aicha

Earlier this week I was at the bank. As I was signing my name, the young teller [who appeared to be at least partially Middle Eastern] asked me how I pronounce my name. When I told him, he looked interested and asked me, "Like the song?" I was thinking he was referring [as many people have in the past] to a song by some little boys singing about Aisha on the playground, so I said, "Yeah, yeah, I know that old song you're talking about." When he said that the song he was thinking about was fairly recent, I was curious and asked him to tell me more. He said it was a song by a group called Outlandish [they're a sort of eclectic, world-type band from Denmark, although the members are part Middle Eastern] and that it was called "Aicha" and pronounced the same way my name is [I guess the two are interchangeable].

He wrote it all down for me, told me that there were also versions of the song in French and Arabic, and then almost hesitantly asked me if I was part Arabic. That was kind of funny to me, since if you've ever seen me you know there is no way I could be Arabic-way too pale and not nearly exotic enough! I told him that although I wasn't Arabic, I was familiar with the Arabic origins of my name. In case you've never heard the story, before I was born my dad was reading a novel in Spanish [a language that has many Moorish influences] where the main character's name was Aisha. In the novel her name was originally spelled "Aixa." Thank heavens they didn't go for that spelling or I really would be in trouble. Aisha was also the name of Mohammed's youngest wife.

So, my interest was piqued. I googled it and actually came up with a video of the song on YouTube. The song is really mellow and sweet and I rather like it. Evidently this version is a remake of an older song by the same name [after seeing/hearing the original as well, I definitely like this one better] but it's sung in French. The video definitely has a Middle Eastern/World vibe to it. Click here to watch the video!