alQaws released last week the second single from its musical project “Singing Sexuality 2”. The song, titled “Ma Betghayyerni” (Meaning “You Won’t Change Me”), is written, composed, and performed by Jerusalem-based artist Bashar Murad.

Following the first single launched in July, Ma Betghayyerni comes as a continuation to the second iteration of the project Singing Sexuality, originally launched in 2013. This year the project shifted from a single album launch, to separate single releases.

The song starts with the admission of fear, “I’ve always been afraid of myself, afraid of my uniqueness”, and ends with the defiant line, “I changed myself to no avail, won't stay inside of my own jail. This bird’s freedom will prevail.” The lyrics embark on a journey of empowerment, calling to confront and challenge everything that instills inside of us the fear, isolation, and violence experienced by LGBTQ/queer people.

The song’s writer and composer Bashar Murad is a Palestinian Jerusalem-based artist  who produces music in Arabic and English, focusing in his work on challenging stereotypes and oppressive social norms. Bashar recently joined many local festival and shows where he performed Ma Betghayyerni live.

Singing Sexuality aims to tackle sexual and gender diversity issues using creative musical productions, and will continue to release more music in the coming months. We invite everyone to share this experience with us by listening, sharing, interacting, or even participating in the production of these songs.

Listen to the song on YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook