Gertrude Bell is a complicated individual, as all these spies are turning out to be. I think what I found so fascinating about Bell is that despite her love for Iraq (however much was genuine, and not exoticized or orientalized), she was consistently loyal; loyal to her family and to Great Britain itself. This made reading her life as a narrative much simpler than Isabelle Eberhardt. I scoured my playlist to find (my best attempt at) the perfect mix of tragedy, beauty, the pull of discovery and power, and the split loyalties/love that define the life and spywork of Gertrude Bell.
This song feels like Bell’s love for the British Empire. It is her master, her sordid and salacious lover. While it seems like a far-off, looming entity, the Empire is something dear to Bell. However, she must leave England precisely because of her love. She projects her loyalty into her spywork, leaving the room she knows so well, but always looking back at her far away master. “It was appropriate that the Bells’ family fortune was earned through… Britain’s great strength, after all […] they worked not only to enhance their own communities but to maintain Britain’s place in the sun. They took pride in the British Empire and its role as custodian of the universe” (Wallach; “Of Great and Honored Stock”).
I interpret this song as Bell’s growing entanglement and work for the British Empire. Her job of perception is based in deception. She must deceive the Iraqi people she loves to further the aims of the country she answers to, the country she believes has the power to make the trees bend in welcome. Why does the fast train of imperialism rage on, where does it end? Where do the passengers, the colonized, wait, in the meantime? “Authority would remain in the hands of dignified Sir Percy and a group of British advisors. London was convinced that it would control Iraq until that undetermined and presumably distant day when the untutored Iraqis had learned to govern themselves” (Brian; Desert and Sown introduction).
Bell’s love for Iraq and loyalty to England is paradoxical. She follows the tide to the beautiful that she wanted so badly, with the monster of imperialism over her shoulders. She occupies a middle space, a space of no feeling, and must continue diving deeper, becoming more entangled in life in Iraq and loyalty to Britain. Ironically, her loss of power towards the end of her life also mirrors the death of the song’s treasure hunter. “The work has been so interesting that as far as I am concerned I couldn’t have experienced better or even as good, a destiny” (Bell; Letters II 658-659). “She employs her growing competence of Arabic to describe a backward country in the flux of change” (Brian; Desert and Sown introduction).
I see Bell as this song’s Big Hero. With her eventual loss of power, what is there to show? A country divided and kings made by a name no one seems to remember. Her time in Iraq was not exactly true, but it can’t be discounted because she did truly love the people she met (in her own, perhaps infantilizing, belittling way). She can only deliver love to (or perhaps exert power over) Iraq by caring for her museum. Despite all her lies and deception, she would still wish them well in some (British-controlled) way. “Seven years I’ve been at this job of setting up an Arab State. If we fail it’s little consolation to me personally that other generations may succeed, as I believe they must…” (Bell; Letters II 664).
I imagine this as Bell’s love letter to Iraq before she dies. Today, Iraq is with her and the British, but tomorrow, who knows? Iraq has become her home, it’s a place she cannot live with as is, but cannot live away from. It’s tragic and beautiful! Iraq is her true love, perhaps because it’s the place she was able to leave her mark. Souad Massi’s Algerian, but the song is in Arabic, so I think Bell would appreciate the song for its exotic Arab aesthetic. “They never elect any other European. That’s the sort of thing that makes it difficult to leave” (Bell; Letters II 667). “I love seeing [Iraqi visitors] and they are most useful for purposes of information” (Bell; Letters I 407).
Gertrude Bell did sleep off her regret in a very literal way. Whether her death was a true suicide or not, she was undoubtedly sad and lonely. I see this song as Bell’s tired goodbye to her beloved Iraq, the place she couldn’t quite keep a grasp on. “There are long moments when I feel very lonely… I am aware that I myself have much less control over my emotions than I used to have” (Bell; Letters II 658, 662). “Gertrude Bell took an overdose of sleeping pills. All of Baghdad attended her funeral, along with an honor guard of sheiks from her beloved desert” (Brian; Desert and Sown introduction).
Leila, I absolutely love this playlist! Especially Ghir Enta, I think it encapsulates Bell’s love for Iraq and her yearning for a place that she wanted to escape to. It captures how her final years were full of longing and disillusionment, caught between two worlds that could never fully claim her. Even her death feels like the inevitable end of that in-between state, a quiet surrender to the loneliness of loving something you helped destroy or for her purposes was: to build the borders of Iraq. I appreciated how Rebel Prince can be seen to frame Bell’s relationship to empire as both intimate and destructive. Her longing for a “rebel prince” which can be tied to any of her affiars and even Faisal to some extent as she was able to `connect with him despite him being “so far away” as the lyrics suggest. Bell’s sense of duty and love were so entangled that she couldn’t separate genuine admiration for the people and land from the imperial framework she represented. It reminds me of how her letters often oscillate between deep affection for the Arab world and the urge to “fix” and guide the way she believed the British could with her intel.
I also thought “Pearl Diver” was an apt choice for Bell as it captures the colonialist desire to possess/capture/find/discover the East. There is a simultaneous sense of numbness (single minded-focus, lack of oxygen) to the song, which is musically conveyed through repeated lyrics and chords. However, rhetorically there is a feeling of self-awareness and enlightenment, like the Pearl Diver knows the end is not the pearl, rather some more complicated and mercurial doom. As we discussed, Bell and Churchill’s short-term goals were reached in the Middle East, but more strife in the long term has been the real consequence of their policies.
You capture beautifully the layered complexity of Bell’s fairly short but highly eventful life as reflected in these songlist curated by Leila. I like that you tie Faisal–and her other known lovers– into the Rebel Prince song!
