Between human being and art, there is some sort of connection that it is difficult to accurately date its beginning, but it goes back, at the very least, to the emergence of “human society.” Among the types and forms of art, the auditory art, music and singing, is widely spread among various segments of society. With the development of human studies, it has become clear that songs, and art in general, transcend their aesthetic feature to the level of semantic feature. By studying the art of a population and analyzing its cultural dimensions and historical contexts, a picture of that people’s culture and its patterns can be formed. Since man is a political being by nature, the semantic feature of song is clearly evident in what is now known as the “political song,” which is widely accepted in society, especially in societies that live a kind of “political life,” such as the Lebanese society.

The criteria by which a song is classified as political or non-political vary. This difference is primarily due to the difference in the definition of politics itself, and thus in the classification of things/issues as political or non-political. What we think of as a non-political song may be, in essence, a political song. In an interview with Al Arabiya, the Egyptian poet Zein El Abidin Fouad gives an Egyptian proverb that says: “I am a tough camel, but my problem is the cameleer / A clumsy, stubborn man who does not understand the love of beauty.” In fact, it is a political song that addresses the problematic relationship between the ruler (the cameleer) and the ruled (the camel). Lebanon has known political songs for a long time, for example, in the folklore of Baalbek, there is a song that is still played at weddings today with the opening: “Welcome, welcome the dark-bearded men who came out of the barren lands adorning the horses. Welcome!” This song describes the recognition by the Baalbek people of the knights of the Harfoush family, who ruled the Baalbek region between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, returning victorious from a battle, making it one of the oldest political songs that is still present today.

Like other components of the Lebanese society, the Shia of Lebanon interacted with the political song, which in turn interacted with them as an active and interactive part of the Lebanese society; an influential and influenced part by the political life, in which the Shiite landscape was under the dominance of three political movements/parties: the “Palestinian Resistance Movement” allied with the Lebanese left wing, the Amal Movement and Hezbollah.It is self-evident that the Lebanese in general interacted with the political events in the region before the period of expansion of the Lebanese left wing in the Shiite areas, and it is also self-evident that their interaction was through ‘al-radiyat’ (genre of art of dialogue or vocal poetic debate) or folk poetry that was appropriate for that period. For example, we find that the reception of Prince Faisal during his trip to Syria to declare the Arab government in 1918 was met with a ‘radiya’ (plural radiyat) that said: “Oh Mir (Prince), what do you have to do with wars, who can face Paris? / These countries need rivals of their size; no shepherd can face them.”

The 1967 defeat marked a turning point in the Arab political song as a logical result of the political transformations that resulted from the defeat. The new political song emerged in contrast to that adopted by the official Arab media. With the beginning of the seventies and the development of the “Lebanese National Movement”, in which Shiites were widely involved, the arrival of the Palestinian factions from Jordan in 1970 and the involvement of relatively large numbers of Shiites in their various factions, and the Fatah movement essentially; and the alliance of the “National Movement” with the Palestinian factions, a new artistic movement emerged in Lebanon, producing what became known as a “committed song”. This alliance shared the political song, with the left wing singing for Palestine and the Palestinians singing for Beirut.

Palestinian song:

“Songs of the Palestinian Revolution” appeared with its launch in 1965, but they began to spread widely in Lebanon after the Battle of Karameh in 1968 and the arrival of Palestinian factions to Lebanon in 1970. Regarding this, we asked the political writer Ahmed Matar[1], who said that the predominant feature of the songs was revolutionary anasheed (chants) and mainly the songs of “Fatah Movement”. He adds, “These songs, which were distributed by the mass media, were, in one way or another, a form of political guidance and moral support, and many of them carried noble humanitarian meanings, such as the song ‘Me, O brother’. For a long time, we would open our seminars, festivals, and meetings with these revolutionary songs. Even when we were moving between military sites, from Beirut to South, for example, we would listen to them along the way. I remember some of the songs that became famous and left a great impact on us: ‘Fedayee’ (raider), ‘Bilady’ (my homeland), ‘Ana ya akhi’ (me, my brother), ‘Talealk ya aduwi’ (coming out at you my enemy), ‘Ghalaba ya Fateh’ (Hopeless Oh Fateh), and others. There were great poets who wrote political poems, the most famous of them: Mahmoud Darwish, Samih al-Qasim, Muin Bseiso, Tawfiq Zayyad (Ziad), the Iraqi poet Muthaffar al-Nawab, and others.In general, the political song was in its natural context and a product of reality. In fact, it carried a kind of political analysis of reality and shed light on the injustice and suffering of the Palestinian people and the legitimacy of their struggle. With major events taking place, a song expressing the event would spread. I remember, for example, after the Battle of Karameh, the song “Hopeless O Fateh, Hopeless our revolution, Hopeless is the hand that blows up a tank.”After the 1970 events in Jordan, for example, they sang a song called “Palestine, Palestine,” which included the verse, “They left the river for our enemies, our blood is cheap to them,” and carried harsh political criticism for the Jordanian regime. In fact, chants with vulgar language emerged, but they did not gain widespread popularity.”

