The most recent FOOTBALL-themed issue of ArabLit Quarterly features, among other things, bilingual football chants from five countries, curated by Leonie Rau:
Leonie has also put together a playlist of chants, and we also share one below, selected & translated by Khadidja Bouchellia.
Ouled El Bahdja – Babour ElLouh بابور اللوح
selected & tr. Khadidja Bouchellia
The word hogra is part of the daily vocabulary of Algerians, expressing the bitterness of enduring a regime that oppresses and suppresses its people. Young Algerians have found clever ways of self-expression that transcend censorship. Through football chants, their collective echoing pains and frustrations have reached Algerians beyond the pitch. Ouled El Bahdja is a collective of USMA football fans that has embodied that resistance through self-expression since the 1990s. This chant reflects the intersections of football, politics, socioeconomics, migration, and the feelings of hogra. For those who want to escape the ills of the homeland, the wooden boat is often a symbol of their freedom.
I cannot bear this suffering
Time is fleeting
Whatever I do turns sour
though my intentions are good
this life is at an impasse
I say ‘that’s it’
But I make the same mistake over and over
Overthinking has its hold on me
I say ‘that’s it’
But I make the same mistake over and over
Let me leave my heart is broken
Let me leave in the wooden boat
Let me leave my heart is broken
Let me leave in the wooden boat
Things are getting worse there’s no solution
Distance is a must, and I must follow
I cannot come back, and you know why
You (Algeria) became a home for foreigners
A mixing of genders
They wanted it this way
Build prisons
Women work while young men sleep
A mixing of genders
They wanted it this way
Build prisons
And women work while young men sleep
Let me leave my heart is broken
Let me leave in the wooden boat
Let me leave my heart is broken
Let me leave in the wooden boat
I am thinking hard
I am thinking of a good solution
To live at peace with myself
I have tirelessly tried
But only found failure
Awake an hour and oppressed a year
Those who escaped and made it
Their lives are long, and their path is written
Among honorable people
Very few are still holding on
Those who escaped and made it
Their lives long and their path written
Among honorable people
Very few are still holding on
Let me leave my heart is broken
Let me leave in the wooden boat
Let me leave my heart is broken
Let me leave in the wooden boat
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For more football chants, photos, poetry, short stories, and essays, get the most recent issue of ArabLit Quarterly digitally through Exact Editions or Gumroad, or in print via Am*zon and participating bookshops.
For a broader discussion about this issue, listen in with BULAQ’s Football & Literature episode.
