With witty political commentary and folk-ish oud melodies, Egyptian musician Yasser El Manawahly channels the spirit of Sheikh Imam into the contemporary political and social issues of Egypt. In this song, Yasser takes on the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Talk of an IMF loan has been widespread among Egyptian policymakers since the January 25 uprising unseated Hosni Mubarak. Even though this song was released in October 2012, it is particularly relevant to current political circumstances given recurrent discussions of IMF talks with Egypt over a prospective loan agreement that would supposedly help relieve Egypt of its economic troubles.
This song takes on the idea that of the IMF as Egypt’s great savior in a satirical manner. While some of the attacks are subtle, such as "You help me build my home," and "You help me seed my land," therein mocking the patronizing nature of IMF loans to so-called Third World countries, others are straight to the point: "Oh Monetary Fund, poison in honey, who`s going to try?"
The song is a refreshing reminder that the crisis and the economic problems in Egypt remain the same, despite changing political players. Perhaps the Muslim Brotherhood delayed the issue of an IMF loan out of fear of popular discontent, yet this song was also written while Mohamed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood were in power. Now that they, too, have been ousted, it seems that the Egyptian government is that much closer to reaching an agreement with the IMF.