Palestinian bands were formed in Beirut by 1977, the most famous of which was “Al-Aashiqeen Troupe (Lovers Band),” led by the Lebanese Hussein Munther, born in Baalbek, although he was not one of its founders. These bands toured around the world. The Lebanese also participated in the making of Palestinian political songs, as Marcel Khalife, Ahmad Kaabour, Khaled El Haber, Hatem Malaeb, and others sang for Palestine and its cause. Among the members of Palestinian bands, there were also Lebanese men and women. Matar says, “I know a Lebanese Shiite woman who used to dance with a band, and her husband was in the Fatah movement, and then later became in Hezbollah.”

By reviewing the most popular songs of that period that were widely spread between the people, we were able to form a picture of the dimensions of the existing political orientation. In addition to mobilization and moral incitement that represents the aspect of strength and will, there is another dimension, which is the noble human dimension that represents tragedy and suffering. For example, there is the song “My homeland, my homeland, my homeland / Fateh a revolution against enemies / Palestine, O land of our ancestors / To you we must return / Fateh a revolution that will prevail / And the storm is my homeland’s hope.” This song, inspired by “My homeland, my homeland. You have my love and my heart,” which was adopted as Egypt’s national anthem, depicts the Palestinian dream of “return and liberation.” The lyrics of this song reveal that it was written during the period when the “Fatah Movement” still embraced the “armed struggle” as a path to liberation. It includes a verse that says: “To you we must restore / The dignity of the exiled people / Under the banner of Jihad / Palestine, your people will not die / And they will not accept to be silent / And the storm always has / Its hand on the trigger.” The words “armed struggle” can be found in a number of the most famous songs, including, for example: “My weapon arose from my wounds / Oh our revolution, my weapon arose / And the forces of the world cannot / Take my weapon from my hand” and “I am coming out at you my enemy, I am coming out / From every house, alley, and street / With my weapon and my faith I am coming out / Our war is the war of the streets.” While we find in the song ‘Me O brother’ that it focuses on the human dimension of the people’s suffering, and provides a political framework for resistance, thus considering it a means for life and for building an economically productive society, as the song says: “I, O brother, believed in the lost and handcuffed people / And I carried my machine gun so that / the generations after us would carry a sickle / And I made my wounds and blood / A stream for the plains and valleys / Our blood is a debt on you / And the debt is a right that cannot be postponed.” For example, we find that the generation that carried the “machine gun” seeks to build a state and a society whose sons carry the “sickle.”

With the 1982 invasion, Palestinian political songs began to fade in Lebanon. Matar affirms, “After we were defeated and our ambitions collapsed, Palestinian songs faded away, to the point where it became rare to hear a revolutionary song in the camps. In fact, after the invasion, our greatest interest became the political issue. We stopped fussing (or intimidating), if you want.”

[1] A Lebanese writer and political researcher who joined Fatah movement at an early age and held several positions within it before 1983. He was a “district committee member” and secretary of the fourth district branch, which included Wadi Abu Jamil, Sanayeh, and Ras Beirut. He also served as the general supervisor of the joint forces in the Nabaa area until their fall in 1976, in addition to being in charge of the private archives at the office of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. He was also a member of the Lebanese leadership of Fatah al-Intifada (Fatah Uprising) after 1982.

On the Lebanese level, patriotic songs with social content and popular orientation began to appear around the beginning of the seventies with Khaled El Haber, Marcel Khalife, Ahmad Kaabour, Osama Al Hallak, and Issam al-Hajj Ali. On the relationship between the song and the artist committed to the audience, Rajab Abu Sirriyeh quotes Khaled El Haber in his book, “The New Political Song in the Arab World,” as saying: “The artist moves with his audience, which is necessarily moving,” that is, the song must be born from the suffering of the society/the audience and must emulate its pain, hopes, and aspirations. While Marcel Khalife expresses it by saying, “We sing the drama of the broken Arab soul.” Khaled El Haber’s song “Al Chiyah” can be considered a “manifesto of the new political song.” Before beginning the song, El Haber says, “Lest they think that songs are only sung in the caves of debauchery (...) Lest they think that we have removed from our memory the images of the barbarism of the enemies of history.” Al Chiyah, which has a Shiite majority, gained great symbolism during the civil war, as it formed, along with Ain El Remmaneh, which has a Christian majority, the most famous line of contact during the war.The lyrics of the song itself carry a kind of condescension not only towards reality, but even towards history, when he says, for example: “Rome did not burn, it was on a holiday,” “Christ was not crucified… the prophet did not die.” This song can be considered an example of the fact that the political proposals adopted by the Lebanese left at the time were not in harmony with the Lebanese reality. Perhaps this is because the Left, like all Lebanese parties, had not yet decided on its vision for the homeland. In addition to the song ‘Ya Tayr Al Janoub’ (Bird of the South), which was written by Amal Movement leader Nabih Berri in 1984 and composed and sung by Marcel Khalife, it was written for Bilal Fahs, who blew himself up in a gathering for Israeli occupation forces in Zahrani.

