Tigris–Euphrates river system
River system in the Middle East
The Tigris–Euphrates river system is a large river system in Western Asia that flows into the Persian Gulf. Its primary rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates, along with smaller tributaries.
From their sources and upper courses in the Armenian highlands of eastern Turkey, being Lake Hazar for the Tigris and Karasu along with the Murat River for the Euphrates, the two rivers descend through valleys and gorges to the uplands of Syria and northern Iraq and then to the alluvial plain of central Iraq. Other tributaries join the Tigris from sources in the Zagros Mountains to the east. The rivers flow in a south-easterly direction through the central plain and combine at Al-Qurnah to form the Shatt al-Arab and discharge into the Persian Gulf. The rivers and their tributaries drain an area of , including almost the entire area of Iraq as well as portions of Turkey, Syria, Iran and Kuwait.
The region has historical importance as part of the Fertile Crescent, where Mesopotamian civilization first emerged.
Geography.
The Tigris–Euphrates Basin is shared between Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Kuwait. Many tributaries of the Tigris river originate in Iran, and the Shatt al-Arab, formed by the confluence of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, makes up a portion of the Iran–Iraq border, with Kuwait's Bubiyan Island being part of its delta. Since the 1960s and in the 1970s, when Turkey began the GAP project in earnest, water disputes have regularly occurred in addition to the associated dam's effects on the environment. In addition, Syrian and Iranian dam construction has also contributed to political tension within the basin, particularly during drought.
The ecoregion is characterized by two large rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. The high mountains in the upper watershed receive more rain and snow than the lower watershed, which has a hot and arid subtropical climate. Annual snow melt from the mountains brings spring floods, and sustains permanent and seasonal marshes in the lowlands.
The plain between the two rivers is known as Mesopotamia. As part of the larger Fertile Crescent, it saw the earliest emergence of literate urban civilization in the Uruk period. For this reason, it is often described as a "Cradle of Civilization".
There is a large floodplain in the lower basin where the Euphrates, Tigris, and Karun rivers converge to create the Mesopotamian Marshes, which include permanent lakes, marshes, and riparian forests. The hydrology of these vast marshes is extremely important to the ecology of the entire upper Persian Gulf.
History.
Some of the first civilizations emerged from the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. From ancient times empires arose and fell in the river basin, including Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria, and the Abbasid Caliphate. Being part of the Fertile Crescent, the river system is recognized as the site of one of the world's first agricultural centers, with archeological sites containing preserved grain dating up to 12,500 years ago. The river system was used by major cities including Ur and Babylon to promote trade and the sharing of cultures. As a result of its invention of the qanat system thousands of years ago which uses gravity to transport water through subterranean tunnels, Iran has a history as an agricultural nation, despite its aridity.
Ecology.
The most abundant fishes are species of barbs ("Barbus"), some of which can reach up to two meters in length. Some species have been important food sources for residents for thousands of years. Specifically, the Mangar fish has been harvested for food in the Tigris-Euphrates basin. Many species move seasonally between the river and the marshes for spawning, feeding, and overwintering. The Hilsa shad ("Tenualosa ilisha") is an important food fish that lives in the coastal waters and spawns in the lower reaches of the basin. Other ocean species occasionally visit the lower reaches of the rivers; bull sharks ("Carcharhinus leucas") used to swim up the Tigris as far as Baghdad.
Endemic fish species in the lower basin include "Glyptothorax steindachneri" and "Hemigrammocapoeta elegans", and as well as two cave fishes, "Caecocypris basimi" and the Iraq blind barb ("Typhlogarra widdowsoni"), from a cave habitat near Haditha on the Euphrates.
One-third of the fish species in the upper watersheds are endemic, including species of "Aphanius, Glyptothorax, Cobitis, Orthrias", and "Schistura". Two blind fish species, the Iran cave barb ("Iranocypris typhlops") and the Zagros blind loach ("Eidinemacheilus smithi"), are endemic to cave systems in Iran's upper Karun River watershed. The Batman River loach ("Paraschistura chrysicristinae") is a Critically Endangered fish species endemic to the Batman and Ambar rivers, Turkish tributaries of the Tigris. The species is endangered by drought, habitat destruction, and habitat fragmentation from the construction of the Batman Dam. It had not been observed since 1974 and was feared extinct until a 2021 expedition netted 14 fish living above the Batman Dam.
Mesopotamian Marshes.
The Mesopotamian Marshes in southern Iraq were historically the largest wetland ecosystem of Western Eurasia. The aquatic vegetation includes reeds, rushes, and papyrus, which support numerous species. Areas around the Tigris and the Euphrates are very fertile. Marshy land is home to water birds, some stopping here while migrating, and some spending the winter in these marshes living off the lizards, snakes, frogs, and fish. Other animals found in these marshes are water buffalo, two endemic rodent species, antelopes and gazelles and small animals such as the jerboa and several other mammals. The wetland birds Basra reed warbler ("Acrocephalus griseldis") and Iraq babbler ("Argya altirostris") are endemic to the Mesopotamian Marshes. The Basra reed warbler is endangered. Another wetland endemic species, Bunn's short-tailed bandicoot rat ("Nesokia bunnii"), is possibly extinct.
Their drainage began in the 1950s, to reclaim land for agriculture and oil exploration. Saddam Hussein extended this work in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as part of ecological warfare against the Marsh Arabs, a rebellious group of people in Baathist Iraq. However, with the breaching of the dikes by local communities after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the ending of a four-year drought that same year, the process has been reversed and the marshes have experienced a substantial rate of recovery. The permanent wetlands now cover more than 50% of pre-1970s levels, with a remarkable regrowth of the Hammar and Hawizeh Marshes and some recovery of the Central Marshes.
Ecological threats.
Iraq suffers from desertification and soil salination due in large part to thousands of years of agricultural activity. Water and plant life are sparse. Saddam Hussein's government water-control projects drained the inhabited marsh areas east of An Nasiriyah by drying up or diverting streams and rivers. Shi'a Muslims were displaced under the Ba'athist regime. The destruction of the natural habitat poses serious threats to the area's wildlife populations. There are also inadequate supplies of potable water.
The marshlands were an extensive natural wetland ecosystem, which developed over thousands of years in the Tigris–Euphrates basin and once covered 15–20,000 square kilometers. In the 1980s, this ecoregion was put in grave danger during the Iran–Iraq War. After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraq's President Saddam Hussein initiated a drainage project on these marshes, leading to degradation of ecosystem services that caused economic and social issues for civilians. The Mesopotamian Marshes, which were inhabited by the Marsh Arabs, were almost completely drained. Although they had started to recover after the fall of Ba'athist Iraq in 2003, drought, intensive dam construction and irrigation schemes upstream have caused them to dry up once more. According to the United Nations Environmental Program and the AMAR Charitable Foundation, between 84% and 90% of the marshes have been destroyed since the 1970s. In 1994, 60 percent of the wetlands were destroyed by Hussein's regime – drained to permit military access and greater political control of the native Marsh Arabs. Canals, dykes and dams were built routing the water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers around the marshes, instead of allowing water to move slowly through the marshland. After part of the Euphrates was dried up due to re-routing its water to the sea, a dam was built so water could not back up from the Tigris and sustain the former marshland. Some marshlands were burned and pipes buried underground helped to carry away water for quicker drying.
