Hayedeh (born Ma'soumh Dadehbala) was Iranian diva of classical and pop music. She was the older sister of Mahasti the famous Iranian singer. Her professional career began in 1968. She sang traditionally at first but then during the 1970s she entered the world of pop music.
I suggest you read more about Hayedeh on Wikipedia.
The song I have translated here is one of her best tracks. I Love to Cry on Your Shoulders is something between classical and pop. It was written by Ardalan Sarfaraz and composed by Farid Zoland.
Lyrics
I put my head on your kind shoulders
the sorrow of my heart fades away as I burst into tears.
My heart is full of sorrow of inhumanity.
I love to cry on your shoulders.
I love to cry on your shoulders.
I love your absence as it makes me yearn for you.
With no selfishness, and with no earthly desires,
I love you beyond these natural desires. I love you more than I do myself.
I love to cry on your shoulders.
Love has so many hairdressers, your hand is one of them.
I love to see you [as a hairdresser] in the mirror.
In solitude I daydream about your love.
I love to see you fascinated by me.
I love to cry on your shoulders.
I love your absence as it makes me yearn for you.
I spent a lifetime in Chelle* hoping to see you.
I like to break the Chelle in the arrival of your love.
I am a wandering cloud ready to cry.
You are my mountain peak.
I love to cry on your shoulders.
With no selfishness, and with no earthly desires,
I love you beyond these natural desires. I love you more than I do myself.
* Chelle is a religious religious/mystic practice during which a person secludes himself from others and lives alone in a small room. He doesn't come out for forty days. The word Chelle comes from Chehel which means 'forty' in Persian.
Lyrics by Ardalan Sarfaraz
Translated by Mehdi Mehtari
Gallery
Ardalan Sarfaraz
Farid Zoland
Hayedeh
Monday, March 16, 2015
Udo Jürgens
Arguably one of the best Austrian musicians ever, Udo Jürgens (1934-2014) was active as a composer and singer for nearly sixty years. More than 100 million copies of his records have been sold. His style is regarded as a mixture of chanson, pop and Schlager. He was famous for not only writing entertaining songs but also giving them in a deep meaning; in many cases issues of the particular time. I've never been to New York (Ich war noch niemals in New York). The song critisizes philistinism and the way people are not following their dreams but keeping to absolutely senseless patterns. LYRICS
After lunch
he said,
darling,
let me go and get myself cigarettes,
she called “Take
the keys with you,
‘cause I’ll
look after our child in the meantime.”
He closed
the door, left without a word,
Into the well-lit
stairwell,
Which smelled
after polish and smugness,
And as he
was walking down the stairs it seemed to him as if this would be departure,
He could
just go away forever,
Forever.
I’ve never
been to New York, I’ve never been to Hawaii,
Never strolled
through San Francisco with torn jeans.
I’ve never
been to New York, I’ve never been free,
Why not be crazy
one time and escape all your constraints.
And as he
was out on the streets,
He realized
that he had everything with him,
His passport,
the credit card, a little bit of money,
Perhaps there’d
be a flight in the evening.
He could
call a cab or ask for a lift, simply get away somehow,
The desire
came up,
Be filled
with dreams one last time, escape the constraints,
He was
thinking about his escape, his escape….
I’ve never been to New York, I’ve never been to Hawaii,
Never strolled through San Francisco with torn jeans.
I’ve never been to New York, I’ve never been free,
Why not be crazy one time and escape all your constraints.
Then he put
the cigarettes into his pockets and went home like always,
Through the
stairwell with polish and smugness,
The wife
called “Darling, hurry up, “Wetten, dass….” starts in a second.”
She asked “Has
anything happened?” – “No, what should have happened?”
I’ve never been to New York, I’ve never been to Hawaii,
Never strolled through San Francisco with torn jeans.
I’ve never been to New York, I’ve never been free,
Why not be crazy one time and escape all your constraints.
Translation: Julian Trummer P.S.: "Wetten Dass..." was the most succesful German show series ever and although it can hardly be described as intelligent it became part of culture in some way.
Faegheh Atashin (born on 5 May 1950 in Tehran), also known by her stage name Googoosh (Persian: Guguš - گوگوش), is an Iranian singer and actress. She is known for her contributions to Iranian pop music, but also starred in a variety of movies from the 1950s to the 1970s.[1] She achieved the pinnacle of her fame and success towards the end of the 1970s. Her overall impact and contributions to Middle Eastern and Central Asian pop-music earned her the title of the most iconic female pop-singer from those regions. (Read more...)
