14.5.06

Of war and... tango


Since I was a child I equate tango with war. the civil war in Lebanon. the events (al ahdess) to be specific.
The reason I guess is that we had some records that we used to play during the evenings back in the days. James Last I believe. and now I feel that the similarity is more justified than that. It’s this emotional… staccato! the lost nostalgia. the brusque change. the strength…
It’s this strange happiness that reaches you through a cloud of melancholy.
I could hear the guests’ laughter. dinner parties… people dressed up, playing cards, oblivious to the roar of the war on the streets outside… the longer they bomb the longer we party, till dawn, till we wear them down by our dancing, till they can’t shoot another bullet.
“No, don’t leave yet, it’s still hot and heavy outside…”
Have another drink, and let's dance… a faux pas and you’re dead. That was the war after all. A tango.

12 comments:

Unknown said...

in tango, a wrong move is always anticipated by the partner and corrected, because it's a continuum of body and feelings and, well, love. how could you compare tango to war?

Ghassan said...

james last. the melancholy. the vitality. the alertness of the senses.

Unknown said...

that's the difference between us 2 :) regardless of how we interpret things.. you tend to feel and i tend to practice, you listen, i dance..

Laila K said...

yeah tango can be very intense, i like the comparison

...and that's how you two complete each other..and they lived happily ever after :)

Unknown said...

gus email me your address in boston to send you the stuff.

Hashem said...

Gus,
I see the comparison....but I tend to civilize it more. War is bad. Dance is nice.
"ahdess"....my father calls it the same...:)

black feline said...

war and tango...almost alike...intense, the anguish, sadness..etc I have not seen a happy tango...

Mar said...

Bomb shelling and tango in the background. Another example of "EL Sha3b el 3anid"

Unknown said...

i sent the imp. stuff, they didn't have the right package for the books. will do it when i come back. the guy knew your name though. he was like, so she doesn't work here anymore? i'm like he, he. then he goes, jose check it out, she's not here anymore, she's at harfart now. and i'm like, he, he... yeah she left..

Ghassan said...

hahaha. thanks sweetie.

Fouad said...

It would have to be the most beautiful war of all. I see the similarities but the disparities are too strong for me to convert.

FZ said...

i love the sultry mad resistence of a party persisting against the chaos outside. the strength of the tango-- is a fierceness, no? a core of violence, a sharp-edged choreography of intimacy... a kind of jolt. love it. :)