Ari Shine - Beirut 1978

“Dance dance dance – everything else can wait.” I absolutely love this song. The music is great, that’s important. And the words are extremely potent. I am thinking of how I am always seeking songs that make me dance. This song works very well in that department. Ari, however, points out a truth that I have thought about from time to time – why am I dancing while my countrymen are killing innocent people on the other side of the world? The whole concept sickens me, so I push it aside and dance dance dance. Ari does something important, I think. He takes a scene from 30 years ago and talks about it in the present tense.

“The Paris of the Middle East. A tourist trap, or a hedonist feat. The disco doors are open late in Beirut.” We’re placed right in the middle of the scene. “Two drunken girls like to flirt and tease, they’re shouting come-ons in Lebanese. Exchange rates are bad, but the coke is great in Beirut.” A break with a pensive guitar solo, then. “The morning after is a bitter pill, we see the soldiers come over the hill.” And that’s the strength of this song for me. The major point is we never know when tragedy is going to strike, or when soldier types will decide their training needs to be utilized. So, do we dance until that time? Do we dance despite that time? Do we dance because we have this tremendous need to show our freedom despite the obvious oppression around us? No answers are easy, and it’s fantastic to me that a pop song can bring out these depths of thought.

Thank you, Mr. Ari Shine. Fun percussion & guitar. A huge shoutout for Keep You In Cabs. Ari Shine