Shahyar Ghanbari (born 28 July 1950 in Tehran) is an Iranian Poet, Writer, lyricist, songwriter, and singer of Persian pop music.He is also a Film director &Radio-TV Producer. Shahyar is the son of Hamid Ghanbari: Iranian actor, dubber and singer. He writes and sings in Persian, English and French. His songs typically feature Love, Solitude, and nostalgia. Mostly he writes his own lyrics, and composes for himself and for other singers. He Currently lives in U S A. (Read more...)
This song remarks the pains of Iranian migrants in Western countries. In it you hear of Venice, Rome, Paris, London and Los Angles (or as the poet calls it: the city with no angles)
Lyrics
I've traveled around the world.
I've been to the tired Taj Mahal.
I've been to the quite nights of the Shiva
with poetry as my dinner.
Nowhere could be as dear as my homeland,
no room could ever shelter me.
Venice was spectacular with all pirate ships.
A night in Rome with all bishops was a night of lonely springs.
The Madame Tussaud's was empty;
It was a place for chaffy faces.
The double checker red buses dancing in the fog
resembled a carpet being woven on a loom.
The morning in Champs-Elysee's was moonlit;
the Palace of Versailles was fully blue, like Dali's Sleep.
Paris was a sleepless city.
In front of me was the lady with a torch in her hand;
a little further, a black with no job was standing.
The City With No Angles was cold;
with loads of misery on blacks and Indians.
My pain was a nightmare to the painless.
I was next to me yet I felt lonely.
The night when the kites were lonely,
was the beginning and the end.
Lyrics by Shahyar Ghanbari
Translated by Mehdi Mehtari
Gallery
Googoosh
Shahyar Ghanbari
Monday, July 14, 2014
Hansi Lang
Hansi Lang
(1955-2008) was an Austrian musician and actor. He’s one of the few musicians
who adapted Rock to German language. Though not succesful throughout his
life, he is nonetheless admired as one of the finest Austrian musicians of
modern time well known for his live acts.
He
regularly played in the band of Austrian pop idol Falco. In his last years of
life he also played Blues and Jazz. In 2008 he died from the consequences of a
brain stroke, not unlikely to be a result of years of drug addiction.
Keine Angst
Released in 1980, Keine Angst (No fear) is his most notable success visualising the feelings of the generation of that time.
It's a song of those fellows in exile to those fellow countrymen in the motherland. Sad Easterner was first sung by Fereydoun Farrokhzad (R.I.P). The lyrics are composed by Iraj Jannati Ataaei. In it Jannati speaks of exile, homeland and the sun. He asks his fellow countrymen not to lose their hope and not to let "our sun" fade away. It's a song of hope and despair.
Why did I choosethis song? A couple of days ago I came to find a trailer of a documentary project to be made about Fereydoun Farrokhzad by DENKmal Film. On their tribute page to the artist, they asked everyone interested to sing this song and make a video clip of their singing and send it to DENKmal Film. Then on August 3rd they will release a mash-up video clip as a tribute to the artist. Plus they asked anyone who can translate the lyrics to any language they know. So I decided to translate them to English.
Yo Sad Easterner!
Yo Sad Easterner!
When the sun shone on you,
your scent filled the rain-soaked town,
and
the darkness got lost in your [dark] hair,
and the sun of freedom smiled
in your eyes.
Yo Sad Easterner!
You're like a mountain of light,
don't let our sun fade away.
You're as pure as the morning,
and as proud as the sea.
Don't let the darkness grow stronger. (chorus)
Yo Sad Easterner!
The sun rose once again,
and her dove flew away from your roof.
You're eyes are filled with the fragrance of spring.
The smell of cornflower reminds me of you.
Yo Sad Easterner!
It's painful to die in your absence.
It's painful to see there's no way out and grind my teeth.
It's impossible to plant the flower of loneliness in a swamp.
Yet there's no time to grieve.
Yo Sad Easterner!
Winter in before me!
When you're with me,
I have no fear of rain and mud.
The song of our clapping will be heared throughout winter.
There will be no fear of the winter because it will finish soon.
Yo Sad Easterner!
The west is nothing more than that.
In its blue eyes homesickness lies.
His masculine hands are as cold as ice in winters.
Come back to my embrace and we'll return home.
Lyrics by Iraj Jannati Ataaei
Translated by Mehdi Mehtari
Ludwig Hirsch (1946 - 2011) was an Austrian songwriter well-known for his morbid, dark songs. He had his biggest successes in the years around 1980, especially with his debut album Dunkelgraue Lieder (Dark Grey Songs). In 2011 he commited suicide.
Komm‘, großer schwarzer Vogel (Come, big black bird!)
