(Al-Ahdath) in a different dialogue with the poet and composer Amjad Hamza: I have more than three thousand songs in my career

(Al-Ahdath) in a different dialogue with the poet and composer Amjad Hamza:

I write what my conscience dictates, and soon I will write songs of reconstruction and construction

The songs are driven by the situation the individual is experiencing

I wrote (Al Jazeera) at the request of Iman Al Sharif, and it is a situation, not a song

I have more than three thousand songs in my career

Poet and composer Amjad Hamza, a name you can find these days behind any song that is trending on various social networking sites. Hamza writes with understanding and realism that made him a mouthpiece for Sudanese society, which reacted positively to those songs. Hamza wrote for war and hopes to soon write for construction and reconstruction. Despite the large number of new songs during this year of war, Hamza considers it the least productive period in his career of three thousand songs. In this different interview, Amjad Hamza explains many things…

Dialogue – Magda Hassan

First, what was your artistic production during this war?
The first song I wrote and composed after the war was (Tomorrow our worries will pass) sung by singer Elaf Abdel Aziz, (Aldarib Alharib) by singer Asha Al-Jabal, (We Will Return Again) by Ensaf Madani, (Won’t This War End) by singer Mostafa Al-Barbari, (The First New Year) by Cheb Diaa, and anothet one by Cheb Diaa and Gaunat, which is the song (Bahri), and finally the song (Al-Jazeera) by Iman Al-Sharif.

These songs provided consolation to the Sudanese during this period. Is the poet the mouthpiece of his people?

In terms of creativity and the artistic sphere, those most affected by the war are the poets, because among all the creative people they are the drivers of the dynamism of the songs, which depend on the general atmosphere and what is happening on the ground… War is painful, and despite their pain, they seek to present songs that are appreciated by everyone in this period… It is presented by the poet, drawing a map of his presence or not in the next Sudanese state.

What kind of wrtings do you present during this period, rejecting or supporting?

For my part, I will write what the creative conscience dictates, as usual, praying in all my words that God will fix our affairs and to return to our homes again. I also wrote a song on Valentine’s Day for the artist singer Assem Al-Banna, and the song (Missing My Fragrant Soul), written by Dalia Elias, composed by Amjad Hamza, performed by Samira Donia.

Is the poetry of nostalgia and return a temporary poetry, that is, it will continue to express every stage in this way?

All songs are immortal and remain, whoever wrote them, composed the tunes for them, and who sang them… The songs are driven by the situation that the individual is experiencing at that time… The lover listens to love songs during that period of time and does not hear anything else, and the abandoned person listens to songs of abandonment at the time of his abandonment.. The book “History of Songs” says that the person with feeling opens it and listens to the songs that he is living in. I wrote songs of nostalgia and return to our country during the war period, and I hope that we will return and write songs of reconstruction and reform.

All of the above songs are trendy, and all of them are your words and melody, songs that touched people’s consciences, the last of which is Al Jazeera, a beautiful and expressive song. Are these songs from your personal feeling or your feeling for the people?

Al-Jazeera is a poem requested by Iman Al-Sharif, this wonderful creator… (Al-Jazeera) in my view is a condition, not a song.

Do you feel like it’s a different song?

Yes, it is the only one that I call among all my works as a mood and not a song..

Are you now a displaced person or a refugee?
I am a poet. God said about me in His Noble Book, I and the rest of the poets in Surah Ash-Shu’ara’, that we wander and move in every valley… All countries are our place and all places are ours. Displacement and refuge is what happened to all of us and the cursed war separated us.
One day we will seek refuge in our homes and we will be happy to return one day soon, God willing.

Do you write poetry on request?
Isn’t it a complicated idea to feel what the requester of words feels? How do you get in the mood?

It is the same situation… but the feeling of pain that you feel when you write about an unfortunate event that sometimes needs incitement… I wrote Al Jazeera while I was in extreme pain.

Compared to your heavy production during this period, do we consider war a strong instigator? I mean, compared to previous years, did you have this many songs in one year?
I have more than three thousand songs in my entire career. You may find the number exaggerated, but it is the truth. When our country was safe, we felt secure, and this was reflected in our production. Personally, the number of songs I produced during the war period used to be produced in just two days.

So we can say that the war even affected your poetic production?

War affects all creative people and affects their cultural product, which requires a healthy environment, but most of us partially overcome the dilemma and produce songs.