Despite the defeat of the “National Movement” and the “Palestinian Resistance” in 1982, the songs of Khaled Al Haber, Marcel Khalife, and others continued to resonate with the people, indicating the trend that existed at the time among the leftist factions, which was that “we must distinguish between the homeland of regimes, which is susceptible to surrender, submission, and frustration, and the homeland of the laboring masses who refuse submission (...) which is the most humane, free, and democratic homeland.” Abu Sirriyeh attributes this to the fact that El Haber and the leftist political songs were more concerned with the human dimension and more capable of unleashing the creative energies of artists, which is the philosophy adopted by the committed singer, who addresses heritage from a human and international perspective. This stems from the fact that the Lebanese communist left had an internationalist tendency and was more interested in the international dimension of political songs than in their nationalist dimension. We find the international dimension present in Marcel Khalife’s song ‘Shido El-Himmi’ (stirring people to move), which he sang in 1976, and which says, “Behind the castle, we are a castle / The squares of the world are our destinations.” This song is one of the most prominent songs that combined the Movement of demands, of which Maarouf Saad (Leader of the port (Al Mina)) was one of the most prominent pioneers, with the resistance represented by the “Matter of South” in the verse: “I hear the voice of my South / My South is a quarry for chivalry / I take off the rope of treason.”

Three main features can be observed in the songs of the Lebanese left during the war period: the Palestinian cause as a main issue, popular living demands, and the use of violence to seize power. Clearly, we find the Left’s support for the Palestinian cause in a large number of songs, especially those of Marcel Khalife, whose songs were associated with the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. Likewise, Khaled El Haber in the song “Don’t Forget Palestine” and “Kfarkela,” in which he says, “Kfarkela plants a rifle in the ground to protect the cause.” In fact, according to the former Secretary-General of the Communist Action Organization, Mohsen Ibrahim, the Lebanese left exaggerated in its support for the Palestinian cause at the expense of the national interest. This was acknowledged by the former Secretary-General of the Communist Party, George Hawi, in his fortieth anniversary speech, when he said, “The national movement committed two mistakes: the first was that it used the civil war as a means to change the structure of the sectarian system, and the second was that it allowed Lebanon to be subjected to the Palestinian resistance, which put a burden on it beyond its capacity.” There are also many songs that deal with the daily living problems of the Lebanese, such as Marcel’s songs, “Awlad al-Bahr” (sons of the sea), ‘Shido El-Himmi’, and ‘Ya Ali’. In the song ‘Ini Ikhtartaka Ya Watani’ (I chose you, my homeland) (1984), we can find the idea of ​​resorting to armed action for political and social change in Lebanon, where he says: “Always in revolt O my heart, even if my mornings become evening / I came at low tide, I came in the midst of exhaustion, a machine gun of violence and anger.” This is what Matar mentions, emphasizing that the Lebanese leftists “were starting from the principle of changing the socio-economic reality, but with a revolutionary mentality, by using the existing high power to bring the left to power. This became evident during the war through the decision to isolate the Kataeb (Phalange) Party, issued by the Political Council of the National Movement, even though Kamal Jumblatt was mainly behind it.”

Amal and Hezbollah Songs: Between Religious Sanctity and “Jihad” Necessity

Discussing the two Shiite parties, Amal and Hezbollah, cannot be done in isolation from the fact that they are two branches of “political Islam” in its Shiite branch, regardless of the fundamental differences between them. Their religious beliefs influenced the formulation of the political project, which is reflected in the political songs that, for religious reasons, take on several designations, such as ‘anasheed’ (religious chants), ‘latmiya’ (plural ‘latmiyat’, a genre of Shia poetry to express grief accompanied with chest-beating), and others.

