Banna was born in Nazareth, where she graduated from Nazareth Baptist School. She lived in Nazareth with her three children.
She died on 24 March 2018, aged 51, in a hospital in her hometown of Nazareth, Palestine following a lengthy and brave battle with breast cancer, which she openly shared with her numerous fans through social media. She met her husband, Ukrainian guitarist Leonid Alexeyenko, while studying music together at the Higher Music Conservatory in Moscow and they married in 1991, and divorced in 2010.
Banna first achieved popularity in the early 1990s, after recording her own versions of traditional Palestinian children's songs that were on the verge of being forgotten.
Banna also composed her own songs and set Palestinian poetry to music. Her message is often focused on the suffering of Palestinians. Her music is described as "haunting, emotional, at times bordering on kitsch." She described her music as a means of cultural self-assertion:
A part of our work consists of collecting traditional Palestinian texts without melodies. So that the texts do not get lost, we try to compose melodies for them that are modern, yet inspired by traditional Palestinian music.
In this way, Banna does more than mimic the traditional techniques and representations of the pieces she interprets. She blends them with modern singing styles because,
Oriental singing techniques are mostly ornamental… But my voice is more two-dimensional, thicker. I try to write songs that fit my voice. I want to create something new in every respect. And that includes bringing people elsewhere closer to the music and soul of the Palestinians.
She performed live in the West Bank and she reached audiences in Gaza through live webcasts. She performed her first concert in Syria on 8 January 2009 and also performed in Tunisia on 25 July 2011. Her first concert in Beirut took place on 22 March 2012.
Banna's popularity in Europe began after Norwegian music producer Erik Hillestad invited her to participate on the CD Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003) and Norwegian singer Kari Bremnes, who also took part on this production in a duet with Rim Banna, invited her to Oslo. Banna accepted the invitation, and the two artists did a show together.
The album, dubbed "a musical antiwar message to U.S. President Bush from female singers in Palestine, Iraq, Iran, and Norway," brings these women together with others from North Korea, Syria, Cuba, and Afghanistan, to sing traditional lullabies from their lands in duet form with English-language performers whose translation allows the songs to reach a Western audience.
The Mirrors of My Soul, which was dedicated to all the Palestinian and Arab political detainees in the Israeli prisons, is a stylistic departure from her previous body of work. Produced in cooperation with a Norwegean quintet, it features "Western pop styling" fused with Middle Eastern modal and vocal structures, and Arabic lyrics.
Although the style differs from previous recordings, the subject matter has basically remained constant. The album includes "songs of despair and hope" about the lives of "a struggling people, and even a song about late Palestinian leader and PA president Arafat in a way that is both thoughtful and subtle".
Discography
Jafra (1985)
Your tears Mother (1986)
The Dream (1993)
New Moon (1995)
Mukaghat (1996)
Al Quds Everlasting (2002)
Krybberom (2003) Rim Banna & SKRUK
Lullabies from the Axis of Evil (2003 – Various female artists)
The Mirrors of My Soul (2005, Valley Entertainment)
This was not my story (2006) Rim Banna & Henrik Koitz
Seasons of violet (2007)
Songs across Walls of Separation (2008 – Various artists from the Middle East, Africa, Central America, North America, and Europe)
April Blossoms (2009) an album for children, was dedicated to the children martyrs in Gaza
A Time to cry (2010), was recorded in one of the houses in Sheikh Jarrah under constant threat of eviction from the part of their house (with three Palestinian singers)
"Tomorrow" (Bokra) 2011, a single song of the American legend composer Quincy Jones, who chose Rim Banna to represent Palestine in this project which will be released in an Album and a video clip in September 2011
Revelation of Ecstasy and Rebellion (2013); produced by Bugge Wesseltoft
Songs from a Stolen Spring (2014, Valley Entertainment/Kirkelig Kulturverksted - Various Artists), featuring "Break Your Fears"
The Hymn of the Rain
Rim Banna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
أو شُرفتان راح ينأى عنهما القمر.
