NOV20

Classroom lesson · Music · 🇰🇼 Kuwait

Fjeri Pearl-Diving Songs

The songs that kept pearl divers together on the open sea

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Fjeri are traditional songs that were sung by the crews of pearl-diving boats in Kuwait. Before the discovery of oil, pearling was the most important industry in Kuwait, and hundreds of men spent months at sea diving for pearls. The songs kept the crew working in rhythm, lifted their spirits when they were tired and homesick, and told the stories of the sea. They are still performed today as a precious living tradition.

Tell me more

Pearl diving was extremely hard work. Divers would leap from the boat, dive to the seabed — sometimes 15 metres or more — hold their breath to collect oysters, then surface and do it again, hundreds of times a day. The crew on deck would haul the divers up with ropes and sort the oysters. The singing helped everyone work together and kept time, like a heartbeat for the whole boat.

Fjeri songs have a call-and-response structure: a lead singer called the nahham sings a verse, and the whole crew sings back a reply. The nahham was considered one of the most important people on the boat — a great singer could lift the mood of an exhausted crew, make the hours feel shorter and the work feel lighter. Some nahham were so talented they were paid more than the captain.

The songs cover every aspect of life at sea: the beauty of the water, the longing for home and family, the joy of finding a perfect pearl, the companionship of the crew. Some songs are celebratory and fast; others are slow and melancholy, sung when the sea was rough or the divers were struggling. Together, they make up a complete emotional portrait of life as a pearl diver.

UNESCO has inscribed Kuwaiti sea music — including fjeri — on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, recognising these songs as a world treasure worth protecting. Kuwaiti children learn fjeri in school music lessons, and performances are given at national events. The tradition connects modern Kuwaitis directly to the seafaring lives of their great-grandparents.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

  1. 01The nahham was paid more than the captain because a great singer kept the crew working well. What does that tell us about the importance of music and morale?
  2. 02Songs were used to keep workers in rhythm. Can you think of other examples — in sport, exercise or work — where music or rhythm helps people move together?
  3. 03If you were a pearl diver far from home for months, what would you most want a song to make you feel?
Try this

Classroom activity

Write and perform a short call-and-response work song for your class. Choose a task (rowing, hauling ropes, sorting oysters) and write: a leader's verse describing the work, and a crew's response that replies to it. Perform it with one student as the 'nahham' and the rest of the class as the crew, clapping in rhythm as you sing.

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