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 sea
Rim Banna Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
تركت اشرعتي تنتابها موجات رياح الاربعين
تشتتها تبعثرها تلمها وتفرشها على حرير الرخام
افرد ذراعي للريح
واصلي لألهتي الأولى
يغمرني عبق اللهفة يجتاحني عوسج الحنين
اتذكر اني تركت عبائتي تفتش غن الوانها
تنام على حجر عند شاطئ عكا
احمل اليه ابجديتي
اغنياتي والارجوان
The lyrics of Rim Banna's song "The Hymn of the Sea" vividly paint a picture of the sea and its power as experienced by the singer. The song starts with her leaving her sail at the shore and watching it scatter in the forty winds. She spreads her arms to feel the wind and connects with her gods. The scent of longing and nostalgia fills her, as she remembers leaving her robe on a stone at the shores of Akka (a Palestinian city). From the first ship that sailed at sunset, she carries her alphabet, songs, and hopes to the sea.
The song can be interpreted in various ways. The sea could represent the nature of life: unpredictable, powerful, and free. The singer's connection with the wind and the gods could be seen as a form of surrender to a higher power or a call for guidance. Her abandonment of her robe and attachment to material possessions suggests detachment and freedom from worldly ties. The sea as a place of hope and holding onto identity and heritage could also be found in the lyrics. The singer’s identity and voice cannot be taken away from her as she travels from land to sea.
Line by Line Meaning
at the seaside
I am standing at the shore of the sea.
I left my sail at the mercy of the forty's winds
I let my sail go, and the winds of the forty's took control of it.
it scattered it, broke it, gathered it and laid it out on the silk of the marble
The sail was broken and scattered in the winds, but it was eventually gathered and laid out on the marble floor.
I spread my arms to the wind
I opened my arms wide to feel the wind fully.
and pray to my first gods
I pray to my original gods.
longing's scent overwhelms me
I am filled with the scent of longing.
yearning's obsession takes over me
I am consumed with my yearning for something.
I remember leaving my cloak to search for its colors
I remember leaving behind my cloak and searching for its colors.
it sleeps on a rock at the shores of Acre
My cloak now sleeps on a rock by the shores of Acre.
since the first ship sailed across the sunset sea
Ever since the first ship sailed across the sea at sunset.
I carry to it my alphabet
I carry my alphabet to the sea.
my melodies and purples
I bring my songs and colors to the sea.
Contributed by Anna V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@afcbgord1
Came here from Paradise Radio who played this class track today.
@amanyraslan3630
تحفة :) بجد
@rguibiyahiarguibiyahia8374
جميل جدا...
@asii305
جميللل