Shou Byishky (What's Wrong With It) (1999)
[Originally composed as a soundtrack to a film by Carole Mansour, this song is partitioned into segments,
each describing a problem rampant in daily Lebanese life.]
Throw the paper out of the car (1)
You "Pascha", you VIP (2)
Throw it anywhere in the neighborhood
Someone will pick it up
Throw out the can and the cigarette
And don't give it a second thought
The trash can is too far away
Approximately a meter
Keep your hand pressed on the car horn
Perhaps the traffic will move
If you honk long enough
You'll fly like a bird
And when you see an attractive girl
Honk for her, she'll love you
But if you honk for me
I'll get out and trample you
What is this? Where's the sidewalk?
How will I be able to cross (3)
To my knowledge the sidewalk was right here
"Well, it's gone and it isn't coming back"
How thin must I be to be able to walk
And I might have squeezed in if I hadn't eaten a "Mankousheh" (4)
Make your scooter jump, you champ (5)
Show us your expertise
The best mind in engineering
can't make it jump as you can
Go with the flow of traffic, or against traffic
Pay it no mind
Keep on practicing
So you can guarantee a bright future (6)
A mobile phone, two mobile phones
Three mobile phones
A hundred, two hundred, two million
Who can keep up with the calls
"Call me so I can tell you how to turn your head so you'll see me,
I can see you, but you still haven't seen me" (7)
It is now three o'clock, and my appointment was at two
Since five minutes to two I have been swatting away flies (8)
And the guy who requested this meetingÂ
needs me very urgently
But I am such an ass
I arrived a bit too early
Choir sings: What is wrong with it? What would it say (if it could talk)
while narrator glibs: What's wrong with it?
Nothing is wrong with it
Lebanon's the best country in the world
Etc.
(1) Lebanese motorists are notorious for discarding items for which they have no use right out of car windows while driving
(2) "Pascha" is a Turkish word for an important person, and still in use today
(3) Pedestrians in Lebanon are second class citizens, at best, and often a car will be parked over the sidewalk, blocking the path
(4) The traditional olive oil and thyme pizza
(5) Kids like to raise the front wheel of a scooter, akin to a horse rider with a well-trained horse, or a driver of a low rider car
(6) Kids who start out like this usually amount to little in life
(7) Lebanese people use their mobile phones for the most trivial of reasons
(8) Local expression for wasting time