Riparian entities have constructed dams along the Tigris–Euphrates river system as a method of water management in response to droughts. Turkey, for example, is in control of an estimated 45% of the system's water sources due to its dam constructions for water quantity and hydroelectric power.
The drying of the marshes led to the disappearance of the salt-tolerant vegetation; the plankton rich waters that fertilized surrounding soils; 52 native fish species; the wild boar, red fox, buffalo and water birds of the marsh habitat.
Climate change also affects the environmental and social well-being. Climate change and human interaction have directly impacted the Tigris–Euphrates river system, leading to a negative trend in water storage capabilities in the river basin. The combination of diminishing water levels in the Tigris–Euphrates river system and rising sea levels indicates the potential for rapid seawater intrusion in the river basin. This is especially concerning as the demand for clean water increases while the water supply decreases. Currently, the Middle East and North Africa are acknowledged as the most water scarce region in the world, with 61% of the population living in areas with high or very high water stress. As climate change worsens and population grows, water scarcity in the region is expected to worsen with 100% of people living in the Middle East and North Africa living in areas with high water stress by 2050.
Water dispute.
The issue of water rights became a point of contention for Iraq, Turkey and Syria beginning in the 1960s when Turkey implemented a public-works project (the GAP project) aimed at harvesting the water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers through the construction of 22 dams, for irrigation and hydroelectric energy purposes. Although the water dispute between Turkey and Syria was more problematic, the GAP project was also perceived as a threat by Iraq. In 1983, the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) was established to solve ongoing data controversies between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq but stopped meeting in the early 1990s after only passing two bilateral agreements. The tension between Turkey and Iraq about the issue was increased by the effect of Syria and Turkey's participation in the UN embargo against Iraq following the Gulf War. However, the issue had never become as significant as the water dispute between Turkey and Syria.
The 2008 drought in Iraq sparked new negotiations between Iraq and Turkey over trans-boundary river flows. Although the drought affected Turkey, Syria and Iran as well, Iraq complained regularly about reduced water flows. Iraq particularly complained about the Euphrates River because of the large number of dams on the river. Turkey agreed to increase the flow several times, beyond its means in order to supply Iraq with water. Iraq has seen significant declines in water storage and crop yields because of the drought. To make matters worse, Iraq's water infrastructure has suffered from years of conflict and neglect.
In 2008, Turkey, Iraq and Syria agreed to restart the Joint Trilateral Committee on water for the three nations for better water resources management. Turkey, Iraq and Syria signed a memorandum of understanding on September 3, 2009, in order to strengthen communication within the Tigris–Euphrates Basin and to develop joint water-flow-monitoring stations. On September 19, 2009, Turkey formally agreed to increase the flow of the Euphrates River to 450 to 500 m3/s, but only until October 20, 2009. In exchange, Iraq agreed to trade petroleum with Turkey and help curb Kurdish militant activity in their border region. One of Turkey's last large GAP dams on the Tigris – the Ilisu Dam – is strongly opposed by Iraq and is the source of political strife. The Southeastern Anatolia Project (Turkish acronym: GAP) continues to be a source of tension in the region. GAP is a massive hydroelectric project, consisting of 21 dams and 19 hydroelectric facilities. In 2020, Iraqi authorities complained that the Ilısu Dam had decreased the Tigris river inflows and caused water shortages in Iraqi plains.
References.
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Euphrates
River in Turkey, Iraq, and Syria
The Euphrates ( ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (lit. 'the land between the rivers'). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab in Iraq, which empties into the Persian Gulf.
The Euphrates is the fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in Western Asia, at about , with a drainage area of that covers six countries.
Etymology.
The term "Euphrates" derives from the Greek "Euphrátēs" (), adapted from , itself from . The Elamite name is ultimately derived from cuneiform 𒌓𒄒𒉣; read as "Buranun" in Sumerian and "Purattu" in Akkadian; many cuneiform signs have a Sumerian pronunciation and an Akkadian pronunciation, taken from a Sumerian word and an Akkadian word that mean the same. The Akkadian "Purattu" has been perpetuated in Semitic languages (cf. "al-Furāt"; "Pǝrāṯ", "Pǝrāṯ") and in other nearby languages of the time (cf. Hurrian "Puranti", Sabarian "Uruttu"). The Elamite, Akkadian, and possibly Sumerian forms are suggested to be from an unrecorded substrate language. Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze and Vyacheslav Ivanov suggest the proto-Sumerian "*burudu" "copper" (Sumerian "urudu") as an origin, with an explanation that Euphrates was the river by which copper ore was transported in rafts, since Mesopotamia was the center of copper metallurgy during the period.
The Euphrates is called "Yeprat" in Armenian (), "Perat" in modern Hebrew (), in Turkish and in Kurdish. The Mandaic name is (), and is often mentioned as (pronounced ) in Mandaean scriptures such as the "Ginza Rabba". In Mandaean scriptures, the Euphrates is considered to be the earthly manifestation of the heavenly yardna or flowing river (similar to the Yazidi concept of Lalish being the earthly manifestation of its heavenly counterpart, or the ‘Sacred House’ Kaaba in Mecca being the earthly manifestation of the heavenly Al-Bayt Al-Mamur).
The earliest references to the Euphrates come from cuneiform texts found in Shuruppak and pre-Sargonic Nippur in southern Iraq and date to the mid-3rd millennium BCE. In these texts, written in Sumerian, the Euphrates is called "Buranuna" (logographic: UD.KIB.NUN). The name could also be written KIB.NUN.(NA) or dKIB.NUN, with the prefix "d" indicating that the river was a divinity. In Sumerian, the name of the city of Sippar in modern-day Iraq was also written UD.KIB.NUN, indicating a historically strong relationship between the city and the river.
Course.
The Euphrates is the longest river of Western Asia. It emerges from the confluence of the Kara Su or Western Euphrates () and the Murat Su or Eastern Euphrates () upstream from the town of Keban in southeastern Turkey. Daoudy and Frenken put the length of the Euphrates from the source of the Murat River to the confluence with the Tigris at , of which is in Turkey, in Syria and in Iraq. The same figures are given by Isaev and Mikhailova. The length of the Shatt al-Arab, which connects the Euphrates and the Tigris with the Persian Gulf, is given by various sources as .
Both the Kara Su and the Murat Su rise northwest from Lake Van at elevations of and amsl, respectively. At the location of the Keban Dam, the two rivers, now combined into the Euphrates, have dropped to an elevation of amsl. From Keban to the Syrian–Turkish border, the river drops another over a distance of less than . Once the Euphrates enters the Upper Mesopotamian plains, its grade drops significantly; within Syria the river falls while over the last stretch between Hīt and the Shatt al-Arab the river drops only .
Discharge.
