Lebanon (i/ˈlɛbənɒn/ or /ˈlɛbənən/; Arabic: لبنان Libnān or Lubnān, Lebanese Arabic: [lɪbˈneːn]), officially the Lebanese Republic (Arabic: الجمهورية اللبنانية al-Jumhūrīyah al-Libnānīyah, Lebanese Arabic: [elˈʒʊmhuːɾɪjje l.ˈlɪbneːnɪjje]), is a country in the East Mediterranean. It is bordered by Syria to the north and east, and Israel to the south. Lebanon's location at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian hinterland has dictated its rich history, and shaped a cultural identity of religious and ethnic diversity.
The earliest evidence of civilization in Lebanon dates back more than 7,000 years—predating recorded history. Lebanon was the home of the Phoenicians, a maritime culture that flourished for nearly 2,500 years (3000–539 BC). Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, the five provinces that comprise modern Lebanon were mandated to France. The French expanded the borders of Mount Lebanon, which was mostly populated by Maronite Catholics and Druze, to include more Muslims. Lebanon gained independence in 1943, and established a unique political system, known as confessionalism, a power-sharing mechanism based on religious communities – Bechara El Khoury who became independent Lebanon's first President and Riad El-Solh, who became Lebanon's first prime minister, are considered the founders of the modern Republic of Lebanon and are national heroes for having led the country's independence. French troops withdrew from Lebanon in 1946.
Has anybody ever been to Lebanon?
Does anybody really care to go, at all?
Anybody want to go to Lebanon
Where you can read the writings on the wall?
Do the caravans still ride across the sand
Or is the season causing everything sacred to fall?
Do the sages sing their chant throughout the land
Or has their song been silenced over the centuries, to
all?
Does the sun still kiss the earth in Lebanon?
Does the moonlight still reflect the sand at night?
Can a prophet still come out of Lebanon
Or has the thirst for profit changed the times?
Do Phonecian spirits dance across the sand?
Do the cedar trees still standing next to the ocean
still grow?
Do the sages sing their chant throughout the land
Or has their song been silenced?
Does the temple still exist in Lebanon
Or have the winds of time been blowing hard, for all?
Does the mosque still sing the hymn of Lebanon
Reciting old inscriptions from the wall?
Do the caravans now crawl across the sand
And is the season causing everyone sacred to cry?
Can the people of the land still hear the call
Or has the song been silenced over the centuries, to
Things are looking bad now
They never have been worse
To the north lie mountains
To the south a curse
Bloodstained footprints in the shifting sands
Among the olive groves of Cedarland
Lebanon
Lebanon...
Young girls go running around
Giggling out the door
Every generation has seen these wars before
Caught between a rock and a hard, hard place
Still you live your lives in a state of grace
Lebanon
Lebanon...
Old man smokes his pipe
And through world-weary eyes
He curses the cameras
And pleads to merciless skies
Through the ashes float the words of Khalil Gibran
Love in time will show her hand
Lebanon
Sound of bombs runs through the air
In the streets of Lebanon
Hate filled soldiers everywhere
The troops of Babylon
Bloodstains on the footpath
Madness on the ground
Senseless forms of bloodbath
As you hear the bugles sound
Dodging the machine gun fire
Fighting for their lives
Killing with their hearts desire
No one can survive
Chorus:
The battle of Lebanon - a killer
The battle of Lebanon - destruction
Trenches filled with muslim guards
Rifles set to fire
Left the enemy battle scarred
Terrorist guns for hire
Repeat chorus
Planning all the strategies to break the enemies back
Send out the kamikazes on a suicide attack
The muslims and the christians are fighting for their
rights
Take the war of Lebanon to masochistic heights
Massacre and bloodshed are just a part of war
The children are defenseless and washed up on the floor
Aerial destruction and submarines below
I bless the rains down in Lebanon x4 (take me away
from you)
Lebanon is my world yeah yeah Oo (more can ever do)
Lebanon
Lebnan eyeh yeh yoo
And as I’m climbin Ashtrayfehyeh I just bump into this
girl I like
She’s purely Lebanese and can’t wait to make her my
wife
She knows how to dress to impress
What bout the guys chasing her like a contest?
Wish I wasn’t taking the flight out tonight, cause this
country’s mine
Lebanon
Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever
I bless the rains down in Lebanon
Gonna take some time to do things we never had
And as I’m skiing in Faraya all my people tell me what
to do
We step into the club at night
I see girls going wild on some great moves
Dudes got a bottle, I got two
They’ve got models, I want you
Wish I wasn’t taking the flight out tonight, cause this
country’s mine
Lebanon
Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever
I bless the rains down in Lebanon
Gonna take some time to do things we never had
I’m a Lebanese and I don’t want to fight
Throw your hands in the sky
I don’t wanna let them breath in piece of my life
Throw your hands in the sky
C-can we get together and make it?
Can we get together and make it?
I will never give up til I have my country back!
Lebanon
Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s nothing that a hundred men or more could ever
I bless the rains down in Lebanon x5
Lets get together (I bless the rains down in Lebanon)
Lets unite ourselves (I bless the rains down in
Lebanon)
This is my country (I bless the rains down in Lebanon)
This is your country (I bless the rains down in
Lebanon)
This is our home (I bless the rains down in Lebanon)
Lets unite ourselves (I bless the rains down in
Lebanon)