This dark, melancholic song was his greatest success. It's about the longing for death.
A very humorous and sarcastic yet dark song is Omama (Grandma), very much in contrast to STS's Großvater (Grandfather).
Now we’re
standing here at the cemetery of Stammersdorf;
It’s
raining, my feet are already hurting.
The
priest says she was just such a good woman,
Nonetheless
I cannot really cry,
The grandma,
the grandma isn’t alive any more.
When I
was little, she pushed into my mouth the dumplings,
Waited for
me with the stick in the hand,
My
stomach was already turning sick,
She didn’t
care, she still gave me a hiding,
So long
till I already started praying:
“Dear
Jesus Christ, please let grandma conk out.”
The seven
raves, they were only six,
The good
fairy, she was a witch,
The bad
wolf, a little dachshund,
The fairy
tale prince, an awful git.
In
Stammersdorf she had her little flat,
With lace
doilies and a picture of Hitler,
A glass
of fat on the windowsill,
The
jerry under the bed,
Just so
white, fat, round and always full,
Perhaps we
should have put it in the grave as well!
One day I
asked her “Where’s grandfather?”
“Up in
heaven on a cloud he’s playing violin.”
For Führer,
Volk and Vaterland
He was
shot, hanged and burned,
But she
always forgave Adolf,
After all
he’d awarded her Mutterkreuz.
The seven
raves, they were only six,
The good
fairy, she was a witch,
The bad
wolf, a little dachshund,
The fairy
tale prince, an awful git.
In the
last time she was a bit weird,
The glass
of fat was under the bed,
The lace
dollies she burned,
Hitler
she called a criminal,
The jerry
she placed on the windowsill.
Everyone
in Stammersdorf was talking about her.
On
mother’s day we took her to the amusement park,
The old
lady was suddenly young again,
On the
Go-Cart she yodeled,
A few
langos she ate,
Just on
the white water ride there was a little misfortune,
There
she was suffocated by her artificial teeth.
The seven
raves, they were only six,
The good
fairy, she was a witch,
The bad
wolf, a little dachshund,
The fairy
tale prince, an awful git.
Goodbye,
grandma, do it better up there,
Don’t
cook dumplings for the angels, be so kind!
Don’t
annoy the saints, don’t denounce grandpa,
And if
you should visit god – a good tip:
Grandma,
don’t take the Mutterkreuz with you.
Translations: Julian Trummer
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
S.T.S.
With their biggest successes in the '80s, S.T.S. is one of the most successful Austrian bands. In their songs they combine traditional provincial Austrian music with pop on a high level; the lyrics are usually written in Styrian dialect, many songs are typically accompanied by their accoustic guitars.
One of their biggest successes is Großvater (Grandfather). It's a nostalgic song of a man remembering his grandfather who has been his role model throughout the whole life and wishing him back. His grandfather had taught him a lot for life, although he was nothing like outstanding or highly educated but just a modest, wise, decent man.
It may encourage us to recognize the hidden treasures within the ordinary people of our surroundings.
Lyrics:
Every
time there was quarrel with the mother
The
first thing I did was going to you
And you
said “She’s alone, you must understand her
Everything
passes by, c’mon let’s have a beer”
And then
you meant, the whole life is about taking
And a
lot more of giving,
So in the
next night out of the cupboard
I stole
the 1000 Schilling
For
spending in the discotheque
The day
after you asked me about it.
I denied
it, cried hysterically
Your
eyes were sad, then I wept
You just
said, “C’mon, forget about it
Money
can’t possibly be so important.”
When you
told me about the war
When you
looked with a Russian eye to eye
You both
offered each other a cigarette
The hand
on the trigger was shaking out of fear.
Or your
wife, who all day cried your ears full
You just
said “I love her
I don’t always
need to hear everything she says.”
Grandfather,
can’t you come down for a cup of coffee,
Grandfather,
there are just so many things to say I now came to understand,
Grandfather,
you were my first friend and that’s something I’ll never forget,
Grandfather.
You were
neither superhuman, nor pretended to be
Just
because of that there was some sort of power
But by
the way you lived your life
I recognized
how you may make it through
Your principle
was: Always think first
Have an
opinion you advocate
No violence, talk about everything
But never
be afraid of anyone.
Grandfather,
can’t you come down for a cup of coffee,
Grandfather,
there are just so many things to say I now came to understand,
Grandfather,
you were my first friend and that’s something I’ll never forget,
Grandfather.
Translation by Julian Trummer
Other notable songs:
Fürstenfeld. A slightly parodic song about the longing for getting back to province.
Irgendwann bleib I dann dort (One day I'll stay there). A song about going away from home forever.