The Euphrates receives most of its water in the form of rainfall and melting snow, resulting in peak volumes during the months April through May. Discharge in these two months accounts for 36 percent of the total annual discharge of the Euphrates, or even 60–70 percent according to one source, while low runoff occurs in summer and autumn. The average natural annual flow of the Euphrates has been determined from early- and mid-twentieth century records as at Keban, at Hīt and at Hindiya. However, these averages mask the high inter-annual variability in discharge; at Birecik, just north of the Syro–Turkish border, annual discharges have been measured that ranged from a low volume of in 1961 to a high of in 1963.
The discharge regime of the Euphrates has changed dramatically since the construction of the first dams in the 1970s. Data on Euphrates discharge collected after 1990 show the impact of the construction of the numerous dams in the Euphrates and of the increased withdrawal of water for irrigation. Average discharge at Hīt after 1990 has dropped to per second ( per year). The seasonal variability has equally changed. The pre-1990 peak volume recorded at Hīt was per second, while after 1990 it is only per second. The minimum volume at Hīt remained relatively unchanged, rising from per second before 1990 to per second afterward.
Tributaries.
In Syria, three rivers add their water to the Euphrates; the Sajur, the Balikh and the Khabur. These rivers rise in the foothills of the Taurus Mountains along the Syro–Turkish border and add comparatively little water to the Euphrates. The Sajur is the smallest of these tributaries; emerging from two streams near Gaziantep and draining the plain around Manbij before emptying into the reservoir of the Tishrin Dam. The Balikh receives most of its water from a karstic spring near 'Ayn al-'Arus and flows due south until it reaches the Euphrates at the city of Raqqa. In terms of length, drainage basin and discharge, the Khabur is the largest of these three. Its main karstic springs are located around Ra's al-'Ayn, from where the Khabur flows southeast past Al-Hasakah, where the river turns south and drains into the Euphrates near Busayrah. Once the Euphrates enters Iraq, there are no more natural tributaries to the Euphrates, although canals connecting the Euphrates basin with the Tigris basin exist.
Drainage basin.
The drainage basins of the Kara Su and the Murat River cover an area of and , respectively. Estimates of the area of the Euphrates drainage basin vary widely; from a low to a high . Recent estimates put the basin area at , and . The greater part of the Euphrates basin is located in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq. According to both Daoudy and Frenken, Turkey's share is 28 percent, Syria's is 17 percent and that of Iraq is 40 percent. Isaev and Mikhailova estimate the percentages of the drainage basin lying within Turkey, Syria and Iraq at 33, 20 and 47 percent respectively. Some sources estimate that approximately 15 percent of the drainage basin is located within Saudi Arabia, while a small part falls inside the borders of Kuwait. Finally, some sources also include Jordan in the drainage basin of the Euphrates; a small part of the eastern desert () drains toward the east rather than to the west.
Climate change.
In 2021, the Iraqi Ministry of Water Resources reported that the Euphrates river could dry out by 2040 due to climate change and droughts.
Natural history.
The Euphrates flows through a number of distinct vegetation zones. Although millennia-long human occupation in most parts of the Euphrates basin has significantly degraded the landscape, patches of original vegetation remain. The steady drop in annual rainfall from the sources of the Euphrates toward the Persian Gulf is a strong determinant for the vegetation that can be supported. In its upper reaches the Euphrates flows through the mountains of Southeast Turkey and their southern foothills which support a xeric woodland. Plant species in the moister parts of this zone include various oaks, pistachio trees, and "Rosaceae" (rose/plum family). The drier parts of the xeric woodland zone supports less dense oak forest and "Rosaceae". Here can also be found the wild variants of many cereals, including einkorn wheat, emmer, oat and rye.
South of this zone lies a zone of mixed woodland-steppe vegetation. Between Raqqa and the Syro–Iraqi border the Euphrates flows through a steppe landscape. This steppe is characterised by white wormwood ("Artemisia herba-alba") and Amaranthaceae. Throughout history, this zone has been heavily overgrazed due to the practicing of sheep and goat pastoralism by its inhabitants. Southeast of the border between Syria and Iraq starts true desert. This zone supports either no vegetation at all or small pockets of "Chenopodiaceae" or "Poa sinaica". Although today nothing of it survives due to human interference, research suggests that the Euphrates Valley would have supported a riverine forest. Species characteristic of this type of forest include the Oriental plane, the Euphrates poplar, the tamarisk, the ash and various wetland plants.
Among the fish species in the Tigris–Euphrates basin, the family of the Cyprinidae are the most common, with 34 species out of 52 in total. Among the Cyprinids, the mangar has good recreational fishing qualities, leading the British to nickname it the "Tigris salmon." The Euphrates softshell turtle is an endangered soft-shelled turtle that is limited to the Tigris–Euphrates river system.
The Neo-Assyrian palace reliefs from the 1st millennium BCE depict lion and bull hunts in fertile landscapes. Sixteenth to nineteenth century European travellers in the Syrian Euphrates basin reported on an abundance of animals living in the area, many of which have become rare or even extinct. Species like gazelle, onager and the now-extinct Arabian ostrich lived in the steppe bordering the Euphrates valley, while the valley itself was home to the wild boar. Carnivorous species include the wolf, the golden jackal, the red fox, the leopard and the lion. The Syrian brown bear can be found in the mountains of Southeast Turkey. The presence of Eurasian beaver has been attested in the bone assemblage of the prehistoric site of Tell Abu Hureyra in Syria, but the beaver has never been sighted in historical times.
River.
The Hindiya Barrage on the Iraqi Euphrates, based on plans by British civil engineer William Willcocks and finished in 1913, was the first modern water diversion structure built in the Tigris–Euphrates river system. The Hindiya Barrage was followed in the 1950s by the Ramadi Barrage and the nearby Abu Dibbis Regulator, which serve to regulate the flow regime of the Euphrates and to discharge excess flood water into the depression that is now Lake Habbaniyah. Iraq's largest dam on the Euphrates is the Haditha Dam; a earth-fill dam creating Lake Qadisiyah. Syria and Turkey built their first dams in the Euphrates in the 1970s. The Tabqa Dam in Syria was completed in 1973 while Turkey finished the Keban Dam, a prelude to the immense Southeastern Anatolia Project, in 1974. Since then, Syria has built two more dams in the Euphrates, the Freedom Dam and the Tishrin Dam, and plans to build a fourth dam – the Halabiye Dam – between Raqqa and Deir ez-Zor. The Tabqa Dam is Syria's largest dam and its reservoir (Lake Assad) is an important source of irrigation and drinking water. It was planned that should be irrigated from Lake Assad, but in 2000 only had been realized. Syria also built three smaller dams on the Khabur and its tributaries.
With the implementation of the Southeastern Anatolia Project ("", or "GAP") in the 1970s, Turkey launched an ambitious plan to harness the waters of the Tigris and the Euphrates for irrigation and hydroelectricity production and provide an economic stimulus to its southeastern provinces. GAP affects a total area of and approximately 7 million people; representing about 10 percent of Turkey's total surface area and population, respectively. When completed, GAP will consist of 22 dams – including the Keban Dam – and 19 power plants and provide irrigation water to of agricultural land, which is about 20 percent of the irrigable land in Turkey. C. of this irrigated land is located in the Euphrates basin. By far the largest dam in GAP is the Atatürk Dam, located c. northwest of Şanlıurfa. This dam was completed in 1992; thereby creating a reservoir that is the third-largest lake in Turkey. With a maximum capacity of , the Atatürk Dam reservoir is large enough to hold the entire annual discharge of the Euphrates. Completion of GAP was scheduled for 2010 but has been delayed because the World Bank has withheld funding due to the lack of an official agreement on water sharing between Turkey and the downstream states on the Euphrates and the Tigris.
