Patriotic songs have filled Egypt's airwaves in recent years, often linked to football and other sporting events. Are they the expression of a sincere love of Egypt, or an attempt to cash in on people's feelings, asks Enjy El-Naggar Tune in to any radio or TV station, and you will likely be able to hear a new patriotic song every couple of days, especially if Egypt's football team is playing. If the team wins against a foreign team, then lyrics will be written in record time to celebrate, and singers across the country will anticipate the moment when they will be asked to sing about Egypt. The number of patriotic songs coming onto the market hit record levels last month. During the Africa Cup of Nations, held in Angola and won by the Egyptian squad, Egypt was swamped with patriotic songs, so much so that the songs raised many eyebrows and attracted criticism. "These national songs associated with football matches are naïve. It's not as if we had won a battle," lyricist and song producer Medhat El-Adl said, who has himself authored many recent patriotic songs. However, patriotic songs themselves are not new, and one of the pioneers of the genre in the new millennium has been none other than Lebanese singer Nancy Agram, responsible for the hit song "If I asked are you Egyptian, what would you say?" This was heard for the first time at the Cairo International Stadium during the opening ceremony of the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, and it still holds a special place in people's hearts, bringing Agram herself closer to Egypt. The video used for Agram's song shows a huge white-painted hall decorated with portraits of Egyptian faces, including the cheerful smiles of workers, doctors, students and farmers. The video shows a man walking on the Nile Corniche carrying his painting equipment, following this with images of students at graduation and a pretty girl selling flowers for couples by the river. The clip ends with a collage of images of Egyptian figures like President Hosni Mubarak, former presidents Gamal Abdel-Nasser and Anwar El-Sadat, singer Umm Kolthoum, Nobel laureate Naguib Mahfouz and poet Salah Jaheen. The success of the video caused many other singers to adopt similar themes of national pride and the lives of ordinary citizens. However, El-Adl is perhaps not alone in complaining that national and patriotic songs of this sort are no longer related to important issues like the Palestinian cause. "Of course football matches are important events," he says, "but they shouldn't be seen as earth-shattering." Patriotic songs in Egypt have a history going way back before the songs of recent years, many of them associated with sporting events and football matches. Egypt's modern and contemporary history has seen a number of events accompanied by patriotic songs, with Sayed Darwish, a pioneer of modern Arabic music, producing his memorable songs Ana El-Masry (I am Egyptian), Oom Ya Masry (Egyptian, Rise Up) and Biladi Biladi (My Homeland, My Homeland), later adopted as the national anthem, when Saad Zaghloul, the leader of the 1919 Revolution, was exiled to Malta. Darwish's songs urged people to rise up against the British occupation of the country, expressing the people's demands and earning Darwish the nickname of "Voice of the People". After the 1952 Revolution, many national songs were produced to celebrate pan-Arabism and major national projects. More than 1,000 songs were written to commemorate the revolution, the nationlisation of the Suez Canal and the building of the Aswan High Dam. "In that era, national songs reflected the sincere feelings of the singers about historical events," El-Adl said. He remembers the songs of Abdel-Halim Hafez, for example, and how these were the heartfelt expression of a son of the 1952 Revolution. According to El-Adl, for a national song to last it has to be associated with a major national event. Abdel-Rahman El-Abnoudi, Egypt's foremost lyricist who wrote some 15 songs performed by Hafez, has also said that "Nasser's era witnessed the rise of serious patriotic songs. However, nowadays we have lost the meaning of national songs. But I don't blame the bad quality of national songs today on their writers, since a good patriotic song needs a revolutionary atmosphere in which to flourish." During the 1970s, Egyptian patriotic songs followed in the footsteps of those produced by Darwish and during Nasser's era. Songs praising the victory in the 1973 War flooded the country, for example, helping people to celebrate their restored dignity and confidence in the country and military. Singing for Egypt has not only been the preserve of Egyptian singers. Prominent Arab singers, like the