Political songs emerged within the Amal movement after the disappearance of Sayyed Musa al-Sadr in 1978. Before that, according to Abou Ali[1], Amal had not yet “completed establishing its organizational structures, and the tasks were not fully distributed.” He adds: “In the early 1980s, there was a religious controversy regarding ‘anasheed’, as religious men (clerics) were very strict on the matter of music. The chant required a religious permit specifying the type of musical instruments used.” Then Amal Movement’s first album of ‘anasheed’ was released, which featured lyrics by the poet Nizar al-Hurr and included the official Amal Movement anthem, ‘Hayya ala khayr al amal’ (Hurry toward the best of deeds), as well as songs about Sayyed al-Sadr such as ‘Asi ala al-Dahr’ (Rebellious against time) and songs about the South. Generally, the Movement’s ‘anasheed’ revolved around Sayyed al-Sadr and the South.”

The Amal Movement emerged amidst an ambiance of political tension between recognizing Lebanon’s Arab identity and recognizing its distinct national entity. Both of these projects are evident in the anthem of Amal, which says: “We protect the national objectives,” and “Lebanon is our one homeland, which we live in freely and as Arabs.” In fact, the anthem reflects the Movement’s stance during the era of al-Sadr, who did not fully align himself with any of the warring parties, as well as that of President Hussein al-Husseini, while the Movement, under its leader Nabih Berri, completely aligned itself with the Syrian regime’s policy in Lebanon. The anthem defines the vital scope of the Movement’s activity and limits it to the Lebanese geography, which is part of the Arab geography. However, these national expressions did not refrain Amal Movement from underlining its Shiite identity in the phrase “Hayya ala khayr al amal,” which appears at the beginning and title of the anthem. This expression is taken from the Shiite version of the call to prayer. Perhaps the emphasis on the religious identity of the Movement was part of the race to attract people between the “atheist” left and the “believing” Amal; a competition that came about approximately seven years after the Sadr movement, which began with the establishment of the Supreme Islamic Shia Council in 1967.

The anthem also shows that the Movement combines the religious and the political aspects, while focusing more on the social aspect of religion than on its doctrinal aspect. For example, we see phrases such as: “In the name of God, we begin our journey” and “We work for this world and the hereafter, and for the good of the Lebanese people.” Prioritizing the “world” over “hereafter”, as it is the anthem of a political party, cannot be justified by poetic necessity. It is also worth noting that Amal, a “resistance” military faction, does not state in its anthem that it was founded to resist Israel, in fact, it does not mention it at all.The anthem is almost entirely devoid of any of the “resistance” writing that was prevalent during that period. The anthem says of Lebanon that it “remains resilient throughout the ages, and its will is that of a pioneering people”; we see the use of the word “pioneering” whereas the word “resilient” for example, would be more consistent with the writing of that period, in addition to not affecting the poetic meter of the anthem. The language of the anthem reflects Amal’s desire to embrace resistance and support the Palestinian cause on the one hand, and national interests on the other. This “balance” may also come in the context of competition with the Lebanese left, which went so far in defending the Palestinian cause as to prioritize it over the national interest. The Movement’s position was clearly reflected in al-Sadr’s first statement after the 1978 invasion, which consisted of a call to “rally around the legitimate authority represented by the Lebanese government” at the time, and of holding the Palestinians responsible for causing the invasion. Al-Sadr stated that “the Palestinian resistance (...) should have exercised caution in its movements when it sees that these movements might have repercussions on South Lebanon.”

Although Amal had its own songs, according to the writer Abdel Halim Hammoud in an article on “Manateq” website, it did not have “any distinctive style.” For example, we see that Amal’s songs about the South and the resistance did not deviate from the prevailing style at the time, as in the song ‘Ana thaer janoubi’ (I am a southern revolutionary)” which tells about the suffering and resistance of the South. It begins: “I am a southern revolutionary, let the earth speak, I am a southern revolutionary, let the clouds weep, I carry a machine gun and I resist, I plant a garden and I resist, I draw a path for the revolutionaries, I carry a national agenda.” Thus, we see that Amal’s resistance comes in a natural context as a result of the occupation, and from a position of defense, as the anthem says: “I strike the enemies and I defend.” In addition to the popular songs by al-Sadr, such as ‘Asi ala al-Dahr’, ‘Tawwal Ghiyabak’ (You have been away for a long time), and others.

