“Qyouda D’Libbi” – A review by Helen Talia

“Qyouda D’Libbi” ( ܩܝܘܕܐ ܕܠܒܝ, Flames of My Heart) is an expanded version of love longing to express itself through several ethereal elements.

Much like a lover’s climax fired by his bride’s sensuality, a man’s connection to his land, the synergies surrounding a spring wedding, a lover’s quarrel, and, yes, even in death and resurrection of a willful nation that refuses to stop fighting, until there’s nothing left to fight for.

Having carved out a piece of stillness from his nation’s tragic past and unforeseen future, the artist longs to lace together natural forces and foreign elements that have betrayed and divided his nation, whose history points to having no real allies, surviving solely through scattered emotions, teachings of an adopted religion, a pseudo-politicized formula and growing adversaries, until, perhaps, silence is broken and unity is realized, much like a sliced destitute of a wandering lover anxious to seize our dream to reclaim our ancestral land that has been a mirage to a lover who sets his sight on, but can not touch, touch, but may not feel, feel, but must not taste, only for the echoing memory to return, once again, to haunt his dreams.

An interwoven wave of restlessness and a gasp for the last breath, together we will continue marching on, even if only in motion, until we grasp our destiny in the Nineveh Plain, be it through Ashur Bet Sargis’ love tunes, Macksud Eshaia’s folkloric beats, Nineb Lamassu’s “shaikhani” (ܫܝܚܢܝ) dance or Hannibal Alkhas’ dialogue between fire, air and water. We will keep rebuilding on our ashes because Assyria is our holy grail that we will never put down, until we quench our final thirst, much like Orahim Lazar’s “Maneela Oumta?” (ܡܢܝ ܝܠܗܿ ܐܘܡܬܐ, Who Is Our Nation).

Gracing an incredible Beth-Nahrainian artist’s album afforded me the opportunity to express my nation’s deep-seated wounds and burning desire to reassert itself, internationally, and reclaim its land, historically, for which I am beyond blessed to have been a part of as I continually pride myself in affirming that I am Assyrian.

Helen Talia, MBA, CPA, FCC (Chicago, Phoenix & New York) October 29, 2018.
This article is written exclusively for album “Qyouda D’Libbi” and dedicated to my son Slewo Awesha Oshana.
To reproduce or republish any parts of this article, please contact Helen Talia.
Copyright © 2018 by Helen Talia. All rights reserved.