In “Forsa Tani,” Halah Banna takes that idea somewhere less romantic and far more honest, exploring the contradictions that come with loving someone who can hurt you, and knowing that staying is still a choice. Rather than presenting love as something that simply happens to us, Halah looks at it as something we actively participate in; something shaped by the decisions we make, even when those decisions are complicated. Her debut single lives in the space between knowing and feeling: between being hurt and still loving, between forgiving and questioning, between wanting a new beginning and carrying the weight of everything that came before it.
That tension comes through in the song’s lyrics, where Halah sings, “Ana samahtik abel ma l-ghalat sar:” I forgave you before the mistake even happened. It’s an almost paradoxical confession: forgiving someone before there is even something to forgive. But she follows it with “Maalesh, nehna kbar / Nihmil zamb shu bnekhtar:” It’s okay, we’re grown enough to carry the weight of what we choose. Suddenly, forgiveness becomes more than an expression of love; it becomes a question of responsibility.
That same contradiction sits at the heart of “Am aane bas habbeitak / W el-hob karar:” I’m hurting, but I loved you / and love is a choice. The two ideas are allowed to coexist. Being hurt doesn’t necessarily make the love disappear, just as loving someone doesn’t make the hurt disappear. “Forsa Tani” doesn’t attempt to resolve that tension into an easy answer. Instead, it stays with the uncomfortable reality of feeling both things at once.
The idea of starting over carries its own contradiction, too. “Safha jdeede / Ana alabta abel ma khalsou l-wara:” a new page, I turned it before the papers were even finished. There is an eagerness to begin again, but also an awareness that the previous story hasn’t really ended. And when Halah follows it with “Maalesh, am beshta / W el-shaw’ baado fira:” It’s okay, I miss you / and longing is still separation, the possibility of a second chance becomes less straightforward. You can turn the page and still miss what was written on the one before it.
“Forsa Tani” places these emotional contradictions within an Arabic alternative-rock setting, giving Halah a space to establish a sound of her own. Written and composed by Halah and produced by Bassem Daouk, the track marks her first release as a singer-songwriter after years of performing covers and live shows across Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the UAE.
What makes Halah Banna’s “Forsa Tani” compelling as a debut is that it doesn’t tell us whether giving someone another chance is right or wrong. It asks a more difficult question: what does it mean to choose someone when you already know the cost?
Sometimes love is the feeling. Sometimes it is forgiveness. Sometimes it is the longing; and sometimes, as Halah Banna’s “Forsa Tani” reminds us, love is indeed a choice..