After the end of the civil war and the emergence of Hezbollah as a rival to the Amal Movement in the Shiite political and military landscape, the political songs of the Amal Movement gradually began to focus solely on praising its leader, Nabih Berri, especially with the emergence of a new generation of vocalists such as Hassan Alama and Ali Kobeissi, among others. Today, the ‘anasheed’ that are widely received among Amal’s audience are those that glorify its leader, Nabih Berri, reflecting the surplus of power that the so-called Shiite Duo, Amal and Hezbollah, has enjoyed since 2006. For example, but not limited to, the song “Nabih Berri is the strongest man in the whole world,” which spread during the last elections and includes lines such as: “O Nabih Berri, this wild nature needs someone as wild as you, O Berri.” (wild means Berri in Arabic) and “Shia, Shia, the Amal Movement is not for sale,” and “Don't try to mess with us; if you mess with us, you will be scolded.” Even the song that is sung for Berri, “O Leader, God is with you,” it was originally written for former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, and the Jordanian singer Fouad Hijazi sang it in Baghdad on more than one occasion.

As for Abou Ali, he attributes this glorification to “acts of spite. Love for a person has become an act of spite. It is like, I am doing this out of spite towards so-and-so, because that person did that, so I write a song glorifying them. And of course, there is a return. And now, everyone who picks up a pen becomes a political poet and writes songs. The word no longer carries any weight, whereas in the past there were impactful ‘anasheed’ that stirred emotions and inspired. Now, the songs cannot be heard.” In fact, there is another aspect to these songs, which is that the personality of the leader - Berri, is the only thing that connects the Movement’s audience to the Movement itself, especially the generation born after 2000 who did not experience the matter of the South and the al-Sadr movement.

[1] Former member of the Amal movement.

After the fall of the Shah’s regime in Iran in 1979 and Khomeini’s rise to power, and with the second Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Khomeini ordered the dispatch of Iranian fighters to Lebanon.Despite the general Lebanese opposition, and particularly the Shiite one, fighters from the Revolutionary Guard Corps arrived in the Lebanese Beqaa Valley via Syria and, together with the “Islamic Amal Movement,” which had split from Amal and was led by Hussein al-Musawi, as well as dissidents from Palestinian factions such as Fatah Movement and Lebanese parties such as the Communist Party, formed what later became known as “Hezbollah.”

Hezbollah began its musical journey with ‘latmiyat’, ‘nadbiyat’ (another genre of Shia poetry to express grief), and elegies, as songs still faced some religious restrictions due to Hezbollah being a religious party. By 1983, the ‘anasheed’ of the party of the Islamic ‘Dawah’ (invitation to Islam) began to make their way to Lebanon. This is what Abou Ali confirms to us when he adds, “Hezbollah’s political song began with ‘latmiya’ and ‘nadbiya’. There were also elegies. I remember, for example, the famous elegy upon Khomeini’s death: “O Ruhollah.” There was a significant difference between the ‘latmiyat’ coming from Iran and those coming from Iraq. I could tell from the lyrics of the ‘latmiya’ which religious authority the writer follows. Iraqi poets who wrote about Imam Husayn did not place the name of any religious or political leader alongside the names of the Imams of Ahl al-Bayt, and Imam Husayn in particular. Whereas among Iranian poets or those who support Iran, we find that the names of leaders, such as Khomeini, Khamenei, Nasrallah, and others, are present in the ‘latmiyat’ that are supposed to be about Husayn.” According to the writer Hammoud on the “Manateq” website, it was Mr. Abbas al-Musawi who provided the legal and financial support for the ‘anasheed’, and for the al-Wilaya Group in particular, while maintaining the ban on the use of certain instruments.

The ‘nadbiya / latmiya’ was present in many Hezbollah ceremonies, particularly funeral ceremonies that were accompanied by ‘latmiyat’ and elegies. The most famous of the well-known ‘anasheed’, and still popular to this day, is ‘nasheed’ “My brother, the eyes will cry on you,” which accompanied many of the “martyrs of Hezbollah.” It is worth mentioning that, according to Hammoud, this ‘nasheed’ was written by the Iraqi poet Dhu al-Nun Yunus Mustafa, one of the poets of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the ‘nasheed’ was a response to the ‘nasheed’ of Sayyid Qutb “My brother, you are free,” and both are sung to the same melody. This may be due to the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, and the writings of Sayyid Qutb in particular, on the Shiite movement in Iran, and consequently the influence on Hezbollah.

If we start with Hezbollah’s official ‘nasheed’, “We marched towards victory on the day of struggle,” performed by al-Wilaya Group, in which Hezbollah exposes its religio-political ideology through the verse that was included in the ‘nasheed’ with the “blessing” of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the former Secretary-General of Hezbollah. The verse says: “We follow the path of our Quran, for indeed, the Party of Allah (Hezbollah) is the victorious one.” This verse not only reflects Hezbollah’s affiliation with political Islam movements, but also that Hezbollah focuses on the ideological aspect of religion more than the social aspect. We also notice in the ‘nasheed’ the complete absence of Lebanon, as the ‘nasheed’ does not define the image of Lebanon that Hezbollah wants, nor does it define its vital scope, as we see with Amal Movement, for example. In other words, this ‘nasheed’ is suitable for a military party or a militia, but not for a political party that might be driven to “resistance” by the occupation of land.

