Take a Deep-Dive Into our Lyrics & Tracklist

Kuwaisiana is a proudly bilingual project developed by +Aziz. Below are the tracks on our debut release, Chapter 1. You can listen to the development of the New Orleans sound across Chapter 2 and Chapter 3.

For me, part of being Kuwaiti today means engaging with many potent thoughts with poetic confidence: xenophobia, censorship, money laundering, identity policing, Arab supremacy, faking history, nepotism, homophobia, the relationship between the powerful and their victims… failed democracy. This is to a large extent what I care about, so addressing some of these topics will be an achievement.

There’s certain absurdist despair embedded in the Kuwaiti identity (and perhaps the Khaleeji identity too) that I think warrants lots of artistic attention. What does it mean to be Arab today? What does it feel like to be a young Khaleeji today? To what extent can a Kuwaiti feel at home in the Arab-American diaspora? What is the Arabian Peninsula’s role in the Middle East as the world’s fragmentation increases? Shoot me a message and enjoy the tunes!!

(ڤنتج) Vintage

A song about being discarded. Drawing inspiration from Kuwait’s ‘Friday Market’, where you can find everything from cute animals to scrap machine parts. Vintage is meant to be a tongue-in-cheek story about falling in love with someone from a younger generation and ending up feeling like being sold for cheap in the local flea market.

Verse Take me to the Friday market Sell me off, be done with the likes of me Put me in a crappy shopping cart Push me off the highest skyscraper Chorus Dead are the days when I was your love Gone are the days when I was your love Vintage are the days I was your love Beware! The promises of new generation. Verse Take me to the Friday market She tells me your song has no benefit Sell me off, cheaper than a chicklet Put me in the middle of a whale’s stomach Chorus Dead are the days when I was your love Gone are the days when I was your love Vintage are the days I was your love Beware! The promises of new generation.

Verse I ودّيني ودّيني سوق الجمعة بيعيني بيعيني من كل امثالي بتفتكّين حطّيني حطّيني في عربانة سكراب دزّيني دزّيني من أعلى ناطحة سحاب CH أيام ماتت أيام ماتت كنت لك حبيب أيام فاتت أيام ماتت كنت لك حبيب كنت لك حبيب vintage أيام دير بالك من وعود الجيل الجديد Verse II ودّيني ودّيني سوق الجمعة تقول لي تقول لي أغنيتك ما منها فائدة بيعيني بيعيني أرخص من الكتكوت حطّيني حطّيني في وسط بطن حوت CH

(مُرةٌ) Murra

A bipolar song, driven by abstracted poetic language. This is one of two songs in formal Arabic (فصحة). It paints a static yet metaphorically rich scene where the protagonist reflects on a bittersweet life through a morning coffee.

Verse My morning coffee is the color of the night What it lacks, though, is a lunar disc whispering ceased since yesterday. Chorus Everyday, it’s bitter VII My morning coffee tastes like pain A coffee-flavored piece of chocolate. My morning coffee is the color of the night The sun sets in my cup Chorus Everyday, it’s bitter

Verse I بلون الليل قهوتي الصباحية ينقصها قرص قمر غاب همسه عن أمس CH مُرةٌ / كل يوم Verse II بطعم الألم قهوتي الصباحية قطعة شيكولاتة بنكهة البن بلون الليل قهوتي الصباحية تنكسف الشمس في فنجاني CH مُرةٌ / كل يوم



Gashxi (گشِّي)

Gashxi is about holding/finding ground amidst uncertainty and chaos. A song about banding together. The lyrics are a response to the aftermath of intense urbanization and the role of making music as a means to endure the world spiraling out of control.

Verse A magazine with never-ending pages It contains adverts which chase me around They caught up to me and tripped me up Search for your ground Hands on your heart Chorus Come along above love Music that protects us Music to protect us from our inner demons A band that lifts us from skyscrapers. Verse II A building without an infrastructure An ad without an ending They finish what I have to say, as if expressing my thoughts. Stabilize my body With my hands are on my heart. CH We built a high fence A shadow protecting us from our neighbors’ evils A band protecting us from our inner demons BRIDGE Chorus We built Kuwaisiana. We built Kuwaisiana. Songs which distance us from our inner demons A wall protecting us from the sins of America

Verse I مجلّة صفحاتها ما تخلص فيها إعلانات تلحقني وُصَلّتي تشان تعرقلني دوّر ارضك / إيدك على قلبك CH I تعالو فوق الهواء موسيقى تحمينّا من شرور نفوسنا فرقة ترفعنا من ناطحات سحّاب VII بناية بدون هيكل دعاية بدون نهاية تكمّل كلامي, كأنها تعبّرعن أفكاري. يوّد گشّي إيدي على قلبي CH II بنينا سور عالي ظلٌ يحمينا من شرور جيرانا فرقة تحمينا من شرور نفوسنا BRIDGE CH III بنينا كويزيانا أغاني تبعدنا من شرور نفوسنا طوفة تحمينا من ذنوب أمريكا



Gabba Barra (گبَّة بَرَّة)

A sarcastic imagining of how the Sufis were kicked out of the Arabian Peninsula once conservative Islam gradually took over. The song juxtaposes personal insights from Sufi philosophy and its exuberant spiritual value (in the verses) with rude contempt for Sufi principles (heard in the chorus).

