"Morning Blue": Gaidaa
Production: Lorenzo Kobin, Niel Soetaart, Simon de Rover
Album: Overture
I first came across Gaidaa through her 2019 COLORS performance in which she debuted her single ‘Morning Blue’. A year later and this track, in addition to others from her album ‘Overture’, have made it onto many a playlist of mine.
What is immediately striking about ‘Morning Blue’ is Gaidaa’s delicate, yet full, voice which makes attentive listening irresistible. In addition to its aesthetic accomplishments, the lyrics of this song reveal its immense social and political weight. Released during the 2018-19 Sudanese Revolution, ‘Morning Blue’ honours those who have fought for justice in Sudan and details Gaidaa’s own ‘sweet dream / where those who ain’t had a chance, / prosper’. As well as using English, Gaidaa incorporates Arabic, singing ‘saba7 elnour / saba7 elkhair’ which both roughly translate to ‘good morning’/ ’morning of light’ and ‘morning of well-being’. This alternation between Arabic and English throughout the song suggests that, whilst the track is concerned with raising global awareness of Sudan’s political climate, it does not centre a Western audience and instead engages directly with Sudanese listeners.
Moreover, this repeated image of ‘morning’, connoting new beginnings and tranquillity, is complemented by dreamy production throughout, inducing an enduring and necessary sense of hope for change.
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