and a lower class would use and understand which made him so popular ( Gordon 5). Not only Sha'ban, three years later launched a singer called Sa'ad el Soghayar was courageous enough to say in a song “ Not every woman that wears a revealing top is a chick”. Such words are not common or not said bluntly in higher societies in contrast with the lower classes where this is the way a male would tease a female. Those classes are mainly composed of Cab drivers, micro bus drivers, barbers, iron-men, and mechanics who enjoy listening to simple words that describes the current situations they are in and expresses their anger peacefully. When it comes to love songs in the lower classes the lyrics are mainly about hurt as a result of not being able to be with the loved one. That reflects the economic crises the lower classes are facing in Egypt because of the low wages they take. As a result, the songs about blame appear where the loved one is forced to marry another from a higher class with lyrics like “ I will not blame you or hurt you, you have always been immoral”. When those people listen to music from the higher class like for example a documentary was made by an Egyptian director called sheriff el Adma where he interviewed a micro bus driver making him listen to Moustafa Amar a singer that usually upper classes listen to he listened for about five seconds and could not help laughing which shows how classes in Egypt are not related to each other unlike in the past where music was a common background for all Egyptians as a unit. Such songs are as well an implication of the high amount of illiteracy in Egypt as the words chosen for the songs seem meaningful and effective to its listeners regardless of the horrible tunes used in them showing that they do not have an educated taste of music they just use it as an anger release strategy. Thus, music as a pop-culture that the lower class Egyptians created after the so-called “golden age of music” that used to be the unity of all Egyptians is one that reflects their feelings of sarcasm and anger towards higher classes, shows their deteriorating economic status, the increasing rate of illiteracy, and fragmentation of the Egyptian society in a whole.The middle and higher classes are somehow near each other when it comes to the taste of music. they usually go or work in places that gives them the chance to listen to a wider varitey of music and pick what suites and speaks out for them. Middle and higher classes of people usually listen to love songs for example those of Amr Diab, Hisham Abbas, and Moustafa Amar whom as well sing hurt
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