Children’s songs
I would’ve loved to be a musician, but having that as a career in Saudi is not appealing, when I was in my last year of high school, I researched career opportunities in music and music schools in Saudi. The only place I could’ve learned was in the military music academy, which meant I had to apply to the military, and that was something I could never do, due to me being a peace loving free spirit 
and not wanting to only play the national anthems of most countries in the world for the rest of my life.
Music and musical instruments have always fascinated me. Ever since I can remember my head would turn everytime I saw a musical instrument, I remember going straight to the musical instruments section at a once famous department store in Jeddah as soon as we went there, or go to the musical instruments store in a shopping mall even if I could only look at them from the window… today I own four guitars, two keyboards, a drum machine, recording hardware and software, and some other smaller instruments, not to mention those that I have sold. When this Qusai was just getting famous and no one knew what he looked like, my younger brother asked my to confide in him and told me “it’s OK, you can tell me if it is you”
My son seems to have inherited this appreciation of music, and as soon as his hands are big enough I will buy him a guitar so he would let me play mine in peace 
.
Which brings me to the subject I wanted to write about, children’s songs in the Arab world today.
When my brother came to visit us, he said if he ever saw The Wiggles in person he would probably beat them up, my son had their songs and other songs on whenever he had the chance… I laughed and thought to myself “wait till you have kids”
When we visited Saudi in December, I was surprised, no I wasn’t, I knew about it, but knowing about it and living it are two different things. The state of children’s music is bad, these songs should teach children about the alphabet, about counting and numbers, about animals, about how words rhyme, and about so many different things that are in my opinion are important to a child’s growing brain development.
Instead, I saw a little two year old baby reciting Haifa Wahbi’s new song, and while I and any other heterosexual male enjoy looking at Haifa’s “talents” (a friend of a friend showed one of her videos to her class in the US and the instructor asked for it to be played again), I do not want her words to be what my child recites.
The alternative of course is the other children’s songs which are religious channels that if you have read the first two paragraphs would know that I have an appreciation of music that this and this or my mom is a house wife do not even come close to be called music in my book, it is not that I look down on them, but there is not enough of an effort put in to them to make them sound remotely even close to bearable.
So we come back to The Wiggles, and as annoyed as I am with them being played at every chance, I am happy that I do not have to worry about the junk that he hears… well, at least for a few more years when he starts to listen to whatever the annoying teenager music he will listen to (I will be old, it will be annoying to me)
During my childhood we had the Arabic Sesame Street, which was educational and entertaining, unfortunately funding for it stopped, and while the American Sesame Street is still on and even featured Michelle Obama, the funding for the Arabic Sesame Street dried up many years ago.
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was just discussing that with my cousins the other day. how those words children hear now will be incorporated in their vocabulary forever; how some children would curse you and others would call you 7abeebi (yes, a 4 year old called me 7abeebti)
Remember Al Manahel? that was awesome! it was so much fun though it was dedicated to correct use of the Arabic Language… And there was this other show, a cartoon about the human body; which contained so much detail it even specified the life span of an RBC to be 120 days and how new DNA was made! it was translated to Arabic but still in good language.
I weren’t taught Arabic kindergarten songs. My favourite was “Savez-Vous Planter Les Choux”, when my 5 year old cousin came back from KG and told me about this new “nasheed” he was taught, about fighting to defend his country and wanting to be a soldier; i was in utter shock!
Yes your generation had almanahel, and as I remember Labiba
but after that it was all downhill from there I guess.
Thanks Asmaa
Great post! Children’s literature, music and film are interests of mine so I was happy to learn the latest and the not so greatest from this post. Arabic Sesame Street seems really wonderful, as do the Wiggles. I also appreciate from my nephew’s earlier favourites Madeline and Caillou.
I was very surprised to discover that Caillou is based on the child psychoanalytic theory and practice of one of my very favourite theoreticians, Francoise Dolto (pretend there is a cedilla on the c). She used to require that her child patients pay for their sessions (in addition to their parents actually paying the fee) by having them pay each time something: their expired subway ticket, a hand drawn note, or a “caillou” ie a pebble. That way they appreciated that this was a professional service and that they were responsible for taking it seriously. She was the “mother” of child psychiatry and psychoanalysis in France., with numerous books of theory and practice.
