I first discovered Samir Yazbek's song El Zaina Labsat when I watched Mohammed Assaf's cover of it on Arab Idol this year. I became obsessed with the performance. His voice shines powerfully and with so much confidence. He starts with a bit mawal and laili ya 3ani- his breath control is incredible and even though he had a slight vocal break he ends it beautifully. He voice soars again and the best part is to see the way the crowd is reacting to him. I've rewatched the performance over and over again as I focus on the way different people respond to his performance. It makes me REALLY want to know what the song is saying. If I am so moved by this performance and don't understand the Arabic, I cannot imagine what it must be like for those in the audience to hear him and feel the song. Please help me out! I'd love an English translation with lyrics so I can learn to sing it
http://youtu.be/5S099Q0S2B8
So, I went and searched for the original song to hear what it would be like. I discovered how strong Samir Yazbek's voice is and saw a few of his live performances. He seems incredible. It's my first time hearing his work. Is there a version that has an intro like Mohammed's cover? Was this just Assaf's version or was he influenced from Samir's style? Sorry I am not Arabic but would love to understand
http://youtu.be/Zi8N-xCHrCU
(not sure how to properly embed the video, sorry for providing only a link)