Apart from barrages and dams, Iraq has also created an intricate network of canals connecting the Euphrates with Lake Habbaniyah, Lake Tharthar, and Abu Dibbis reservoir; all of which can be used to store excess floodwater. Via the Shatt al-Hayy, the Euphrates is connected with the Tigris. The largest canal in this network is the Main Outfall Drain or so-called "Third River;" constructed between 1953 and 1992. This canal is intended to drain the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris south of Baghdad to prevent soil salinization from irrigation. It also allows large freight barges to navigate up to Baghdad.
Environmental and social effects.
The construction of the dams and irrigation schemes on the Euphrates has had a significant impact on the environment and society of each riparian country. The dams constructed as part of GAP – in both the Euphrates and the Tigris basins – have affected 382 villages and almost 200,000 people have been resettled elsewhere. The largest number of people was displaced by the building of the Atatürk Dam, which alone affected 55,300 people. A survey among those who were displaced showed that the majority were unhappy with their new situation and that the compensation they had received was considered insufficient. The flooding of Lake Assad led to the forced displacement of c. 4,000 families, who were resettled in other parts of northern Syria as part of a now abandoned plan to create an "Arab belt" along the borders with Turkey and Iraq.
Apart from the changes in the discharge regime of the river, the numerous dams and irrigation projects have also had other effects on the environment. The creation of reservoirs with large surfaces in countries with high average temperatures has led to increased evaporation; thereby reducing the total amount of water that is available for human use. Annual evaporation from reservoirs has been estimated at in Turkey, in Syria and in Iraq. Water quality in the Iraqi Euphrates is low because irrigation water tapped in Turkey and Syria flows back into the river, together with dissolved fertilizer chemicals used on the fields. The salinity of Euphrates water in Iraq has increased as a result of upstream dam construction, leading to lower suitability as drinking water. The many dams and irrigation schemes, and the associated large-scale water abstraction, have also had a detrimental effect on the ecologically already fragile Mesopotamian Marshes and on freshwater fish habitats in Iraq.
The inundation of large parts of the Euphrates valley, especially in Turkey and Syria, has led to the flooding of many archaeological sites and other places of cultural significance. Although concerted efforts have been made to record or save as much of the endangered cultural heritage as possible, many sites are probably lost forever. The combined GAP projects on the Turkish Euphrates have led to major international efforts to document the archaeological and cultural heritage of the endangered parts of the valley. Especially the flooding of Zeugma with its unique Roman mosaics by the reservoir of the Birecik Dam has generated much controversy in both the Turkish and international press. The construction of the Tabqa Dam in Syria led to a large international campaign coordinated by UNESCO to document the heritage that would disappear under the waters of Lake Assad. Archaeologists from numerous countries excavated sites ranging in date from the Natufian to the Abbasid period, and two minarets were dismantled and rebuilt outside the flood zone. Important sites that have been flooded or affected by the rising waters of Lake Assad include Mureybet, Emar and Abu Hureyra. A similar international effort was made when the Tishrin Dam was constructed, which led, among others, to the flooding of the important Pre-Pottery Neolithic B site of Jerf el Ahmar. An archaeological survey and rescue excavations were also carried out in the area flooded by Lake Qadisiya in Iraq. Parts of the flooded area have recently become accessible again due to the drying up of the lake, resulting not only in new possibilities for archaeologists to do more research, but also providing opportunities for looting, which has been rampant elsewhere in Iraq in the wake of the 2003 invasion.
Religion.
Islam.
In Islamic tradition, a hadith of Muhammad states that the Last Hour will not occur until the Euphrates River uncovers a mountain of gold, over which people will fight. Ninety-nine out of every one hundred individuals engaged in this conflict will perish, with each person hoping to be the one who secures the treasure. The hadith also advises that whoever finds this gold should refrain from taking any of it. This event is considered one of the minor signs of the approaching Day of Judgment.
Christianity.
In the Christian Bible, the Euphrates River is mentioned in Revelation 16:12, in the final book of the New Testament. The author, John of Patmos, writes about the Euphrates river drying up as part of a series of events that foretell the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
The river Phrath mentioned in Genesis 2:14 is also identified as the Euphrates.
History.
Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic periods.
The early occupation of the Euphrates basin was limited to its upper reaches; that is, the area that is popularly known as the Fertile Crescent. Acheulean stone artifacts have been found in the Sajur basin and in the El Kowm oasis in the central Syrian steppe; the latter together with remains of "Homo erectus" that were dated to 450,000 years old. In the Taurus Mountains and the upper part of the Syrian Euphrates valley, early permanent villages such as Abu Hureyra – at first occupied by hunter-gatherers but later by some of the earliest farmers, Jerf el Ahmar, Mureybet and Nevalı Çori became established from the eleventh millennium BCE onward. In the absence of irrigation, these early farming communities were limited to areas where rainfed agriculture was possible, that is, the upper parts of the Syrian Euphrates as well as Turkey. Late Neolithic villages, characterized by the introduction of pottery in the early 7th millennium BCE, are known throughout this area. Occupation of lower Mesopotamia started in the 6th millennium and is generally associated with the introduction of irrigation, as rainfall in this area is insufficient for dry agriculture. Evidence for irrigation has been found at several sites dating to this period, including Tell es-Sawwan. During the 5th millennium BCE, or late Ubaid period, northeastern Syria was dotted by small villages, although some of them grew to a size of over . In Iraq, sites like Eridu and Ur were already occupied during the Ubaid period. Clay boat models found at Tell Mashnaqa along the Khabur indicate that riverine transport was already practiced during this period. The Uruk period, roughly coinciding with the 4th millennium BCE, saw the emergence of truly urban settlements across Mesopotamia. Cities like Tell Brak and Uruk grew to over in size and displayed monumental architecture. The spread of southern Mesopotamian pottery, architecture and sealings far into Turkey and Iran has generally been interpreted as the material reflection of a widespread trade system aimed at providing the Mesopotamian cities with raw materials. Habuba Kabira on the Syrian Euphrates is a prominent example of a settlement that is interpreted as an Uruk colony.
Ancient history.
During the Jemdet Nasr (3600–3100 BCE) and Early Dynastic periods (3100–2350 BCE), southern Mesopotamia experienced a growth in the number and size of settlements, suggesting strong population growth. These settlements, including Sumero-Akkadian sites like Sippar, Uruk, Adab and Kish, were organized in competing city-states. Many of these cities were located along canals of the Euphrates and the Tigris that have since dried up, but that can still be identified from remote sensing imagery. A similar development took place in Upper Mesopotamia, Subartu and Assyria, although only from the mid 3rd millennium and on a smaller scale than in Lower Mesopotamia. Sites like Ebla, Mari and Tell Leilan grew to prominence for the first time during this period.
