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 Night Has Fallen Down
Rim Banna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
وتقَفَّلَت البواب
صار الغريب يِلْتِجي
من باب لباب
أمسى المسا يا غريب
وتفتّحت الجراح
يا عين لا تِدمعي
علّي جفاني وراح
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
والصبر أخدتو معي
خبّيتو بعيوني
عفراق أهلي يا يمّا
بالله لا تلوموني
يا كاتب الورقة
واكتب حواشيها
سلّم على البلد
يللي حبابنا فيها
يا كاتب الورقة
اكتب وملّيها
وسلّم على الديره
اللي حبابنا فيها
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
جمّال خدني معك
والله البُعُد حُرقه
بصبُر على الجور
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
جمّال خدني معك
والله البُعُد حُرقه
بصبُر على الجور
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
أمسى المسا يا غريب
The Night Has Fallen Down by Rim Banna is a melancholic song that seems to speak of the pain of separation. The first stanza talks about how night has fallen and doors have shut, and how the stranger visits from door to door. The second stanza talks about how wounds have opened up and how tears must be held back, while the third stanza talks about how the singer is willing to go through hunger but cannot bear the pain of separation. The singer asks to be taken along on a journey and to break their fast at the sound of the drum (a traditional custom during Ramadan), while also imploring the writer of the letter to greet their homeland and loved ones on their behalf.
Throughout the song, there is a sense of loneliness and heartbreak, as the singer talks about how they have hidden their patience and how they cannot bear the burden of distance from their loved ones. In the final stanza, the singer implores their loved one, Jamal, to take them with him, as the distance is burning them and they can bear the hunger and hardship, but not the pain of separation.
Overall, The Night Has Fallen Down seems to be a poignant reflection on the pain of separation and the longing for loved ones. It speaks of the struggles of staying patient in the face of hardship and the yearning to be reunited with those who are loved.
Line by Line Meaning
أمسى المسا يا غريب
The night has fallen down, oh stranger
وتقَفَّلَت البواب
The doors have closed
صار الغريب يِلْتِجي
The stranger wanders from door to door
من باب لباب
From one door to another
وتفتّحت الجراح
And wounds have opened up
يا عين لا تِدمعي
Oh eye, do not shed tears
علّي جفاني وراح
On my tired eyelids and soul
سافر وخدني معك
Travel and take me with you
بَفطر على دُقَّه
We will break our fast on a date
بصبر على الجوع
I can endure hunger
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
But I cannot endure separation
والصبر أخدتو معي
And I have taken patience with me
خبّيتو بعيوني
I have hidden it in my eyes
عفراق أهلي يا يمّا
The separation from my family, oh mother
بالله لا تلوموني
Please do not blame me
يا كاتب الورقة
Oh writer of the letter
واكتب حواشيها
And write its annotations
سلّم على البلد
Give my regards to the country
يللي حبابنا فيها
Where our beloved ones reside
اكتب وملّيها
Write it and fill it up
وسلّم على الديره
And give my regards to the homeland
اللي حبابنا فيها
Where our beloved ones reside
جمّال خدني معك
Take me with you, beauty
والله البُعُد حُرقه
Distance is burning me, I swear to God
بصبُر على الجور
I can endure hardship
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
I cannot endure separation
سافر وخدني معك
Travel and take me with you
بَفطر على دُقَّه
We will break our fast on a date
بصبر على الجوع
I can endure hunger
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
But I cannot endure separation
Contributed by Chase G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@MohammedAli-pk7oz
أمسى المسا يا غريب
وتقَفَّلَت الأبواب
صار الغريب يِلْتِجي
من باب لباب
أمسى المسا يا غريب
وتفتّحت الجراح
يا عين لا تِدمعي
عاللّي جفاني وراح
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
والصبر أخدته معي
خبّيته بعيوني
عفراق أهلي يا يمّا
بالله لا تلوموني
والصبر أخدته معي
خبّيته بعيوني
عفراق أهلي يا يمّا
بالله لا تلوموني
يا كاتب الورقة وأكتب حواشيها
سلّم على البلد يلي حبابنا فيها
يا كاتب الورقة أكتب وملّيها
وسلّم على الديره اللي حبابنا فيها
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
سافر وخدني معك
بَفطر على دُقَّه
بصبر على الجوع
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقة
جمّال خدني معك
والله البُعُد حُرقه
بصبُر على الجور
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
جمّال خدني معك
والله البُعُد حُرقه
بصبُر على الجور
ما بَصبُر على الفُرقه
أمسى المسا يا غريب
@Forever.122
اتمني لما أخلف اولادي يشوفوا أن كانت ريم هي مغنيتي المفضله وان صوتها كان دائماً ما يلامس قلبي 💚💚
@Simo_0th
يرحم روحِك🌸💔
بتضلّي عايشة جواتنا♥️🌸
@IsaRiosDrums
Even without knowing the words, I can feel what she says..
@hasna3264
رحمك الله
اشتقنا لك بحجم الكون يا ريم
كان صوتك ملجأنا الوحيد
@manoteba641
الله يرحمك ويسعدك وين ماكنتي الله يسكنك فسيح جناته ...
@manoteba641
رائعة وصوتك رائع ❤️ فنانة بكل معنى الكلمة
@Der_Jerome
فالله هذا العالم حزين
@AbdallahSimeda
رحمة الله عليكي ❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
@zizo81
الف رحمه عليكِ رح نشتقلك كما اشتقنا الى صوتك...
@bromaissaa392
شو غالية انت يا ريم الله يرحمك يارب