The Laughing Revolution

The humour that the Egyptian people had stayed through all the revolution details To a level that dazzled the world and made a lot of leaders brag about what happened in Egypt Naser Farghaly observed the sense of humour in this Egyptian revolution, let's see revolt, revolted, revolting, revolter: To attempt to overthrow the authority of the state; rebel A dictionary wouldn't be of any more help to you to understand what happened in Egypt... Between January 25 and February 11 A genuine revolution In a country where the Sphinx was expected to revolt before the Egyptians would But the pictures don't lie They are in their millions In defiance Under fire that was not as merciful as it was on Abraham And water that was spilt against its purpose as the source of life Names, faces and people facing a faceless security aparatus These people lived all their lives with the sun rising in the east and setting in the west And with Husni Mubarak a President Today, with legendary courage, they take on forces as mighty as mother nature herself In plain view of the modern world with its cameras, satellites and live broadcasting This may well be the revolution that received the biggest coverage in history A revolution like other revolutions, but yet unlike any other revolution It was said that whatever comes to Egypt gets Egyptianised, as the Iraqi Poet Jawaheri said: "Even nature in Egypt gets Egyptianised" Every minute, a tableau is painted by the will of a people and snatched by the lenses Even the most famous shot in the twentieth century... Tank Man of Tiananmen Square, was Egyptianised in the Egyptian revolution, wouldn't the revolution? Let's start over Only in Egypt... would your kids convince you to take them to the revolution... instead on the zoo Only in Egypt... could Guinness record the youngest demonstration leader; an Egyptian child of seven years of age This previous record was broken by a child from Alexandria... four years of age The Tahrir square claims back the record The youngest revolutionist in the world Learning to revolt before she learns to talk Only in Egypt Only in Egypt... can a bride and groom pick between a wedding in a convertable sports car... and an M60 tank Trills of joy and gunshots blasting at the same time Only in Egypt... the rebels are Guevara's age and have Guevara's courage... but they are inventing head gear unlike his famous beret In Tahrir, the square is not lacking tragedy Seize then a relatively calm break between an attack by Central Security forces... and another by the non-central thugs... and improvise a little bit of comedy, playing the role of a comrade Indian rebel Stuck to the throne With glue We thought to get rid of the throne... with him on it and then buy another throne Let's spare no expense, let him keep the bloody throne Only in Egypt can a joke become a revolution statement "Husni's gone crazy!" "Husni's gone crazy!" The fall of Ben-Ali two hours after the demonstrations reached Tunis the capital... made the 11 days of Mubarak's perseverence seem like eternity "Leave, the woman needs to give birth, and the baby doesn't want to see you" "The Egyptian Carpenters Guild ask master Mubarak about the kind of glue he uses" "Leave, my shoulders are sore" "Make it quick and leave, Zamalek is not a potential to win Soccer League every day" "Leave before I run out of oxygen" This young man's suffering didn't last long The revolution barber was opened, free of charge, for the rebels of course "Revolution Barber Shop... Free... courtesy of the revolution barber" The rebels wondered whether the regime's persistence was supernatural So they added what was not listed in any previous revolution guide book... A revolutionary exorcism ceremony to exorcise a stuck president The revolution hasn't produced a leader yet But it has produced its barber, singers and chanters "... we asked for one thing" "leave!" "All united, we asked for one thing" "Leave!" Only in Egypt... can you revolt and shoot a music video at the same time... and to be joined in it by a million rebels with revolutionary comradery Only in Egypt "I took to the streets and vowed not to go home" "and wrote by my own blood on every street" "we made those who wouldn't listen hear us" "and all obstacles have been broken" "our weapon was our dreams" "and tomorrow is clear in front of us" "we've been waiting for so long" "looking for our place, with no avail" "in every street in my country..." The staggering regime tried to respond Resorted to one of its most important weapons... The sound of the time, the man of the era... and its symbol, the unique Shabulla! "on the 25th at Tahrir square" "A day we'll live to remember" "but we want to make it a good memory" "live and delight at the change" "Baradei, you started the fire" "Have a bigger, broader mind" "Have a bigger mind, man!" And while thousands of outlaws left under the Marj Prison gatekeeper's nose... he was screaming and pleading for them to leave the prison farm calves... so he doesn't get punished As for the young Egyptian revolution detonator... he was finally caught dancing and laughing in his headquarters... amidst his friends, happy with the victory while everytime in front of a TV camera he would cry... I want to leave then cry again... then cry some more Only in Egypt, would the camel and the last straw become one The third millennium could pass, and maybe the fourth as well... without a spectacle of such mix of fabulism, senility, foolishness and novelty The only puzzle remaining of the revolution is who is the genius... who thought to stand up to the laptops... on February 25 with the Imru-ul-Quais Poaetical Works: A raider, a breaker, a returner and a leaver at the same time Like a rock boulder brought down from above by the floods And is he truly suffering from what psychiatrists call Companions of the Elephant Disorder? And is the rumour about his addiction to watching The Last Samurai... three times before bed true? This happens only in Egypt There are velvet revolutions, red revolutions and white revolutions There is also the Jasmin revolution Passing through Egypt, The revolution should've realised that it'd change forever The Egyptians taught the revolution how to be enchanting and satiric... bloody and amusing... Alight with falmes and torn by toil and play Loving freedom as much as it loves life Do you want a name for the Egyptian revolution? Call it the Laughing Revolution "Come back Mr President. We were just joking" Naser Farghaly... BBC. Subtitles by: Mohamed Ghazal, Australia