Melodious Malady

For the last few months, I have been so enamored by this particular song that I can’t quite fall asleep peacefully without having listened to it at least once during the course of each day. Call this an obsession if you will, but the need to listen to it so compulsively isn’t a conscious decision on my part! This is particularly unusual for me, since I never really pick favorites – there is far too much good music out there to limit yourself to a handful of bands and genres – and yet, this one song manages to outshine the rest, so much so that it practically demands to be heard daily!

When it comes to a new band or a new song, we go through the usual phases – the eagerness of  curiosity upon initial discovery, the content familiarity of recent recognition, the ebbing enthusiasm upon maturing (not the same as boredom!), and finally,  unquestioned obscurity. However, this particular song did not go through the same waxing and waning as any other ‘flavor of the month’ or ‘chart-buster.’ Frankly, I’m glad this song isn’t nearly as popular – or it really wouldn’t have had the same appeal when I first chanced upon it.

Before I get to the song itself, here’s a little bit about the people that I ought to blame for my incumbent insomnia. This particularly talented Turkish band is called ‘maNga,’ as a tribute to the art form of its namesake. I happened to discover them a few years back, way before Eurovision 2010 propelled them into world-wide (err… Europe-wide?) popularity… and in my opinion, coming in second in that competition was the greatest act of injustice! Then again, in comparison to other brilliant songs in their repertoire, they chose to go with a fairly weak number, and that too, in English! For the record, their Turkish songs are much, much better! Even though I don’t speak a lick of that language (while I CAN recognize some words occasionally – Indo-European roots = linguistic similarities), their lyrics sound that much better in Turkish… almost as if it comes to them naturally!

I like them for a variety of reasons:

1) They are very original, and their music is diverse, straddling many genres – but a simple distinction would be ‘Rock.’

2) Their songwriting, musical arrangement and album production is quite polished, without being overly studio enhanced – their live performances speak for themselves!

3) They blend in Turkish influences smoothly, without making this juxtaposition of eastern elements sound contrived, like many other artists’ formulaic ‘fusion.’

4) Their lyrics (transliterated, of course) are poignant and poetic without being pretentious – also a rarity among many newer artistes.

5) The band members are all well educated people – despite fulfilling their academic ambitions, they have the time and the energy to write great music, record, and tour!

Just when I was thinking that they would get better and better, I found out that their next album would feature songs in English – and immediately, my hopes crashed just a little bit. I guess it makes sense that they are trying to widen their fan-base, and why shouldn’t they? But truly, most of their allure lay in the fact that their Turkish songs sounded much more genuine than the one English song they wrote for Eurovision 😦

And finally, the song that has been positively plaguing me for the last little while – “Cevapsız Sorular” (Unanswered Questions), from their 2009 album, Sehr-i Hüzün (City of Sadness). I know I could go on and on, but words alone would not suffice to describe just how hauntingly good this song is – musically, as well as lyrically. This is one of those songs which you can truly appreciate by simply listening to it, getting lost in the melody, the multiple meanings… etc. Despite having heard this so many times by now, I still manage to discover something new each time, be it a new subtle layer of instruments or a previously overlooked interpretation.

Nonetheless, there is a particular part of the verse and the chorus that really stands out:

“… Sustu bu gece, karardı yine ay
Kaldı geriye cevapsız sorular
Uyandığında onu ilk kim görecek
Bıraktığım düşü kim büyütecek?

Her sabah kaybolup giden
Bir rüya gibi oldun artık geceleri beni bekleyen;
Gündüzlerimi zehir eden…”

Which, after some loose translation and modification, means:

“… The moon turned its back on me, not replying to me in the darkness,
Leaving behind only unanswered questions
Who will see her first when she awakens
Who will nurture the dream that I have left unfulfilled?

You have become a dream that disappears every morning
That haunts me every night
That poisons all my days …”

Whatever or whoever Ferman seems to be talking about here, this song certainly has been haunting me for the longest time… but in the good way. Listening to this song and many others by them would be my antidote against anything Microbiology can do to poison my days… but not for long anymore!

"...Sustu bu gece, karardı yine ay..."