Unexpectedly, the concert held to mark the 75th Lebanese Army Day ended up being the subject of great controversy, due to the apparent omission of the lyrics of one of the popular songs performed by the choir.
In the virtual concert, a barrage of la la la‘s replaced the iconic phrase of the legendary poet Nizar Qabbani “The revolution is born from the womb of sorrows.”
It immediately caught the attention of its audiences, who were dumbfounded and angered by it.
Lebanese and Proud, the organizer of the event, has since responded to the serious backlash by denying the omission of any lyrics from the famous song, despite the video proving it.
“The association is concerned to clarify that no section of ‘Ya Beirut’ by the adept artist Majida El Roumi has been deleted,” the NGO said in a Sunday statement.
“… The choir performed it during the ceremony with a two-sound technique, meaning that half the choir chanted it and the other half replaced it with a sound rhythm,” the statement explained.
The statement also noted that, had the goal been to delete any section of the song, it would not have been originally included in the lyric repertoire.
Lebanese and Proud indicated that the speech made at the event by its president, Fadi Fayyad, clearly conveyed its great interest and support for “the freedoms and dreams of the emerging generations that want Lebanon first and foremost…”
Since August 1st, the association has come under fire for removing the revolutionary phrase, allegedly for political reasons, during the Saturday celebration.
It certainly provoked many Lebanese who took to social media to backfire, flooding social media, notably Twitter and Instagram, with the censored sentence that conveys the very truth of their revolution.
Some even felt very offended: “We are the La la, and the Anger. We are the hope of the generations…! The revolution is born from the womb of sorrows.”
Many called out what they deemed a disrespectful act towards artistic integrity and the legendary poet, and an attempt to choke the revolution of the people.