Hezbollah adopts the concept of “Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist” as a religio-political doctrine. This was reflected in his political songs that accompanied his early years. Perhaps the Iranian Maddah (‘al-radud’ or eulogist) known as “al-Radud Asakari”, is one of the most famous eulogists who were widely recognized among the first generation of Hezbollah’s audience, for example, he is the one who performed the ‘nadbiya’ “Where is Ragheb Harb, where?” One of his most famous ‘nadbiyat’, which reflects Hezbollah’s loyalty to Iran, is the ‘nadbiya’ “O lover of Jihad in Karbala / Meidoun have terrified the enemies,” which he presented after the Battle of Meidoun in May 1988, and which Hezbollah considers one of its most important battles against the Israeli occupation. Among its verses, for example: “O supporter of Husayn, with heart and hands / you pledged allegiance with blood, with the spirit of sacrifice, Ruhollah Khomeini, in the arenas of Jihad.” It is worth mentioning that this particular ‘latmiya’ was frequently recited at the funerals of Hezbollah members and leaders before the escalation of the “Israeli war” on Lebanon on September 23, 2024. There are also a large number of ‘latmiyat’ that are still associated with Hezbollah and which were revived in the recent war, such as: “With the blood of Husayn, we preserve the path of Khomeini,” “O Aba Abdullah, we are Hezbollah nation,” “On the path of Husayn, we cherish martyrdom, we pledged allegiance to Khomeini for the sake of leadership,” “Congratulations, you have won God’s paradise, O soldiers of the awaited one, you are Hezbollah.”

These ‘anasheed’ reflect Hezbollah’s commitment to the leadership represented by the Supreme Leader; Khomeini and then Khamenei. It focuses on the use of the term “pledge of allegiance,” which bestows upon the person receiving the pledge a sacredness that makes him closer to a “taboo” figure than to a political leader. This sacredness is a result of two introductions; the first is that the Supreme Leader;is the representative of the awaited Imam and, and among his followers, he holds a sacredness no less than that of the Mahdi himself. The second is that the pledge of allegiance in the collective consciousness of the Shiagoes directly back to the “Day of al-Ghadir,” which constitutes one of the most important pillars of the Twelver Shiite doctrine. From this perspective, the first characteristic of the political thought of Hezbollah and its supporters is that it is a sacralized ideology that does not accept criticism of the leader because criticizing him is equivalent to criticizing the awaited Mahdi. Consequently, it is an exclusionary ideology, like most political Islamic movements, which are inconsistent with their principles if they are not exclusionary.

The initial period of Hezbollah marked a shift in the mood of rejection of the reality among the Shiite community, as it transformed from rejecting “deprivation” to rejecting “oppression.” Although “deprivation” was the core of the narrative presented by al-Sadr and on which he built his political project, we find that Amal’s songs did not mention deprivation or neglect, while Hezbollah’s political songs began to address the “oppressed” and call upon them to engage in “Jihad”. These two terms remained inseparable, one never mentioned without the other, and they are found in many of Hezbollah’s ‘anasheed’ and ‘latmiyat’. We see this in Asakari’s nashid “al-Jihad, al-Jihad”, the opening lines of which say: “al-Jihad, al-Jihad, the day of slumber is over, so O oppressed ones, hasten to al-Jihad.” Here, al-Jihad constituted the first external project for Shia in Lebanon in pursuit of Iran’s interests and policy towards the United States, as Hezbollah’s political discourse has always called for Jihad against it. This was reflected in the suicide attacks that targeted American forces in Beirut, and also in the hostage crisis over which Iran was negotiating with the Americans.

