Rim Banna (Arabic: ريم بنا‎ 8 December 1966 – 24 March 2018), was a Palesti… Read Full Bio ↴Rim Banna (Arabic: ريم بنا‎ 8 December 1966 – 24 March 2018), was a Palestinian singer, composer, arranger and activist, best-known for her modern interpretations of traditional Palestinian songs and poetry.

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"

You Make Me Gloom
Rim Banna Lyrics

We have lyrics for these tracks by Rim Banna:

A Time To Cry القدس سكروها بوجه الناس ما عاد حدا يقدر يشوفها بعيون الناس ح…
After you left مِنْ بَعْدِك لا شَيءَ يَهمّْ ضوءُ القَمَرِ هُدوْءُ اللَّيلِ …
Al Quds Everlasting بلحظات كل الناس غنوا عن القدس بلحظات كل الناس كتبوا عن…
April Blossoms أجا نسان بيهدي الأطفال مهرجان مين احنا نوار نيسان لمين نغني …
Astonished By You and Me عجبتُ منك ومنـّـي يا مُنـْيـَةَ المُتـَمَنّـِي أدنيتـَني م…
Baylassan I am sussu, you are Baylassan I am sussu, I am…
Don't Increase His Agony لا تزيديه لوعة فهو يلقاك لينسى لديك بعض اكتئابه قربي مقلتيك …
Fares Odeh ستحملك الفراشات الى ظهر غيمة ستجري بك الغزالة الي جوف جميزة …
I'll come to you daisy like يتمازج عطر الألوان ورونق الحلم مرج يمام ينعُ خيوط النور قمر …

Malek مالك مالك مالكِّ ما عيونك عم تبكي أبوكِ من برّ الشام وإمِّك …
Maryam Like the bitterness of the sea is the secret in…
Masha'al عالأوف مشعل أوف مشعلاني مع السلامه يا ربعي وخلاني عالأوف مشع…
Mashaal ع الأوف مشعل أوف مشعلاني مع السلامه يا ربعي وخلاني ع الأوف…
My Heart Tells Me قلْبي يُحدّثُني بأنّكَ مُتلِفي روحي فداكَ عرفتَ أمْ لمْ تعرف…
Nura احبك حبين. حب الهوى وحباً لأنك اهل لذاكا فأما الذى هو…
Sarah كانت سارة ساراي تدرج أولى خطواتها على تراب فلسطين وكانت ضحكت…
Seasons of Violet مواسم البنفسج يا حبيبي ضمني إليكَ برقةٍ كما البيلسان وحـاور…
Stranger In the Gulf بالأمس حين مررت بالمقهى، سمعتك يا عراق وكنت دورة أسطوانة هي …
Supply Me With an Excess of Love زدني بفرطِ الحبِّ فيكَ تحيُّراً وارحمْ حشى ً بلظي هواكَ تسعّ…
The Absent One لله أصبح لاجئاً يا سيّدي صادر إذن حتّى بساط المسجد وبع الك…
The Carmel of My Soul وأصرخ من قاع الروح يا كرمل الروح وأصرخ من قاع الروح…
The Dream I pass through the dream Beyond the grass-coverd night Above…
The first rain يـتـسـاقـط الـمـطر الاول على شباكـي فـي ليلة المطر الاول اتـ…
The Free Man الحُرّ ما بين الانذال مخنوق يصعب صياحو كي الطير ما بين الاوح…
The Grandma With a Limp يا ستي العرجة العرجة يا مُفتاح الطبنجة يا ستي العرجة العرجة …
The Hymn of the Rain عيناكِ غابتا نخيلٍ ساعةَ السحَرْ، أو شُرفتان راح ينأى عنهما …
The hymn of the sea عند شاطئ البحر تركت اشرعتي تنتابها موجات رياح الاربعين تشتته…
The Mirrors of My Soul تحاصرني مرايا الرّوح وأنا أرحل مني إليه تحاصرني مرايا الرّوح…
The Night Has Fallen Down أمسى المسا يا غريب وتقَفَّلَت البواب صار الغريب يِلْتِجي من …
The Sun of Love The sun of love had appeared in ourselves When the hearts…
The Taste of Love أخفيتُ حبَّكمُ فأخفاني أسى ً حتى ، لعَمري، كِدتُ عني أختَفي…
the Top of the Mountain لطلع ع راس الجبل واخذ معي مفتاح و افتح جنينة ابي…
The Trace of the Butterfly أَثَرُ الفراشة لا يُرَى أَثَرُ الفراشة لا يزولُ هو جاذبيّةُ…
The Voice the Fragrance and the Figure يا جذر جذري، إنني سأعود حتماً فانتظرني إنتظرني في شقوق الصخر…
The weeping of the rose كيف تسربت من بين اصابعي كقطرة ماء كيف حلقت من عشي…
Two Kinds of Love أحبّك حبّيْن حُبّ الهوى وحُبّاً لأنك أهلٌ لذاك فأما الذي هو …
Umamiyyah Anthem Arise ye workers from your slumbers Arise ye prisoners of wa…
Wait For Me انتظريني حبيبتي عند العين إملأي جرارك وانتظريني النبع وافرٌ …
Ya Jammal عذب الجمال قلبي. عندما اختار الرحيل. قلت ياجمال صبرا... قال …

Ya Lel Ma Atwalak This never ending night of longing and wandering My…

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