This song is Ahmed Fouad Negm’s satire of the “infitah” era under President Sadat, when economic liberalization created many new fortunes, but its benefits were unevenly distributed, and government reforms to “open up” the country seemed to many Egyptians to entail a sinister tradeoff between dignity and prosperity — a sentiment that Fouad Negm gives voice to here. The arrangement and performance is by Fouad Negm’s longtime collaborator Sheikh Imam.
| Boutiques, schmoutiques | بوتيكات النات كوا النات |
| Furnished apartments and commissions | وشقق مفروشه وعمولات |
| How nice! [1] | يا حلاوة الناوة كوا الناوة |
| O our country and the latest ingenuity | يا بلدنا يا أخر فتاكات |
| Boutiques, schmoutiques | بوتيكات النات كوا النات |
| Your wish is my command, open your mind[2] | شبيك لبيك فتح مخك |
| Your wish is my command, close your eyes | لبييك شبيك غمض عينك |
| Close your mind and we’ll beat you down | حتقفل مخك ح نطخك |
| And we’ll sting you good if you open your eyes | ونلوشك لو تفتح عينك |
| Ride horns [i.e. accept cuckoldry] and you’ll ride in a Mazda | ركب قرنين تركب مازدا |
| And you’ll live like a sultan in that picture frame | وتعيش سلطان فى البراوز دا |
| You don’t like it, it’s rotten cheese for you | مش عاجبك فالجبنه الفاسدة |
| And bread, beans and leeks | والعيش والفول والكرات |
| How nice! | يا حلاوه الناوه كوا الناوه |
| O our country and the latest ingenuity | يا بلدنا يا اخر فتاكات |
| Boutiques, schmoutiques | بوتيكات النات كوا النات |
| Who among you doesn’t know Elewa | مين فيكوا ما يعرفش عليوه |
| The worn-out porter? | شيال المينا الكحيان |
| In an instant, he got funding and was transformed | فى ثواني اتمول واتحول |
| And became the distinguished Monsieur Elewa | بقي مسيو عليوه عليان |
| How? | ازاى؟ |
| It’s nothing but an all-night dive | ما هى بوظه ومفتوحة |
| Thanks to sons of bitches | على حس ولاد المفضوحه |
| And millions of pounds from hard bargains [3] | وأرانب صاحيه ومدبوحه |
| Stacked in banks | تتأستك تبع البنوكات |
| How nice! | يا حلاوة الناوة كوا الناوة |
| O our country and the latest ingenuity | يا بلدنا يا أخر فتكات |
| Boutiques, schmoutiques | بوتيكات النات كوا النات |
| You’ll tell me that the poor and their problems | حتقولي الفقرا ومشاكلهم |
| Are issues that need ingenuity | دى مسائل عايزة التفانين |
| My opinion is that we solve it through God’s mysterious ways | وانا رأيي نحلها رباني |
| And kill all the hungry | ونموّت كل الجعانين |
| That way, no one will go hungry | وبهذا ما حدش ح يجوع |
| If we announce this project | لو نعلن هذا المشروع |
| And put an end to this issue | و ح نقفل هذا الموضوع |
| Once and for all | نهائيا |
| We’ll live happily ever after | ونعيش فى تبات |
| How nice! | يا حلاوة الناوه كوا الناوة |
| O our country and the latest ingenuity | يا بلدنا يا اخر فتكات |
| Boutiques, schmoutiques | بوتيكات النات كوا النات |
[1] Besides يا حلاوة, the rest of this line consists of nonsense words that are there just for the rhyme and rhythm.
[2] The phrase شبيك لبيك is what the genie says upon emerging from the lamp in the Arabic version of the Aladdin story.
[3] This line contains several levels of wordplay that can’t be carried over to the English. The word أرنب literally means “rabbit,” but is also slang for “one million Egyptian pounds.” The line as a whole literally translates as “Rabbits alive and slaughtered,” but دبح can also mean to drive a hard bargain or take someone to the cleaners, so أرانب مدبوحة would mean something like “one million pounds obtained from driving a hard bargain.”