My Very Arabic Taylor Swift

I know not many guys would admit to liking Taylor Swift, the young American singer that has been rocking American music ever since she came to the stage in 2006 with her Teardrops on My guitar. I enjoyed that song a great deal and did not know the age of the singer behind it and in face never thought that I would hear form this singer again. But Taylor hit it big with her various talents.

She is the definition of country pop, she is a singer, song writer and more recently an actress. She has won many Grammy awards, and sold more records than anyone cares to count. Her tours sells out in minutes and she has built something of a cult following that crosses gender and age barriers. The Billboard magazine calls her the artist of the year.

When I listen to a song by Taylor Swift, it evokes many sweet memories, and tells many stories that I am familiar with and can certainly relate to. She is one of the few non Arab singers than manage to offer my an experience through their music and their stories they tell. Taylor whose career started when she won a poetry competition with a three page poem. The lyrics of most of her songs remind me of the great Lebanese songs of the 70s and 60s when they made folksy topics hip and mainstream like the house of Rahabni's work. That's what Taylor Swifts does, she makes country themed songs pop and does it so well.

For example take a really popular Taylor Swift song Back to December, play that song and you can easily picture a song of of the Lebanese diva Fairuz's Kefak Inta Because both singer's style have an autobiographical feel to them, it's easy to relate to those stories, the same impression you get if you read a diary. Taylor's writing keeps in mind the fans as she once said, "My goal is to never write songs that my fans can't relate to." Which is something the Rahbanis have echoed in their work that focused on the small town life, the innocence of growing up, the problems of love, and the mischief of youth.

But that's not the entire picture, there is no comparison between two very different stars from two different eras and persuasions. But I am just hoping to make the point that the Taylor Swift is a very familiar territory for Arab listeners who enjoy this kind of personal narrative of past and all its bitter sweet moments. This is why I thought it was very interesting timing when I first heard the song Back to December, a found an Arabic song that echoes the meaning of the song that was also released at the same time. Rahama Ahmad, the young up and coming Iraqi singer released her debut song Khelsna and it sounds like it could fit in a Taylor Swift album.