IVE COPYPASTED YOUR POST WITH MY RESPONSES IN CAPS
Rebel Prince – Rufus Wainwright
This song feels like Bell’s love for the British Empire. It is her master, her sordid and salacious lover. While it seems like a far-off, looming entity, the Empire is something dear to Bell. However, she must leave England precisely because of her love. She projects her loyalty into her spywork, leaving the room–AND THE WINDOW??– she knows so well, but always looking back at her far away master. “It was appropriate that the Bells’ family fortune was earned through… Britain’s great strength, after all […] they worked not only to enhance their own communities but to maintain Britain’s place in the sun. They took pride in the British Empire and its role as custodian of the universe” (Wallach; “Of Great and Honored Stock”).
HOW VERY COOL! A MOST INTERESTING INTERPRETATION EXTENSION OF WAINRIGHT’S SONG….I CAN SEE HO WIT APPLIES
2. Blacklisted – Neko Case
I interpret this song as Bell’s growing entanglement and work for the British Empire. Her job of perception is based in deception. She must deceive the Iraqi people she loves to further the aims of the country she answers to, the country she believes has the power to make the trees bend in welcome. Why does the fast train of imperialism rage on, where does it end? Where do the passengers, the colonized, wait, in the meantime? “Authority would remain in the hands of dignified Sir Percy and a group of British advisors. London was convinced that it would control Iraq until that undetermined and presumably distant day when the untutored Iraqis had learned to govern themselves” (Brian; Desert and Sown introduction).
EXTREMELY RELEVANT/APPROPRIATE LYRICS, YES! WOE. ALSO A BEAUTIFUL, HAUNTING SONG; NEVER HEARD OF NEKO CASE BEFORE, THNKX FOR THE INTRO!
3. Pearl Diver – Mistki
Bell’s love for Iraq and loyalty to England is paradoxical. She follows the tide to the beautiful that she wanted so badly, with the monster of imperialism over her shoulders. She occupies a middle space, a space of no feeling, and must continue diving deeper, becoming more entangled in life in Iraq and loyalty to Britain. Ironically, her loss of power towards the end of her life also mirrors the death of the song’s treasure hunter. “The work has been so interesting that as far as I am concerned I couldn’t have experienced better or even as good, a destiny” (Bell; Letters II 658-659). “She employs her growing competence of Arabic to describe a backward country in the flux of change” (Brian; Desert and Sown introduction).
AND THIS LINE MOST RESONANT HERE: Oh, hunter, if you didn’t want The beautiful so badly Perhaps you would’ve found it In your spirit singing softly
ITS GIVING UP ON ONE’S ESSENTIAL HUMANITY IN THE DELUDED PURSUIT OF UNMITIGATED POWER THAT CREATES SO MUCH TROUBLE FOR THE HUNTER EVEN WHEN THE PREY IS BEAUTY–ITS THE DESIRE TO OWN THAT IS THE PROBLEM, NO???? AND TO THINK YOU HAVE ALL OF THE ANSWER OF WHAT IS BEST FOR EVERYONE ELSE (A VERY UNHEALTHY LOVE, IF LOVE IT IS….)
4. Shooting the Moon – OK Go
I see Bell as this song’s Big Hero. With her eventual loss of power, what is there to show? A country divided and kings made by a name no one seems to remember. Her time in Iraq was not exactly true, but it can’t be discounted because she did truly love the people she met (in her own, perhaps infantilizing, belittling way). She can only deliver love to (or perhaps exert power over) Iraq by caring for her museum. Despite all her lies and deception, she would still wish them well in some (British-controlled) way. “Seven years I’ve been at this job of setting up an Arab State. If we fail it’s little consolation to me personally that other generations may succeed, as I believe they must…” (Bell; Letters II 664).
SORRY I LET YOU DOWN….MIGHT BE SAID OF THEM ALL–ESP LAWRENCE I THINK…..
5. Ghir Enta – Souad Massi
I imagine this as Bell’s love letter to Iraq before she dies. Today, Iraq is with her and the British, but tomorrow, who knows? Iraq has become her home, it’s a place she cannot live with as is, but cannot live away from. It’s tragic and beautiful! Iraq is her true love, perhaps because it’s the place she was able to leave her mark. Souad Massi’s Algerian, but the song is in Arabic, so I think Bell would appreciate the song for its exotic Arab aesthetic LOL. “They never elect any other European. That’s the sort of thing that makes it difficult to leave” (Bell; Letters II 667). “I love seeing [Iraqi visitors] and they are most useful for purposes of information” (Bell; Letters I 407). UGH….
LOVED THE SONG!
6. Hey Hey Hey – Eilen Jewell
Gertrude Bell did sleep off her regret in a very literal way AIYEEEE!. Whether her death was a true suicide or not, she was undoubtedly sad and lonely. I see this song as Bell’s tired goodbye to her beloved Iraq, the place she couldn’t quite keep a grasp on. “There are long moments when I feel very lonely… I am aware that I myself have much less control over my emotions than I used to have” (Bell; Letters II 658, 662). “Gertrude Bell took an overdose of sleeping pills. All of Baghdad attended her funeral, along with an honor guard of sheiks from her beloved desert” (Brian; Desert and Sown introduction).
SUCH SAD LYRICS! HEY, COME BACK—THAT COULD BE HER EPITAPH! APPROPRIATE ALSO FOR EMPIRE ITSELF!
REALLY ENJOYED THIS POST LEILA, ND LEARNT A FEW NEW SINGER NAMES/SONGS!THANK YOU!
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