Iraqi resistance has its song

Abstract

Songs have played an important role in cultural resistance and in national liberation movements. Iraq also developed its resistance songs. Combining poetry with music, lyrics protested sanctions and occupation, violence and disintegration. Being an accessible mode to the masses through CDs and DVDs, songs were disseminated making use of indigenous traditions to express radical positions and mobilize the audience. Folk music and classical maqam as well as religious chanting were infused with concerns of the present moment. The article explains different types of Iraqi musical compositions and the way innovations were introduced to oppose the occupiers. Contemporary singers and composers are cited and their work is contextualized within the drama of occupation and in relation to such battles as that of Falluja.