With Sayyed Nasrallah’s assuming the position of Secretary-General in 1992, Hezbollah entered a new phase in its political path. However, the moment that marked the real start of the Party in Lebanon was the withdrawal of the Syrian army from Lebanon in 2005, at which point the Party became the only armed force outside the framework of legitimacy; and in the July 2006 war, which portrayed the Party, and its Secretary-General in particular, as the “new Arab giant”, along with the emergence of a new generation of vocalists, most notably Ali Al Attar, who closed the chapter on the “religious controversy” regarding music, and thus incorporating popular rhythms into many of his songs. A few of Hezbollah’s widely circulated songs have begun to take on a nationalistic tone, as seen in songs such as: “Your victory shook the world” (nasrak hazz al-dini), which is one of the few songs that mention only Lebanon; “The glory of the Arabs” (ezz al-arab); “Lebanon triumphed through its martyrs” (loubnan bi shuhada ntasar); “O my homeland, O land of light” (ya watani ya watan nour); “Your victory, Lebanon, is written” (nasrak loubnan nkatab), and other ‘anasheed’.
As the disagreements between Hezbollah and what was known as the “March 14” coalition intensified, Hezbollah’s songs began to take the same path as Amal’s songs. The greatest popularity went to songs that glorified Hezbollah in general, and its Secretary-General in particular, accompanied by massive media propaganda surrounding Nasrallah’s personality. Although Hezbollah has not abandoned the principle of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (or the principle of the Supreme Leader), as Sayyed Nasrallah stated in 2019: “We are here from Lebanon to say to the whole world that our Imam, our leader, our master, our beloved, and our Husayn in this era is (...) Imam Sayyed Ali Hosseini al-Khamenei”; and in a previous statement by the current Secretary-General of Hezbollah, Naim Qassem, in 2016, he said: “Is it acceptable to involve these young men in a fighting operation that leads to death? Therefore, I ask the Supreme Leader to authorize me to risk being killed.” Nevertheless, with the exception of ‘nasheed’ “Peace be upon Mahdi” (Salam Ya Mahdi), Hezbollah songs no longer pay much attention to the matter of the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist and have shifted towards songs that reflect the sense of overwhelming power that Hezbollah feels towards the other Lebanese parties, and even towards the “world.” A listener to Hezbollah’s songs may notice that these songs are not a reflection of reality, but rather an attempt to impose an imagined reality that portrays Hezbollah as an invincible army and a political party that makes no mistakes.
With the emergence of Hezbollah as a dominant power in Lebanon after 2006, this “power” began to be reflected in the new political songs that spread during the period between 2006 and 2023, which constituted the golden age of Hezbollah’s dominance over political decision-making in Lebanon. It all started with “Who can compare to you when you appear?” (men adak lama tol) after the war, which gave Nasrallah’s personality a legendary dimension, added to his sanctity as a “religious figure” who belongs to the lineage of the Prophet Mohammad. The songs then evolved in their form and content to include: “Unleash your anger like fire and gunpowder,” “Every time anger flares up,” “Strike and let the wind howl,” “We will cross the sea with you,” “God is with you, and we are with you,” “O Nasrallah, when he comes,” “We pledge allegiance to you with our blood,” and the song “Shake the stick with your hand,” which represents the peak of intimidation and threat against the other, saying, for example: “Shake the stick with your hand, discipline them one by one, we are the bullets in your rifles, we are the death that is coming for them / Do not mess with us / Messing with us is forbidden, we are the ones who bow only to God / Let them burst with rage and continue to count the stars at midday, we have left our mark on history and wars have been like journeys for us (...) Bring the biggest head and teach him a lesson that he will not forget.”