Her son, Carlos (looks like a younger more agile Pavarotti), is an entertainer, especially for children, and his children’s songs are his most famous. Some of them are slightly risque by child standards but don’t come anywhere near the innuendo of Haifa Wahbi.
Sadly by what both you and Asmaa have written it seems that children’s fair in Arabic is at one extreme or the other, whereas it was previously of a much higher quality. The religious songs here are not particularly well done, seeming too rigid and codified, and the “My mother the housewife” one is a limitation even on stay at home mothers, let alone on a broader definition of a mother’s love or role.
Perhaps sticking to what is slightly older and available on DVDs or CDs or tapes would be a way to have early Arabic learning and fun. In English, Armenian-Egyptian-Canadian, Raffi, is a great singer and composer of children’s songs, and Sharon, Lois, and Bram are great favourites.
In children’s literature, Robert Munsch is brilliant, and always tests his books on children in multiple public recountings and readings of the stories until they are just right, and their appeal to children is confirmed. They are so rhythmic as to be musical, and are beautifully illustrated. His “bestest” ones are considered to be: “Good families don’t” [have farts]; “I have to go” [pee]; “A promise is a promise”. He is most famous for “Love you forever” (about the love between mother and son; through the life cycle of both) which should carry a warning: grownups have trouble not crying through this one. It started as a song he composed when mourning the deaths of his 2 stillborn children a year apart. It has won numerous awards and sold 15, 000, 000 copies.
Well, I should keep this short ( LOL
) so I will conclude that as bad as the current state of affairs may be, it could be worse–it seems Barney gave parents diabetes from the cloying sweetness.
Thanks Chiara, the book recommendations are great and we will look into getting them. As for songs and educational programs, we will stick to the selected English material for the moment
You are welcome. I hope you found online the sites for Madeline (English) which has interesting information on the author and his late start in a creative career, and Caillou (English site) which has a fun play area (for your son, or your inner child LOL
), and Robert Munsch’s site is a great read and play experience all by itself. It has some full texts, and audios of him reading. He shows his creative process, shares from his biography, and has an ongoing dialogue with the children from his school readings who inspire a story that turns into one of his books. He must be magnificent as a classroom guest, and goes anywhere in Canada.
LOL @ “When this Qusai was just getting famous and no one knew what he looked like, my younger brother asked my to confide in him and told me ‘it’s OK, you can tell me if it is you’”
” and not wanting to only play the national anthems of most countries in the world for the rest of my life.” — oh c’mon! I would love to hear you play “The Star-Spangled Banner”
Silliness aside, that’s sad that there are not many educational songs and TV shows for young children in KSA. Is this true in other Arab countries? There are quite a few over here. My nephew grew up watching many of them so I saw them when I had him in my care. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the good things he has learned from educational TV. Do you think other Arab parents are similar to you or do you think they are fine with what is currently offered? This would be an interesting market for someone who sees a demand for something that is not being fulfilled. I don’t know how easy this is in that region, but it would a good area to create jobs and meet a need for educational songs and shows for children. So maybe you could put those musical talents to good use, draw inspiration from your son and the sky’s the limit!
I didn’t see the Wiggles too much, but I do recall the Fruit Salad song from a time I was watching my neighbor’s son. Years later that song is still in my head.
By the way, thanks for leaving two comments on my blog earlier today. You don’t know how I smiled when I saw the popular Qusay had been there. Yes, I am easily pleased, but, hey, I am most grateful!
Popular? don’t tell me u also think I am the Qusai the rapper?
The fruit salad song is what particularly drove my brother crazy
and it was in Spanish also LOL.
I have tried to play the Star-Spangled Banner (the Jimi Hendrix version) but it never came out like his.
Most television programs in the ME are not produced in Saudi, and that includes children’s’ programs. Compared with the media productions from other Arab countries, very few Saudi productions are made, let alone for children.
As for making children’s songs
pass please, I am not cut out for it LOL
p.s. your comments always make me smile, thank you