FIVE SONGS FROM A SHIFTING SENSE OF HOME

The Grateful Dead, “Uncle John’s Band”

My parents met on a blind date at a Grateful Dead concert; I listened to the Dead a lot growing up.

The Band, “Daniel and the Sacred Harp”

I spent many hours as a teenager trying to figure out the lyrics to this one.

Silvio Rodriguez, “La maza”

As a seventeen year old I spent a year as an exchange student in Ecuador — a different home — and discovered another world of music, Silvio Rodriguez was a gift.

Die Toten Hosen, “Hier kommt Alex”

This is what happens when you’re in high school in Switzerland and you experiment with listening to German rock/punk.

Nass al-Ghiwane, “Fine Ghadi biya Khoya”

Over the years Morocco became another home to me —  this band from the 60s is often compared by Moroccans to be in stature like the Beatles in Europe.

Justin Stearns is Associate Professor of Arab Crossroads Studies at NYU Abu Dhabi.