Sami Hawat is a Lebanese artist who participated in pioneering the political song in the time of the Lebanese war. He belongs to the toiling class and is committed to its issues. He acquired nationalist thought from his Arab nationalist father and inherited art from his mother. The war prevented him from completing his secondary education and also prevented him from completing his musical studies at the National Conservatory. He persevered in developing his musical culture with an individual effort and with a number of musician friends. He made a mistake and confirmed his continuity in light of the descending singing waves over the past decades.
With the artist Sami Hawat this conversation:
○ Was your commitment to the political song the result of your being influenced by your father’s nationalist ideas, or the result of the circumstances that prevailed at that stage?
As a result of circumstances and self-occupation together, I am a person belonging to the popular and toiling class and committed to its issues, and my honesty stems from the integration between my public and artistic life. The world passes unnoticed without leaving a trace, like a leaf that flies in the air and does not know where to land.
○ It formed a striking phenomenon in the sarcastic word that expresses the spirit of the crushed citizen. Do you think that the word in the era of confiscation of opinion can penetrate the veil of ignorance and the absence of belonging?
I think that the word today and the political song in general should have the same momentum and spirit as it was during the war. Today we live in a different kind of war. We live in an economic war, living collapse, corruption, a war of disappearance and obliteration of the Arab identity, but what is required is how to deal with the song in the selection of words without any change in the original essence. I am not once morest development and keeping pace with the times, provided that we do not forget our history and our convictions. and our principles.
○ What is the difference between a committed song between the period of national revival and the stage of decadence prevailing today at all levels?
• There is no doubt that the committed political song has declined today, especially in light of the change in the balance of power that the world has witnessed in the last stage. However, this does not cancel the presence of committed and honest artists who work with the same momentum and present real committed national art, but unfortunately it remains within certain limited frameworks limited as a result of The political and economic conditions, and the transformation of the media into a material commercial media that aims for profit and is absent from the people’s issues and concerns.
○ Do people still listen to the national song, or has general frustration negatively affected the mood of the people, whose concern today is how to secure a livelihood?
There is a decline in public opinion, and this is a serious matter, and I always call on every individual to strive, work, and present for his cause and principles. The responsibility does not fall on the artist, the writer or the intellectual alone. Rather, there must be a starting point that starts from the same person in order to obtain change. Actual despite the bad conditions we are going through on all levels. In my duty as an artist, the principles oblige me, through my work, to demand unity and social justice, and to alert the public to the dangers that result from the chaos in the world and the mafia system.
○ Is the political song still a tool for change?
Without a doubt, it is not only a tool for change, but it is a portal that opens a wide field for you to get to know a large segment of people and create dialogue and communication with them.
○ Are you pessimistic regarding the future of the national and political song?
Absolutely, because I am well aware of the circumstances of this stage, and I believe that a revival is inevitable. The tyrannical regime has obliterated all things of cultural and moral value to us, starting with raising children, and unfortunately we do not find today a single cultural program for children, but there are normalization programs that cancel The innocence of childhood, belonging and Arab identity, so the challenge is great today and needs awareness, awareness and responsibility, and this falls on everyone’s shoulders.
○ How do you evaluate reality TV programs that promise the audience the stars and stars of the future and accompany them from morning until they fall asleep?
This is one of the byproducts of capitalism, and I am not surprised by these programs and cannot criticize them for a simple reason, which is that we do not have an alternative and we live in a state of complete coma.
○ Why are we not witnessing any movements once morest these works, and where is the role of artists today?
Individual effort is not enough, just as theorizing and speaking without action are not sufficient either.
○ You are the son of the Palestinian cause, you defended and carried it in your conscience and enriched it as well. How do you see the technical handling of this issue today?
The Palestinian cause is the mother of issues, and it is sacred in the human and scientific sense. As for dealing with it today, I see that there is a kind of crushing and belittling the minds and conscience of Arab peoples, and many artists exploit it for purely commercial motives, and this is a dangerous matter. The Palestinian cause is not Arab, but rather an international one. Too big to be treated as if it were a fashion that is invalidated according to the mood of this product or that artist.
○ Do you think that there is a possibility to awaken the struggle values among the masses by means of the national song?
If a continuous program is not available, it will not succeed. The Arab countries are completely absent and need a general program, and if there is no real, secular, humanitarian national program, it will not succeed. Global Zionism and capitalism are working to tickle the religious sentiments of the Arab peoples and they are trying to distract people from core issues through religion, for example. In order for the Arabs to unite, it is necessary to get rid of these bad seeds, which will only succeed in disintegrating us and sowing discord and hatred among the Arab peoples.
○ You are away for a long time before you appear to your audience, why?
• I work according to my mood, and from people who sit with themselves for long times, so I respect my mood a lot and this helps me to think better and to be more and more creative.
○ Has anything changed regarding 17-year-old Sami Hawat and Sami Hawat today?
Nothing has changed in my personality. Since my beginnings, people have been my concern, and it is still today, but what has increased is my reproach and blame for people.