The rise of songs celebrating power coincided with the decline of the term “the oppressed” to the extent that it is now rarely used. Even in the new version of nasheed “al-Jihad, al-Jihad” performed as part of the “40th-anniversary” celebrations, the opening lines were changed to “al-Jihad, al-Jihad, the day of slumber is over, forty years have passed and our path is al-Jihad” instead of “O oppressed ones, hasten to Jihad”, and included a mention of Sheikh Ragheb Harb, Sayyed Abbas al-Musawi, Imad Mughniyeh, and Qasem Soleimani in the verse: “Fedayeen (Devotees) of Husayn are the best of people, Ragheb is their path and Abbas is the embodiment of Jihad / Their determination is Qasem and their sword is Imad.” Interestingly, the part declaring allegiance to Khomeini was removed from the original nasheed, and the following was added: “Soldiers of Nasrallah, and the path is Ashura.” This also reflects Nasrallah’s transformation into the second most important figure in the Iranian axis after Khamenei, especially among the generation born after the liberation in 2000, who was not in the framework that led to the emergence and rise of Hezbollah, but grew up and was educated in Hezbollah schools and its supportive environment, on Hezbollah’s narratives, which it did not experience in detail, unlike the first generation, whose faith in the idea is usually much greater than their faith in its leader. Furthermore, the Iranian presence within Hezbollah has gradually shifted from a direct presence, whether through fighters or Maddahs (‘al-radud’ or eulogists), to an undeclared political and military presence after Hezbollah entered the heart of Lebanese political life.
Naturally, some songs became popular during periods marked by significant political events. For example, after participating in the Syrian war in 2011, Hezbollah fought numerous battles alongside the Syrian regime, and a large number of its members were killed, especially in the period before the Russian army entered the battle in 2015. After Hezbollah’s victory in the Battle of Yabroud (2014), the song “We brought the victory” became popular, set to the melody of the song “I would not choose anyone but you, even if they burned me with fire” by the Syrian singer Hussein Al-Deek. The song says: “We brought victory, for your sake, Bashar, and in the battle of Yabroud we unleashed the storm / Sayyed Nasrallah, who is like you who, with our blood we protected all the oppressed, July writes all the headlines / From your land, Yabroud, we unleashed the storm / For your sake, our Lady Zaynab al-Hawraa, we sacrifice ourselves for you with our souls and the blood of the martyrs.” This song is equivalent to one of the first slogans that Hezbollah used to justify its entry into the Syrian war and to mobilize and rally its supporters by using the ‘sectarian’ card, which is the slogan “Zaynab will not be taken captive twice” and the idea of holy war. This return to the holy war required the revival of the nasheed “With Husayni blood” (bi-dam husayni) during the Battle of al-Qusayr (2013), and was added: “We fight in al-Qusayr with our souls and hands.” A song that was sung at some weddings also spread, but it suddenly faded away; it says in one of its verses: “This is this it / The strong Shia of Ali / Once we liberate Syria / We will set Saudi Arabia on fire.” It is worth noting that political songs are not necessarily made by Hezbollah itself or under its direction, but may be an individual effort. However, it must be emphasized that the public’s interaction with political songs, especially the ideologically-minded audience, and their approval of one song and rejection of another, is a result of the political discourse and behavior emanating from the Party. For example, the political mobilization practiced by Hezbollah against the Arabs will have its effects reflected in the songs that express the prevailing public sentiment.
In the recent war that was called the “War of attrition of Gaza” which erupted in Lebanon on October 08, 2023, and with Hezbollah beginning to hold funerals for its martyrs, the nadbiyat and latmiyat began to reappear, and in a stronger form, with the emergence of new eulogists on the one hand, and the emergence of a new type of latmiyat that include some melodies. One of the most widely circulated nadbiyat, which was considered part of the official funeral ceremonies, was “Peace be upon my martyred brothers,” which carries meanings of grief and “the pledge to protect the brigade.” It is noteworthy that, following the assassination of Sayyed Nasrallah on September 27, 2024, and to this day, no anasheed or elegies have yet been composed about the event, with the exception of the Iraqi elegy “Sayyed Hassan”, which constitutes an attempt to revive the anti-Arab discourse of the Iranian axis.  In one of its verses, it implicitly describes the Gulf rulers as “Abu Lahab”, saying about Nasrallah: “You burned down the normalization of the Arabs / You gave your life as you should have / Until you departed as a martyr on the path / Your blood exposed Abu Lahab.” Although Hezbollah is still preoccupied with its war, it can be said that the assassination of Nasrallah created a void not only within Hezbollah itself and among its supporters, but also in its narrative, which had considered Nasrallah to be part of the generation that would witness the liberation of Palestine and “pray in Jerusalem,” and this what Nasrallah himself mentioned in one of his speeches, where he affirmed that he would be part of that generation. This void was reflected in the Party’s political songs, as Nasrallah was supposed to feature prominently in those songs.
The absence of anasheed may be an attempt to consolidate an idea held by many of Hezbollah’s supporters, namely that Nasrallah is still alive, since the widespread circulation of such anasheed would reinforce the idea of his assassination. In other words, it is an attempt to exploit Nasrallah’s persona to rally support around the Party, especially in light of the recent statement by Mahmoud Qamati, who said that Nasrallah’s funeral would be a referendum on the choice of “resistance.” However, this probability remains unlikely given the reality that the defeat of Hezbollah in this war is very similar to the defeat of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Beirut in 1982, which was reflected in the fading of the political song at that time.

The political songs have shifted with the two Shiite parties from patriotic to partisanship. While the songs of the Lebanese left still resonate with non-leftists, and we see, for example, that Marcel Khalife continues to hold massive concerts in many countries around the world and the audience asks him to repeat signing some of his songs, the political songs of Amal and Hezbollah no longer mean anything to anyone except their own supporters. For example, but not limited to, the song “May God be with you, steady house in the South” by Wadih El Safi, receives a positive response from all segments of the Lebanese society, including the supporters of Amal and Hezbollah. The reason for this is that it addresses noble human meanings ​​that resonate with every person regardless of their political background, and that its melody resembles the Lebanese musical heritage, unlike a party’s songs which have acquired a distinctive melody closer to a military melody than to a musical one. Most importantly, it presents resistance and steadfastness, both of which are political behaviors, as an integral part of human life; connected to one’s past and memories on the one hand, and to one’s future on the other.