عيناك حين تبسمان تورق الكرومْ
وترقص الأضواء... كالأقمار في نهَرْ
ومقلتاك بي تطيفان مع المطر
وعبر أمواج الخليج تمسح البروقْ
سواحلَ العراق بالنجوم والمحار،
فيسحب الليل عليها من دمٍ دثارْ.
وكلَّ عام -- حين يعشب الثرى -- نجوعْ
ما مرَّ عامٌ والعراق ليس فيه جوعْ.
مطر...
مطر...
مطر...
في كلّ قطرة من المطرْ
حمراء أو صفراء من أجنَّةِ الزَّهَرْ.
وكلّ دمعة من الجياع والعراة
وكلّ قطرةٍ تراق من دم العبيدْ
فهي ابتسامٌ في انتظار مبسمٍ جديد
أو حُلمةٌ تورَّدت على فم الوليدْ
في عالم الغد الفتيّ، واهب الحياة.
ويهطل المطرْ...
The Hymn of the Rain by Rim Banna is a poem about rain and its various effects on nature and society. The song uses vivid and sensory language to describe the beauty and power of rain. The first stanza talks about how the eyes of the singer disappear amidst the palm trees during the time of magic. Meanwhile, the light dances like the moons on the river whose shore is adorned with stars, and sometimes the moon steps away from the windows. The second stanza discusses how the rain unites with the singer’s eyes and races across the waves of the Arabian Gulf, wiping out the lightning. The coasts of Iraq are adorned with stars and oysters, as if anticipating dawn. At night, the darkness takes over again, smothering these coasts in blood.
The last stanza consists of the repetition of the word "rain" – as if to emphasize its importance. Each raindrop has within it the potential to bring forth a new life, of plants and flowers, or even a smile, a dream, or a hope for the future. The song, therefore, is not just about the beauty of rain, but also about its significance in nourishing and sustaining life at all levels of society.
Line by Line Meaning
عيناكِ غابتا نخيلٍ ساعةَ السحَرْ،
Your eyes are like two palm groves disappearing at the dawn.
أو شُرفتان راح ينأى عنهما القمر.
Or they are like two balconies that the moon absents from.
عيناك حين تبسمان تورق الكرومْ
When you smile, your eyes are like grapevines that become green.
وترقص الأضواء... كالأقمار في نهَرْ
And the lights start dancing like the moons in a river.
ومقلتاك بي تطيفان مع المطر
And in my eyes, your image moves with the rain.
وعبر أمواج الخليج تمسح البروقْ
Your reflection wipes the lightnings through the waves of the gulf.
سواحلَ العراق بالنجوم والمحار،
Iraqi shores are adorned by stars and shells.
كأنها تهمّ بالشروق فيسحب الليل عليها من دمٍ دثارْ.
As if they’re set on sunrise, the night spreads on them with its bloody shrouds.
وكلَّ عام -- حين يعشب الثرى -- نجوعْ
Every year, when the earth turns green, we become hungry.
ما مرَّ عامٌ والعراق ليس فيه جوعْ.
There hasn't been a year when there is no hunger in Iraq.
مطر...
Rain...
مطر...
Rain...
مطر...
Rain...
في كلّ قطرة من المطرْ
In every drop of rain.
حمراء أو صفراء من أجنَّةِ الزَّهَرْ.
Whether it’s red or yellow from the buds of flowers.
وكلّ دمعة من الجياع والعراة
Every tear from the poor and naked ones.
وكلّ قطرةٍ تراق من دم العبيدْ
And every drop that is shed from the slaves' blood.
فهي ابتسامٌ في انتظار مبسمٍ جديد
All of them are just smiles waiting for a new one to come.
أو حُلمةٌ تورَّدت على فم الوليدْ
Or nipples that become rosy on the baby's mouth.
في عالم الغد الفتيّ، واهب الحياة.
In the world of tomorrow, the young and life-giving.