legendary Algerian singer Warda, also sang many songs in praise of Egypt. Warda's famous words Ala Al-Rababa Baghanny, "Singing to the tunes of Rababa," performed before the 1973 War, were very memorable, for example. In the recent flurry of patriotic songs, images of the 1973 victory and the building of the Aswan High Dam have been mixed with pictures of the goals scored by the Egyptian team during African football competitions. For song-writer and poet Ahmed Haddad, the reason for this collage of elements is that "people are suffering from economic, political and social frustration. We are the losers in every field except sport." El-Adl agrees and adds that "there's no national project today that people can support or believe in, so football has become the only chance for people to be together." Tens of songs have appeared over the past few years, mostly timed to coincide with the Africa Cup of Nations in 2006, 2008 and 2010. All the songs carry the same message of love of Egypt and its people, praising the country's history and its position among other nations. In the aftermath of the dramatic World Cup qualifying match between Egypt and Algeria in Sudan, a huge number of songs were released in order to soothe the wounded pride of Egyptians after Egyptian nationals were attacked by Algerian hooligans following the match. Yet, despite these songs' therapeutic aims, they are also a business for those who write and produce them. According to El-Adl, "it is a business, nothing more. The satellite TV channels want to attract large numbers of viewers during the national football matches, and many people are glued to their TV screens during soccer competitions in which our team takes part. It's a great opportunity for the channels to do business by producing patriotic songs." Haddad also smells money behind the flow of emotions celebrated by the songs. "It's sheer business," he comments. "Today, you can see that patriotic feelings are associated with football and commercials," as in the case of the advertising campaigns launched by soft-drink companies during the soccer championships. Such sentiments are not shared by all, however. Well-known lyricist Bahaaeddin Mohamed is "disgusted" to hear anyone criticising the patriotic songs. "We should sing for Egypt every minute, not only on special occasions. There's a hidden hand seeking to stem Egyptians' love for Egypt," Mohamed says, adding that for him the songs are a way of reconciling people to the suffering they may experience in their daily lives. But Mohamed seems to be in a minority among those interviewed, with others expressing scepticism about the recent waves of patriotic songs. According to Ahmed Hanafi, an installation support specialist, the songs do not really express love for Egypt at all, but are more the tools of businessmen. Despite the fact that Iman Abdel-Salam's three kids love two of the songs -- Agram's and Sherine's Mashribtish min Nilha (Haven't you drunk from the Nile?) -- she doesn't like "the great number of songs we hear today. I think we should work to improve things in Egypt, rather than sing about it." A recent poll conducted by the filfan.com website showed that 33 per cent of site visitors believed that the songs were a temporary phenomenon and that singers were capitalising on victories achieved by the national soccer team. More than 27 per cent of visitors thought that the songs should not only be produced on special occasions. Some 24 per cent said they loved the songs, considering them a suitable way of expressing their love for Egypt, while 16 per cent expressed their disapproval of the songs, believing them exaggerated or inappropriate. One of the most controversial songs of recent years has been that sung by Haifa Wahbi. Dubbed the "singer of temptation" by the newspapers, this half-Lebanese half-Egyptian singer won many people's admiration with her song Tamaneen Million Ehsas, "80 millions feelings", which describes her love for Egypt. However, some observers believe that Wahbi's real motivation in singing this song was not so much to express her love for Egypt, but more to change people's perceptions of her as a singer. Dressed in discreet clothes, Wahbi appears in the song's video clip as a foreigner coming to visit a friend in Egypt and walking in Cairo interacting with ordinary people. The end of the video is like many others that praise famous Egyptian figures and show the faces of Egyptians. At the moment, with football mania waning at least for a while, patriotic songs are on hold. However, a sporting victory, or another diplomatic crisis, will almost certainly spur on the lyricists, song-writers and singers who are currently waiting in the wings.
