Philemon Wehbe | Hamburger b/w Latife (Voice of Lebanon, 1974)

 

Self-taught Lebanese composer Philemon Wehbe (1916-1985) launched his career singing and performing at amusement parks in Palestine, working his way up over time to collaborations with the Rahbani brothers and poet Joseph Harb. He wrote over a thousand songs, including more than two-dozen compositions for Fairuz. Wehbe was also responsible for a comedy LP and several novelty singles, including our first offering here on Arabic Singles Going Steady, a comedic bit set to upbeat music, "Hamburger."

We've had a crappy MP3 of this goofy track for what seems like ages in our computer, but we had never heard a decent-sounding version of it until a copy of the 7" came up for auction on eBay. (It has never been offered on Discogs.) Shockingly, considering our rather paltry bid, we won and, weeks later, received a near-mint condition record in the mail. It sounds amazing. Listen for yourself:

(Listen to "Hamburger")

So many questions! Is Wehbe super-hungry for a hamburger? Is he extoling the hamburger's virtues? Is the hamburger a metaphor for a tough life ground up and spit out by an uncaring universe? Googling "What is Philemon Wehbe's song 'Hamburger' really about?" returns nothing.

A few months after scoring the 7", we found a copy of The Groovy Sounds of 1970s Lebanon, which includes the song on Side B. The pressing is a bit harsh and is the most likely source of our original MP3. Mind you, the Groovy Sounds version is listenable, and we encourage you to seek it out, as the single seems impossible to come by on vinyl. That album includes another Wehbe track, Bishtikibom. 

The B-Side is a somewhat different situation -- sonically, at least. Although it would appear, based on the single's back cover, that "Hamburger" is the B-Side, that distinction belongs to "Latife," or "The One You Love Is Latife." (Or, perhaps, "The One You Love Is Cute," according to Google Translate.) The sound here is more traditional, with little in the music or vocal style to suggest comedic intent.

There is, however, a YouTube video of Wehbe performing "Latife" on television, where it feels a bit tongue-in-cheek. And, speaking of tongue, get a load of the bizarre ululation-y sounds the singer makes at the song's completion -- not once, but twice, in case, presumably, you didn't catch it the first time.

(Listen to "Latife")