Iraqi singer's music still brings split society together

Iraqi singer Sajida Obeid is a unifying figure in Iraq's fractured society

BAGHDAD -- A petite woman in a gold brocade robe appears on stage in a smoke-filled Baghdad club. The crowd jumps up, enticed by the raw power of her voice.

This is the magic of Sajida Obeid, an Iraqi singer of Roma origins. For older Iraqis, the 63-year old is a symbol of a bygone golden era. To the young, her upbeat love songs and subtly racy lyrics have become a channel for self-expression in a largely conservative society.

And regardless of age, her catchy melodies make the audience want to dance. She is embraced as a unifier in a fractured society, a singer for the people.

At her Monday night concert at the “Yarmouk Club” in Baghdad, men and women of all ages and social backgrounds swayed and mouthed the words to her songs. Some women donned headscarves, while others danced bare-legged in tight tube dresses. They had come from all areas of Baghdad, cutting across sectarian divides that have long tormented the city.