Verse The recycling of our personalities Begins from a moment of recovery. No going back after our doors are opened Break them down for eternity. Chorus “Sufi Islam we don’t want it. Throw them out, from their arms and legs. Throw them out, from their legs and arms.” We cut the breath of the Arabian Peninsula Verse II The pressure of the world mounted up on us The natives of this land beat the shit out of us The pressure of the world broke our hands Arrows deepening in our bodies Chorus Verse III “We don’t want to return their salam. Pleasantries wasted on dead hearts. Man, don’t tell us about their philosophies. Throw them out of the country right away!” Chorus

V إعادة تكوين شخصياتنا تبدأ من لحظة إنتعاشها لا عودة بعد فتح ابوابنا تكسير فيها للنهاية  CH إسلام الصوفي مانابي گطوهم برّة ريل او إيد گطوهم برة إيد او ريل عيدوا التاريخ من جديد  VII ضغط الدنيا گام علينا آل الديرة غسلوا شراعنا ضغط الدنيا كسّر إيدنا أسهم تتعمق في أجسامنا CH إسلام الصوفي مانابي گطوهم برّة ريل او إيد گطوهم برة إيد او ريل گطعنا نفس الخليج VIII ما ودنى نرد على سلامهم مجاملات على قلب ميت  لا تحكيلنا عن فلسفاتهم حذف برة الديرة ريل او إيد   CH إسلام الصوفي مانابي گطوهم برّة ريل او إيد گطوهم برة إيد او ريل قطعنا نفس الخليج

Nada (نَدى)

Kuwaisiana’s flavor-blast of a song about the girl next door. In Arabic, the word “Nada” also means dew. The song’s lyrics are loaded with references to nature and aquatic elements.

Verse I Purify my green leaves Wash away the dust of pride. Are you the most beautiful or the Goddess of Rain’s daughter? CH Nada – our neighbor’s daughter Nada – she’s a lake in a drop of water. Verse II Nada, pure & transparent You torture me with your sweetness I can not taste you CH Nada – our neighbor’s daughter She’s a lake in a drop of water.

VI طهري أوراقي الخضراء إغسليها من غبار الكبرياء وانزحي عليها ببطء حسناء هي أنت؟ أم بنت إله الَمطر؟ | CH ندى بنت جيراّنا \ ندى بحيرة في قطرة ماء VII نقية شفافة ندى عذبتني بعذوبتك لا أ ستطيع تذوقك CH ندى بنت جيراّنا \ ندى بحيرة في قطرة ماء



Virgin

The lyrics on Virgin are inspired by the military-industrial complex that seems to have plagued the world’s superpowers and trickled into our personal space globally. Strong references here to gun culture, police brutality, drone wars, virtual reality, first-person shooter video games, and (of course) pornography!

Give me a joystick | Take me to warships

I’m a virgin | with a pink gun

The last silo | wants to lay low

Upgrade police force | Dressed in camo

A hand floating around killing people.

A drone flying around, stealing land.

——

A hand floating around killing people

A drone buzzing around, carpet bombing

I want to be free from the violence that surrounds me

Give me the key to the oxygen in the coffin.

Ambushed by our nature

History repeating itself

Spread your legs, there’s no place like home

On a pornoshoot

Ambushed by our nature

I’m a virgin

in a VR headset

Show me the army

occupy me



Men in Power

A soft alt-country ballad, written when I relocated from New York City to Bywater, a neighborhood in New Orleans. The lyrics here explore the waining power of patriotism, deterioration of the social fabric and wishing for a simpler time.

VI

Gosh it’s hard to replace

The innocence of a child

Hypnotized by the land

That was once shining bright

The weights of time broke apart

Put every bond in the fog

Blurry lights, a signs of time

Brought to you by the men in power.

CH | I stay way in the south / I stick right by the water

VII

Take me back to the basics

Oh youth speak to me again

I’m in a hurry, such a hurry

To find my identity

CH | I stay way in the south / I stick right by the water

VIII

Oh I’m so far from that place

Where my heart does operate

Yes I yearn to replace

the lies of men in power.



The Journalist

A song about a documentarian who was so obsessed with Palestinian affairs, that she became emotionally unavailable. The song tells the story of how she became traumatized upon crossing an Israeli checkpoint, where she saw a boy being shot.

VI

Door-to-door she talked to / Refugees without a refuge

Between a hard and a good life / A hotel and a war crime

People watching all day / Writing down everything they say

Elders kissed her forehead / Children knew her name

CH

My bloody Valentine / in love with Palestine

VII

Driving down with a young boy

Swallow salt with their hands

Haunted by that moment, they say “kill them all with lasers!”

CH

My bloody Valentine / in love with Palestine

VIII

Heavy skin on her eyelids

Sun between the clouds is thick

The darkness of their robots

They’ll take your land with cold eyes

My bloody Valentine in love with Palestine



Say Yea

Say Yea is a reaction to the traditionalism upheld by many Muslim families, and the elaborate rights of passage suitors must go through in order to prove that a marriage is viable.

Verse I

We’re driving

past the deepest fear I have.

Rejection tastes so sweet.

I rebuild my confidence.

Turn to your baba.

And ask him for your hand

He ripped one into the curb.

And we laughed until it hurt.

CHORUS

I will wait for you | Will you be waiting for me?

Till your daddy says yea, your mama say yea

Till your siblings say yea, and all your friends say yea

VERSE II

You’re searching for answers

Memorizing the book

So you cut me from your life

I rebuild my confidence

Turn to your mama

I see you in her eyes

Ignoring the alarm

The deepest fear I have

CHORUS

I will wait for you | Will you be waiting for me?

Till your daddy says yea, your mama say yea

Till your siblings say yea, and all your friends say yea!

VIII

I’m down by the Quarter | Find a second line

Get myself in front of them & I’m out to space again.

I’m searching for answers | Clawing through the parade

Get myself to somewhere new & I’m by myself again.

I hear the ocean whispering to me

You’re so special but I’m so sorry

Find myself out holding hands by the levee

Extra special, anti-social

Categories: News

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