Amichai’s Top 50/27. شم الياسمين Shim el Yasmine
Smell the Jasmine
“Smell the jasmine
Taste the molasses
And remember to remember me
Brother don’t forget me
My love, my prize.
Smell the jasmine
And remember to forget me”
We’re sitting in his car, way up in the hills in the middle of a forest near the Israeli-Lebanese border and he plays me this song about Jasmin and love that he loves, and he sings along in Arabic. And he translates, and we cry, and we both know that whatever this is between us has no future for so many reasons but for this now, this night, this is what we got. He introduced me to Mashrou’ Leila مشروع ليلى the Lebanese indie rock band, formed in Beirut in 2008 and rocking the world ever since, raising the bar on gay visibility and a new generation of sound and vision.
Today’s song goes out to the broken hearts, the attempts at love, the courage to be who we want to be even when families and states and regions and religions and legions of yesterdays stand in our way. Shukran Ya Habibi. May the jasmine grow wild in your heart always.
– Amichai
Amichai’s Top 50: Soundtrack of my life. 4/20-6-8 2019/Passover-Shavuot 5779
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