Large parts of the Euphrates basin were for the first time united under a single ruler during the Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) and Ur III empires, which controlled – either directly or indirectly through vassals – large parts of modern-day Iraq and northeastern Syria. Following their collapse, the Old Assyrian Empire (1975–1750 BCE) and Mari asserted their power over northeast Syria and northern Mesopotamia, while southern Mesopotamia was controlled by city-states like Isin, Kish and Larsa before their territories were absorbed by the newly emerged state of Babylonia under Hammurabi in the early to mid 18th century BCE.
In the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE, the Euphrates basin was divided between Kassite Babylon in the south and Mitanni, Assyria and the Hittite Empire in the


Don't You (Forget About Me)
1985 single by Simple Minds
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" is a song by the Scottish rock band Simple Minds, released as a single in 1985. It was written and composed by the record producer Keith Forsey and the guitarist Steve Schiff for the film "The Breakfast Club" (1985). Simple Minds initially declined to record it, preferring to record their own material, but accepted after several other acts also declined.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" became a breakout hit for Simple Minds, an iconic song and a 1980s anthem. The single reached No. 1 in the United States and Canada, becoming Simple Minds' biggest hit in the United States. It also reached No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top ten in charts around the world.
Recording.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" was written by Steve Schiff and Keith Forsey for the film "The Breakfast Club" (1985). Forsey and Schiff were inspired by a scene in which an introvert and a school bully bond while no one else is watching. Forsey said, "It was: don't forget, when we're back in the classroom, you're not just a bad guy and we've got other things in common."
Simple Minds initially declined to record "Don't You (Forget About Me)", as they felt they should only record their own material. Their guitarist, Charlie Burchill, said they felt it did not suit them as "we had delusions of being ultra-hip". Their manager, Bruce Findlay, believed it would be successful in the United States. He arranged a private screening of "The Breakfast Club" in an effort to change their minds, but they still declined. Their lead vocalist, Jim Kerr, said later: "We couldn't give a toss about teenage American schoolkids."
Forsey offered "Don't You (Forget About Me)" to Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music, who declined as he was working on his album "Boys and Girls" (1985). Ferry said later: "It was just bad timing ... Keith Forsey sent me a demo of the song and it sounded like a hit to me." The record label, A&M, suggested Corey Hart, who had a hit at the time with "Sunglasses at Night", but Forsey did not think he was the right singer. Forsey's frequent collaborator Billy Idol also declined.
Kerr's wife, the songwriter Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders, liked the song and urged him to record it. Simple Minds agreed to try it after spending a few days with Forsey and becoming friends. They were impressed by Forsey's work in German experimental music, such as Amon Düül II, and his work with Giorgio Moroder, including "I Feel Love" by Donna Summer.
Kerr added the "hey hey hey" to the introduction and the "la la la" to the ending, intending to write new lyrics, but Forsey insisted on keeping them. Burchill added power chords, and said later: "It was almost a caricature – I associated powerchords with American AOR. But it worked." The "Financial Times" wrote that the chords "[helped] turn Forsey's sweet paean to teenage longing into a rousing, stadium-sized anthem".
Simple Minds did not anticipate the song's success. In 2016, Burchill said: "When I listen to it now, it’s obviously a brilliant, well-crafted pop song. I’m embarrassed we dissed it so much."
Release and critical reception.
"Don't You (Forget About Me)" was played during the opening and closing credits of "The Breakfast Club" (1985). It was included on the film's soundtrack. "Don't You (Forget About Me)" was released as a single in February 1985 in the United States and reached No. 1 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in May 1985. The song reached No. 1 in Canada in June 1985. It is the band's only number-one hit on the US Top Rock Tracks chart, staying atop that chart for three weeks. The song became Simple Minds' breakout hit, as well as its biggest American hit.
"Cashbox" said that "though the lyric theme is a simple enough declaration, the lead vocals and vivid orchestration make the tune complex and moving". The song was included on the band's greatest hits compilation album, "Glittering Prize 81/92" (1992). It soon became a fixture of the band's live sets, with an extended audience participation section during its inclusion on the 2015 tour to promote the band's "Big Music" album.
John Leland of "Spin" described the song as "a romantic and melancholy dance track" that "cuts ice both in the living room and on the dance floor". The song has become iconic, and has been described by AmericanSongwriter.com as "an ‘80s masterpiece" and "an American teen anthem".
Cover versions.
In February 2021, indie folk band Boy & Bear along with Annie Hamilton covered "Don't You (Forget About Me)" for Australian youth radio station Triple J's "Like a Version". The cover placed 92nd in Triple J's first Like a Version Hottest 100. Billy Idol also covered the song as an add-on track to his "Greatest Hits" album in 2001.
Music video.
The music video – filmed inside Knebworth House, Hertfordshire, England – was directed by Daniel Kleinman. It takes place in a darkened room with a chandelier, a rocking horse, a jukebox, and television sets displaying scenes from "The Breakfast Club". The room gets increasingly cluttered with random objects as the video progresses until the last minute. The video was published on YouTube on 3 December 2010; as of February 2025, it had been viewed more than 358 million times.
Charts.
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Personnel.
Simple Minds
References.
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Don't You Forget About Me (film)
Don't You Forget About Me is a 2009 Canadian documentary film about screenwriter, director, and producer John Hughes. Directed by Matt Austin, the film was named after the 1985 song of the same name by Simple Minds, which in turn was the theme song for Hughes' film "The Breakfast Club". The film specifically focused on Hughes' fade from prominence in the early 1990s.
Background.
The documentary details the journey of a group of young filmmakers who go in search of the reclusive icon, documenting their search through interviews of the people with whom Hughes had worked and fans of his films. Those interviewed include Ilan Mitchell-Smith, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Kelly Le Brock, Mia Sara, Alan Ruck, Kevin Smith, Roger Ebert, and Jim Kerr of the band Simple Minds. Filming began in 2006.
Home media.
The film was completed in 2008, but did not find a distributor for over a year.
When Hughes died of a heart attack, aged 59, on August 6, 2009, a bidding war broke out for the film. It was announced on August 11, 2009, that the film would be distributed by Alliance Films. The film aired on the TV channel Encore for a brief time as well.
References.
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Don't Forget Me (Smash song)
2012 single by the cast of Smash
"Don't Forget Me" is an original song introduced in the fifteenth episode of the first season of the musical TV series "Smash", entitled "Bombshell". It was written by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, but in the show's fictional universe, it was written by the songwriting team of Tom Levitt (Christian Borle) and Julia Houston (Debra Messing) for their Marilyn Monroe musical "Bombshell".
In the episode, the song is sung by Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee) as Marilyn Monroe during a Boston preview for the musical after having just taken over the role from Rebecca Duvall (Uma Thurman), who has been felled by illness.
The song is reprised by Ivy Lynn (Megan Hilty) in the twelfth episode of Season 2, "Opening Night", as part of the performance of "Bombshell's" opening night on Broadway opening, with Ivy playing the lead of Marilyn.