ويهطل المطرْ...
And the rain keeps pouring down...
Contributed by Nathaniel C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@PriyoDjatmiko14
Your eyes are palm trees at the dawning hour,
عيناكِ غابتا نخيلٍ ساعةَ السحَرْ،
Or two balconies resting, from which the moon will depart.
أو شُرفتان راح ينأى عنهما القمر.
Your eyes, when you smile, sprout the vines
عيناك حين تبسمان تورق الكرومْ
And the lights dance... like moons in a river
وترقص الأضواء... كالأقمار في نهَرْ
And your eyes in me are floating with the rain
ومقلتاك بي تطيفان مع المطر
And across the Gulf waves wiping the lightning
وعبر أمواج الخليج تمسح البروقْ
The coasts of Iraq with stars and oysters,
سواحلَ العراق بالنجوم والمحار،
As if it was about to rise
كأنها تهمّ بالشروق
The night draws a blanket of blood on her.
فيسحب الليل عليها من دمٍ دثارْ.
And every year -- when the soil is grassed -- we get hungry
وكلَّ عام -- حين يعشب الثرى -- نجوعْ
What a year has passed and Iraq has no hunger.
ما مرَّ عامٌ والعراق ليس فيه جوعْ.
rain...
مطر...
rain...
مطر...
rain...
مطر...
In every drop of rain
في كلّ قطرة من المطرْ
Red or yellow from the embryos of the flower.
حمراء أو صفراء من أجنَّةِ الزَّهَرْ.
And every tear from the hungry and the naked
وكلّ دمعة من الجياع والعراة
And every drop of slaves' blood shed
وكلّ قطرةٍ تراق من دم العبيدْ
It is a smile waiting for a new smile
فهي ابتسامٌ في انتظار مبسمٍ جديد
Or a pink nipple on the mouth of the newborn
أو حُلمةٌ تورَّدت على فم الوليدْ
In the youth world of tomorrow, the giver of life.
في عالم الغد الفتيّ، واهب الحياة.
And the rain start falling...
ويهطل المطرْ...
@mostafa_20iq
طوفان الأقصى 🇵🇸✊
هذا الشعب لن يكل حتى يرجع ارضه
@ayahatem9144
هذه أحد القصائد التي اخذناها في كتاب الادب للشاعر العراقي بدر شاكر السياب ♥️
@Mgr.1_6
ليست قصيدة وانما فقط اسم الديوان
القصيدة اسمها غريب على الخليج
@samifoxs1226
لم اسمعك من قبل الان وعندم سمعتك لااول مره كنت استمع روايه ممله ظهرة اغنيتك واثر بي المقطع وبخثت عنك واثر بي صوتك وانتقائك الكلمات وقلت لنفسي اني وجدت مابحث عنه في هذا الوقت الذي بات فيه الفن حكر على فئه معينه من اغنيه الهابطه ولكن صدمت عندما وجدتك ضيعتك وصدمت ان هذا الصوت يعد يغرد من الله ولعند الله عدتي .رحمة الله عليكي احببتك بخمس دقائق يشهد ربي ورثيتك بخمس دقائق ولدتي في قلبي ومتي خلال عشر دقائق يا لسخرية القدر
@mnykhfamily8667
نفس ما حدث معي بالظبط
@hanakhore399
انني اعرفها منذ طفولتي
كان والدي يحدثني عنها
كان يشهق شهقه اسطوريه انها ريم بنا
عرفت من لهجته وانا طفلا انها غير عاديه ومرت السنين وسمعت صوتها وعلق الصوت في اذنيي
@user-rj2bz5qh6t
فعلآ
@justsisters8841
ندمانه لاني عرفتك متاخر اوي بعد ما توفيتيي💔..تحياتي من مصر *ربنا يرحمك*❤👑
@Dobamec_
ماتت 😭😭😭الله يرحمها
@bayanbakour9487
احمدي ربك انك ما عرفتيها قبل لأني حزنت