“I fear for my country/ Whispers resign/ Walls of fear and strife/ Fatigued and dishearted all,” begins Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan’s latest song, “Balad,” which means "country" or "homeland" in Arabic.
In the video of the song from the album “Al Jamilat,” Hamdan is in a scene from daily life in Beirut — rows of cars stuck in traffic, people shouting at each other and children trying to sell small items to the exasperated drivers. “Hostage to the security situation/ I am the citizen deposed/ Hostage to the security situation/ I am the citizen abandoned,” goes the refrain.