The song was initially released as a single from iTunes and Amazon.com's MP3 store and is currently available on the cast album "Bombshell".
Production.
The song is about Marilyn Monroe's legacy, how she will inspire people, and make the world a better place through her tragic 'cautionary tale'. It has a tempo of quarter = 138 and is described as "Moderately flowing". The song ranges from F#3 to Eb5. It starts off in the key of E Major, but has a key change after the first chorus to F Major and another at the end of the bridge to G-flat Major.
Within the context of the series, the song is written by the songwriting duo as a finale song in under 3 hours after a reprise of Let Me Be Your Star in a suicide scene was deemed too depressing as the final number. After all the drama that went on beforehand, "Karen walks out onstage [after managing to memorize the song in record time] and brings down the house with 'Don’t Forget Me'. As the song ends, "we see Ivy back in the dressing room with a bottle of pills". Chris Rovzar of Vanity Fair suggests the following, "we don’t hear the final response from the Bombshell audience, but the way they reacted during the key change in “Don’t Forget Me” suggests they were poised to give a standing ovation". The song ends with the camera spinning in a circle around Karen as she "triumphant[ly] flail[s]...her arm[s in the air]".
Critical reception.
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“Don’t Forget Me”, a final energetic ballad that led into a “Let Me Be Your Star” reprise [is an example of how the show's best element has always been its original music]. Even though I was furious that it was McPhee singing it and not Megan Hilty...the song moved me, and I thought it was a fitting way to end a musical about the life of Marilyn Monroe. She pleads for the audience to remember her good qualities, how hard she strived, and not how hard she suffered. She wants to be a legend. A tall order, but as Marilyn is the textbook definition of legend in our culture, it doesn't feel stretched, and even the fade-in of a large projection of her face comes at just the right moment. It’s sappy and overstated, sure, but so is much of the best work on Broadway, and I know I would have applauded like mad for that finale had I been in the audience...[Karen] brings it home, and it’s magical. This is one of Tom and Julia’s best songs yet, [and is worth] 4.5 out of 5 Jazz Hands.
Rachel Syme, "'Smash' finale recap: Let Megan Hilty be your star", Los Angeles Times.
Chris Rovzar of Vanity Fair comments that "the lyrics were terrible and the composition spotty", and questions whether this was because within the context of the episode, "Tom and Julia supposedly did write it in just three hours", or because Shaiman and Wittman had genuine faith on the song. While he says that Karen "hit [the song] out of the park", he suggests that some lyrics were less than believable, such as "help for the downtrodden”, which he argues was never "one of Marilyn’s signature messages".
Though he gave the show as a whole much praise, even stating that "[he'd] buy tickets for it tomorrow if the show actually existed", Michael Slezak of TV Line gave "Don't Forget Me" a negative review, describing the "final ballad [that] Tom and Julia cook...up for Karen" as "downright embarrassing". He described the music as in the style of "rejected Disney princess theme songs", and also criticized the out-of-place and cheesy lyrics, such as, ”when you sing happy birthday to someone you love/or see diamonds you wish were all free/ Please say that you won’t, I pray that you don’t forget me”. He claims that the song requires a rewrite.
PerezHilton.com described Don't Forget Me as a "breathtaking finale performance".
JJ of TV Is My Pacifier said of the song, "the orchestration was amazing, the lyrics worked, and it really tied into Marilyn and the music of 'Bombshell'. I couldn't have imagined a better finale".
Idolhead wrote in his blog that the song is "one for the ages", and speculated it would be up for an award, along with “Let Me Be Your Star”, the unofficial theme song of the show.
Nathaniel Rogers of Thefilmexperience.net describes the song as "the second worst original song in a generally sensational musical score", and described it as a "weak song" that sounds like the "interchangeable anthemic ballads that they always end American Idol with". He gave the song a C− grade.
Jonathan Elliott of CinemaBlend.com describes the song as a "nice capper on the season".
Pat Cerasaro of broadwayworld.com describes "Don't Forget Me" as the "spine-tingling new swan song epilogue for the show-within-the-show".
References.
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Don't Forget (Demi Lovato song)
2009 single by Demi Lovato
"Don't Forget" is a song by American singer Demi Lovato, from her debut album of the same name. It was written by Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, who co-produced the song with John Fields. It was released as the album's third and final single on March 17, 2009, through Hollywood Records. The inspiration of the song came from Lovato falling in love with someone who later left her. According to Lovato, it is one of the songs on the album that she most relates to. Musically, "Don't Forget" is a midtempo glam rock ballad that features Lovato singing with breathy falsetto vocals. An accompanying music video was released on March 20, 2009. In 2023, the song was re-recorded for her first remix album "Revamped".
Upon the release of the album, "Don't Forget" was well-received from music critics, who noted the transition from her "tween sound" to more mature material. The song achieved moderate commercial success, reaching number forty-one on the "Billboard" Hot 100. It also reached number seventy-six on the Canadian Hot 100. Lovato has performed the song numerous times including on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show".
Background and composition.
"Don't Forget" was written by Lovato along with the Jonas Brothers, who produced it with John Fields. The song features Dorian Crozier and Michael Bland on drums, and Fields on bass, guitars and keyboards. Nick Jonas also played the guitar and percussion on the song. The song is registered as "Did You Forget" with the Broadcast Music, Inc. Lovato has stated that "Don't Forget" is one of the songs on "Don't Forget" that she relates to the most, and that she felt "a lot of emotion while recording it". In an interview with PopEater, she elaborated, "Everyone goes through the experience of falling in love, but then the other person just walks away, and goes somewhere else. I went through an experience like that and wanted to write about it. I got over it, and now a year later I don't have those feelings about that person anymore." The song and "La La Land" were included as bonus tracks on European editions of her sophomore album "Here We Go Again".
"Don't Forget" is a midtempo glam rock ballad sung with vulnerable and breathy vocals in a falsetto tone. According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, the song is set in common time with a metronome of 92 beats per minute. It is composed in the key of E major and Lovato's vocal range spans from the note of C♯4 to the note of E5. The song includes a "rocking" instrumental and a heavy guitar break. Ed Masley of "The Arizona Republic" compared the track to songs by Green Day. Lyrically, "Don't Forget" is about one of Lovato's old love interests who left her just as she was falling in love with him. The theme is demonstrated in lyrical lines such as, "Did you forget that I was even alive? Did you forget everything we ever had?"
Music video.
"Don't Forget" was directed by Robert Hales. According to Lovato, different video treatments had been written, but she rejected them as she wanted to come up with the idea herself. She said, "They had treatments [for the video], but I was just like, 'No, scratch them.' I want to come up with the idea. I want to show you the colors, I want to show you everything. This is art to me and I don't want it to be somebody else's decision." In an interview with PopEater, Lovato said of the video:
"It was actually really freezing cold [in the rain]. You could see your breath. And I was in the rain for only a short time – my whole band was out there for an hour-and-a-half. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do on a shoot. But it went by so quickly. I had a body suit on underneath my clothes, so there's a little fun fact for you. I was trying not to break my focus pretty much the entire shoot, because I was really in that zone – thinking a lot about the position I was in a year ago... thinking about the situation and how much I wanted to get all that emotion off my chest."
