Craft, art, flower, a city and people, it’s a word used in different parts of speech, meanings and associations, it has a certain musical beauty to its sound but is surprisingly rare in song lyrics. A Damascene is a native or inhabitant of Damascus, or the adjective relating to the people or characteristics of Syria’s capital city, previously Aleppo, which was so torn apart by the recent, and ongoing civil war. It is also the adjective and related verb for designs produced by inlaying gold or silver into steel, often with a wavy pattern. The phrase ‘road to Damascus’ relates to a turning point in a person’s life, in reference to the conversion of the biblical figure of Paul and his conversion to Christianity, but the road can have different contexts of change.
Rosa x damascena
And finally, the Rosa × damascena, more commonly known as the Damask rose, or sometimes as the rose of Castile, is a rose hybrid, derived from Rosa gallica and Rosa moschata, popular in Syria. But what of that Damascene rose? First, let’s enjoy a video about many uses for the actual rose:
Moving from rose to back to road, Belle & Sebastian’s Stuart Murdoch wrote the soundtrack for the musical film God Help The Girl, which he also directed and wrote, about three friends who form a band in Glasgow. The film was released in 2014, but an album of the same name with its songs was released. Damascene comes up in Act of the Apostle, and is one of several songs featuring the wonderful voice of singer Catherine Ireton from Limerick in Ireland. Here’s an opening clip from the film starring Australian actress Emily Browning in the lead role:
My Damascene road’s
A transistor radio I tune in at night
When my mum and my dad start to fight
I put on my headphones
Another version of this, part II comes in the Belle & Sebastian 2006 album The Life Pursuit:
Damascus’s roads and much more of the city have also been destroyed by Syrian civil war. Between the tyrannical President Bashar al-Assad, rebels and other intervening, intervening countries, it’s been a humanitarian disaster for millions. Apart from the atrocities between the Syrian sides, after a chemical attack, a scientific research centre in Damascus was one of several sites bombed in April 2018 by US, French and British forces as an armed response, ordered in particularly by Donald Trump. The bombs were aimed at Assad's chemical weapons facilities but inevitably there were civilian casualties. Civilians are always the only true victims.
But is western interpretation of events always welcome. Mega-selling mainstream act Coldplay wrote a 2019 song Orphans, telling the fictional story of young girls named Rosaleen and Baba (Arabic for father) who die during the attacks.
It’s not generally the policy highlight a band as commercially widespread and mainstream as Coldplay on Song Bar, but seeing as this week’s word comes up in the lyrics, what about their song? Does it convey an important political message, or is is just a vehicle for expanding the band’s market? This video was shot in Jordan, a safer country, and home to many Syrian refugees. It seems really that these lyrics, and the video that goes with it are just a bit too rosy to be at all appropriate.
Rosaleem of the damascene
Yes, she had eyes like the moon
Would have been on the silver screen
But for the missile monsoon
Almost total destruction in the Yarmouk camp area of Damascus
Putting Chris Martin and co aside then, from damascene, what about the Damascus scene? Damascus, dating back to the 11th century BC, has a culture and history longer than almost any other city in the world. Here then to finish is a sample of some traditional Damascene music, featuring the sufi Ensembel Al-Kindi and the Whirling Dervishes of Damascus:
And here, in a meeting of east and west, here’s the classical Orchestra of Syrian Musicians performing the wonderful rendition of the traditional song Old Damascus at Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London:
So then, do any more damascene songs found in your collection? Feel free to share any further ones from songs, or even film, art or other contexts in comments below.
You can also get in touch the contact page, and also visit us on social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube. and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share. New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: