Aicha

Here is something for your listening and comedic pleasure:

http://www.geekoffice.com/search/index.php?searchword=pennmasala

That first song "Aicha" has hypnotised me. Evidently, this acapella group from Penn State is covering a version done by the group Outlandish, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8krO7Q3vSyswhich is a kind of re-mix of the original French/Rai pop song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LFJY3tX9TE. The singer is Algerian, but the lyrics were written by a French Jew. Which is funny, because when I first heard the French version, the language made me think of the Song of Solomon. Here's something else,
the farther you get from the original, the less coherent the lyrics are. For example, the rap version says;

"She moves, she moves like a breeze"

This is from the French;

" I 'll go where your breeze leads me"

Song of Solomon:

"Whither thou goest, I would follow."

The first verse in English:

"So sweet, so beautiful.
Every day like a queen on her throne.
Don't nobody knows how she feels,
Aicha, Lady, one day you'll be real."

In French:

"As if I didn't exist
she passed me by
without a glance, -- "Queen of Sheba",
I said 'Aicha, take. It's all for you.'"

Is it me, or is Anglo-Saxon crap for love songs?

Anyway, this song is not under my skin because of the lyrics. It's the haunting, plaintive, heartbreak in the music. It's like slow sobbing in the key of D, opening up my heart chakra and reminding me that men are good for something.