Steve Helling of "People" magazine wrote that Lovato shows her mature side in the video, saying that "it's hard not to notice that the 16-year-old "Camp Rock" star is growing up." The video begins in a tour bus with Lovato's band. She is seen sitting next to a window in the back of the bus, where she precedes to sing the first lines. As the song progresses, she walks out of the bus in the rain, holding an umbrella. She walks out of the parking lot and into an amusement park, where she stands in front of a carousel in the rain as she continues to sing. After the second chorus, Lovato and her band perform in the rain with the water altering colors in the background. As the last verse approaches, she is back on the tour bus. A single tear rolls down her cheek and the video ends.
Live performances.
Lovato performed "Don't Forget" on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on April 14, 2009. Also in April 2009, the song was performed as part of the "iTunes Live from London" series. The full performances were released as an iTunes Store-exclusive extended play featuring recorded live versions of the tracks. In May 2009, Lovato performed the song at a Walmart concert, which was later released as part of a live album entitled "" (2009). The release featured recorded live versions of the performers on a CD, and the full performances on a DVD.
During the summer of 2008, Lovato performed the song in both of her Warm Up Tour and the Jonas Brothers' Burnin' Up Tour, for the latter she served as the opening act. Later in 2009, the song was performed during her Summer Tour 2009. While reviewing a show in Glendale, Arizona, Ed Masley of "The Arizona Republic" wrote that the song "survived the transformation to an unplugged ballad, making the most of Lovato's most vulnerable vocal performance of the night." In 2010, she performed the song during her South American tour. Lovato also performed the song during her set at the Jonas Brothers Live in Concert World Tour 2010. Scott Mervis of "Pittsburgh Post-Gazette" wrote that Lovato performed a "high-energy, high-volume" version of the song. In September 2011, Lovato performed the song during the revue concert An Evening with Demi Lovato. Lovato also performed an acoustic medley of "Don't Forget" and "Catch Me" at the Vevo Certified SuperFanFest in 2014.
Critical reception.
The song was well-received from music critics. Ed Masley of "The Arizona Republic" included "Don't Forget" on his "Top 10 from the Disney girls" list at number two, and wrote, "She really sells this epic glam-rock ballad with her choked-up vocals, [...] She wrote it with the Jonas Brothers, one of whom has clearly been enjoying Green Day's latest work. But truthfully, this would have been among the more compelling anthems on '21st Century Breakdown'." Judy Coleman of "The Boston Globe" wrote, "Lovato has already mastered the limited range of skills required of today's pop starlets: the vulnerable-kitten verse, the banshee-shriek chorus, the stiffly sexy whispered asides. She rhymes 'we used to be so strong' and 'our love is like a song' without irony". Michael Menachem of "Billboard" wrote that Lovato, like Miley Cyrus before her, "has also stepped away briefly from the tween sound with her album's title track, 'Don't Forget'." Menachem wrote, "She may be reaching a new level with a poised vocal performance, as she too is looking to be taken seriously." Joey Guerra of "The Houston Chronicle" called the track an "age-appropriate blueprint laid out by Hilary Duff and [Miley] Cyrus".
Chart performance.
Due to strong digital sales when the album was released, "Don't Forget" debuted on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at number sixty-eight on October 11, 2008 and fell off the chart the following week. On April 4, 2009, it re-entered the chart at number eighty-four. The song steadily ascended the chart for three weeks, before eventually reaching a peak of number forty-one on its fifth week on the chart. It was Lovato's best performing solo song on the chart until "Here We Go Again" reached number fifteen on August 8, 2009. As of October 2017, it has sold 1.1 million copies in the nation. In Canada, "Don't Forget" debuted on the Canadian Hot 100 at number eighty-two on May 2, 2009. The next week, it reached seventy-six, which became its peak. The song also reached number sixty-two on the now defunct Pop 100 chart.
Credits and personnel.
Recording and management
Personnel
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Credits adapted from "Don't Forget" liner notes.
Certifications.
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Don't Forget to Remember
"Don't Forget to Remember", also called "Don't Forget to Remember Me", is a country ballad recorded by the Bee Gees, from the album "Cucumber Castle". The song was written by Barry and Maurice Gibb. It was produced by the band with Robert Stigwood.
Recording.
The song's genre is country, like much of what Maurice and Barry wrote together without input from their brother Robin, but all three brothers have written in the medium at other times, most notably the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton hit "Islands in the Stream", and its parent album "Eyes That See in the Dark".
The song was recorded on 7 May 1969, the same day as the unreleased track "Who Knows What a Room Is". Barry Gibb's lead vocal is in a lower register than usual. Peter Mason, Robin's intended replacement in the group, originally sang harmony vocals on the song, as Mason explains, "I did some harmonies, I remember doing three songs, there was 'Don't Forget to Remember' and I put the harmony down on that and two other songs. [I don't know] whether it's a tryout, although he'd said before that he wanted me, because we sat and sang together."
Mason also explained: "When I sit and listen to 'Don't Forget to Remember' I can't really tell whether it's me or not. He ran the tracks and said, 'Can you put a harmony to that?'". The song also sticks out in Mason's memory.
Structure.
The song features Barry Gibb singing at a lower pitch than usual. The song's lyrics follow the country-song tradition of romantic laments with its tearful first-person lyrics about a man haunted by a failed love affair he can't put out of his mind. Its melody matches the yearning quality of the lyrics, especially on the chorus, which underpins the forlorn wish "Don't forget to remember me/And the love that used to be" with glorious runs of ascending notes. On paper, the song seems applicable to the group's usual pop style but their recording uses country-music elements to carry it into that genre, a prominent acoustic guitar cuts through the background orchestration and Barry Gibb adds a Nashville-inspired twang to his vocal.
Release.
Maurice's reaction when the song was released was "The thing is that it is Jim Reeves-ish it's rather like 'Oh Lonesome Me' and that sort of song and you'll never forget the melody. It wasn't a deliberate dedication to Jim Reeves - it's just worked out that way". Maurice also explains, "We know we don't want to split up, maybe Colin will want to leave sometime in the future, but we all have different things we've involved in". The single covers of the song, (in all countries) features the three remaining Bee Gees after the departure of Robin Gibb.
"Record World" called it a "country-flavored ballad" that's "another solid winner for the Bee Gees."
The song was re-released in CD by RSO Records as a part in the EP of the same name (1987).
Personnel.
Credits from Bee Gees historian and sessionographer Joseph Brennan.
Charts.
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Certifications.
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References.
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Don't Forget
2008 studio album by Demi Lovato
Don't Forget is the debut studio album by American singer Demi Lovato. It was released on September 23, 2008, by Hollywood Records. She started working on the album in September 2007, while filming the Disney Channel original movie "Camp Rock". Lovato co-wrote most of the songs with the Jonas Brothers, who produced the album along with John Fields. Other songwriters include Kara DioGuardi, Jason Reeves and Rooney frontman Robert Schwartzman. "Don't Forget" features primarily a power pop and rock sound, with the lyrical content addressing adolescent topics including heartbreak and independence.
