Sarena by Kune

The lyrics of Sarena, written and sung in Arabic by Ahmed Moneka and in Portuguese by Aline Morales, describe the beauty and the pain of moving from an old home to a new one. The ocean is the metaphor that underlies the song’s message: Ahmed’s line use of the word sarena –departed– inspired Aline to invoke the word sereia –siren in Portuguese– as an image that captures the pain (choro or cry) and the beauty (canto or song) of the journey. The song is composed in a traditional central Iraqi rhythm called Jurjina and features an Oud solo by Demetrios Petsalakis. As people who have made their new home in Toronto, we in Kuné, know intimately the complex feelings of movement and migration and in a world where these feelings are becoming more and more common, we hope that this song will connect with our audience's experiences of missing an old home while feeling the excitement of home-making in a new place.

"KUNE is an eleven-piece collective made up of ten immigrant musicians from all over the world and one Metis-Canadian. Our sound captures the experience of living in Toronto, the world's most diverse city. Through music, we remember where we came from and we envision a pluralistic future."

kuneworld.com