The album was met with generally positive reviews from critics, many of whom noted distinctive similarities with the works of the Jonas Brothers. "Don't Forget" debuted at number two on the US "Billboard" 200 and was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It has sold over 540,000 copies in the country. Elsewhere, "Don't Forget" reached the top 10 on the Canadian Albums Chart and reached the top 40 in Spain and New Zealand.
"Get Back" was released as the lead single from the album and reached number 43 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. "La La Land" was the second single from the album, peaking at number 52 in the United States and inside the top 40 in Ireland and the United Kingdom. The third single, its title track, reached number 41 in the US. "Don't Forget" was further promoted by the tour .
Background.
At 15 years old, Lovato was discovered by Disney Channel during an open call audition in her hometown of Dallas, Texas and made her debut on the short series "As the Bell Rings" in 2007. Lovato subsequently auditioned for a role on the television series "Jonas", but did not get the part. Instead, Lovato received the lead role in the musical film "Camp Rock" after she impressed network executives. Later, Lovato auditioned for a role on the series "Sonny with a Chance", which Lovato also received. For "Camp Rock", Lovato submitted an audition tape and Gary Marsh, Disney's president of entertainment, asked her to sing. Lovato recalled that "They kind of put me on the spot. I don't mind it. When people put me on the spot, it's kind of like, 'Hey, I'm not going to get nervous. I'm just going to do what I do.' So I did what I did." Lovato performed Christina Aguilera's "Ain't No Other Man" and Hollywood Records senior vice president Bob Cavallo said that their "jaws just dropped". The stunt resulted in Lovato receiving the lead role in "Camp Rock", and a record deal with the label in early 2008.
Lovato enlisted her "Camp Rock" co-stars the Jonas Brothers to work with her on the album. Lovato said that it was "important" to include them on the album as the singer "would love to have their input anytime". Lovato felt that she needed help with the writing process as she tended to write songs that were "a little bit more intense and less catchy". With the album, Lovato wanted to establish herself as a musician; Lovato did not just want to be known as "the girl from "Camp Rock"". Lovato explained that her goal was to have fun with the album and that she would include deeper themes on her sophomore effort, stating: "You won't necessarily find a lot of [dark songs] on the album, but hopefully you will on the next album. It's my first one, so I wanted it to be fun — stuff you can drive around in your car to and jam out to."
Development.
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"Writing songs is what I turn to when I'm really upset or in a really good mood. Sometimes people listen to my music and they're like, 'Wow, that's intense. Go to therapy.' But you know, it's a result of how much I've been through. Just because you're on Disney Channel and you always have a smile on your face, they think you're perfect, and it's obvious that nobody's life really is."
—Demi Lovato on her songwriting
In September 2007, Lovato began writing the songs with the Jonas Brothers, during the filming of "Camp Rock". In early 2008, they co-wrote ten songs in a week during the band's Look Me in the Eyes Tour. Lovato said, "I wrote it with them and they helped me. They obviously knew the situation, and then we got on the bus one night — songs just started pouring out." Before the tour's European leg, they went to the studio where the band co-produced the songs with John Fields. Speaking of the experience of co-producing, Nick Jonas said: "Being able to co-produce was really cool and definitely something we'll be doing a lot more of." Nick also complimented working with Lovato. The album was recorded in ten and a half days in Fields' home studio in May 2008.
The inspiration behind "Get Back", a Jonas-penned track, was Lovato not wanting to write a mean or heartbroken song as she felt that there was enough of them. Instead, Lovato wanted to write about getting back together with an old boyfriend. "It's kind of a fun, upbeat song and it's kind of just fun to sing to the person that I wrote it about", Lovato said of the song. "La La Land" was written by Lovato and the Jonas Brothers about "the pressures of fame". Lovato said, "You get to Hollywood and a lot of times people can try to shape you and mould you into what they want you to be. The song is just about keeping it real and trying to stay yourself when you're out in Hollywood". "Don't Forget", was written by Lovato and the Jonas Brothers, the song is about Lovato's experience of falling in love with someone who "just walks away and goes somewhere else". "I went through an experience like that and wanted to write about it. I got over it, and now a year later I don't have those feelings about that person anymore", Lovato said. Musical influences for the album included Paramore, Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Billy Gillman, Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight.
The album's final track listing consisted of six songs co-written by the Jonas Brothers, including the duet "On the Line". The remainder of the album was produced by Fields. Lovato enlisted Rooney frontman Robert Coppola Schwartzman for the track "Party", stating that Lovato put their "musical input and lyrics" into the song and Schwartzman helped Lovato, mainly on the hook. Lovato wrote the song "Trainwreck" alone and co-wrote most of the remaining tracks, except for "The Middle", written by Fields, Kara DioGuardi and Jason Reeves, and "Until You're Mine", written by Andy Dodd and Adam Watts.
Composition.
The songs of "Don't Forget" draws from power pop and rock music genres. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic wrote that it includes "bright, sugary, snappy power pop, fueled by big, fuzzy guitars and big, muscular hooks." As most of the album was co-written and co-produced by the Jonas Brothers, critics noted a similar sound between the artists. Erlewine noted that, unlike the Jonas Brothers' album "A Little Bit Longer", the album does not attempt to draw an audience broader than the tween demographic, calling it "pure, unapologetic bubblegum". The lyrics of the songs deal with teen issues, such as being independent or heartbroken. Digital Spy's Nick Levine wrote that recurring themes include; "staying true to yourself, making up and breaking up, [and] lusting over someone unattainable." The opening track, "La La Land", is about Lovato feeling "out of place" in Hollywood, demonstrated in the verses, "Who said I can't wear my Converse with my dress?", and "I'm not a supermodel, I still eat McDonald's."
The next track, "Get Back", is a guitar-driven upbeat 1980s power pop song. The track speaks of wanting to get back together with an old boyfriend. "On the Line", a duet with the Jonas Brothers, is a breakup song described as bubblegum with a "fizzy" singalong hook. "Don't Forget", shows a transition from the album's tween pop into more mature glam rock. The song is a midtempo power ballad and features Lovato singing with breathy vocals in a falsetto tone. According to Joey Guerra of "Houston Chronicle", "Trainwreck" and "Gonna Get Caught" include Beatles-esque melodies. "Trainwreck" contains references to medication. "Two Worlds Collide" is about a young couple who finds strength from their shared dreams. The ninth track, "The Middle", is about Lovato being eager to go for a ride with a guy, and willing to "crash" and "fall" just for the thrill of it. In "Until You're Mine", Lovato is desperate to "fill an emotional vacancy with a boy". Michael Slezak of "Entertainment Weekly" wrote that the closing track, "Believe in Me", includes "platitudes that might as well have been penned by "Dora the Explorer"."
Promotion.
As a part of promotion, Lovato performed tracks from the album on several televised appearances and occasions. Lovato performed "Get Back" for the first time at the 2008 Disney Channel Games on May 3, 2008. Later, Lovato performed the same song in "Good Morning America" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". Later on January 19, 2009, she performed "Get Back" and "La La Land" at the event on January 19, 2009