Suddenly, a song by Shahin Najafi
Suddenly the phone rings, suddenly it’s time for your departure
Even a man would have cried, when my head was in your lap
Running your hand on his loneliness, running away from you and your world
Truly loving her, she truly loving your body
Up ahead, bullets and batons; in the back, dagger of your friends
In this lovely world, your best friend being your foe
Loving the blue sky, showing everyone the love
Giving your life for friendship... while your friend is in love with your woman
A suitcase rests on your shoulder, wounds on your defeated heart
A cliff's edge, called freedom, is the railway's destination
Love, a short stop before waking up... a choice between constraint and constraint
A cup of poison is in your trembling hand, while a blade rests on your neck
Tired of "Revolution" and "Freedom", taking out a lighter... perhaps
a futile "18 Tir" [1] is in your Bahman [2] cigarette
Footnotes:
[1] This entry is perhaps a multiple intender. "Tir" mean "bullet" or "arrow" in the Farsi language, and it is also the 4th month in the Persian calendar. Also, a widespread and violent public protest began on the eve of July 9, 1998 (18th Tir of year 1378 in the Persian calendar), after a peaceful demonstration by a group of students of Tehran University against the closure of a reformist newspaper.
[2] “Bahman” is another multiple intender. It is the name of a cigarette brand in Iran, an "avalanche", and also the name of the 11th month in the Persian calendar. The return of Ayatollah Khomeini to Iran and the beginning of the Islamic Republic of Iran also occurred on the "22 Bahman", February 11, 1979.
About the song:
Music by Shahin Najafi
Poem by Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi
Arrangment by Babak Khazaei
Translation by MPD © 2012
Shahin Najafi will be performing live in Berkeley, California on November 16, 2012, dispite a fatwa issued against him by a few Irainian religious clergies
youtube link >>>
ناگهان
ناگهان زنگ میزند تلفن، ناگهان وقتِ رفتنت باشد
مرد هم گریه میکند وقتی سرِ من روی دامنت باشد
بکشی دست روی تنهائیش، بکشد دست از تو و دنیات
واقعاً عاشقِ خودش باشی، واقعاً عاشقِ تنت باشد
روبرویت گلوله و باتوم، پشت سر خنجرِ رفیقانت
توی دنیای دوست داشتنی! بهترین دوست، دشمنت باشد
دل به آبی آسمان بدهی، به همه عشق را نشان بدهی
بعد، در راه دوست جان بدهی... دوستت عاشقِ زنت باشد
چمدانی نشسته بر دوشت، زخمهائی به قلبِ مغلوبت
پرتگاهی به نامِ آزادی مقصدِ راه آهنت باشد
عشق، مکثیست قبلِ بیداری... انتخابی میانِ جبر و جبر
جامِ سم توی دستِ لرزانت، تیغ هم روی گردنت باشد
خسته از «انقلاب» و «آزادی»، فندکی درمیاوری... شاید
هجدهِ «تیرِ» بیسرانجامی، توی سیگارِ «بهمنت» باشد
آهنگ: شاهین نجفی
تنظیم: بابک خضایی
شعر: مهدی موسوی
Thank you, MPD, for the you-tube link. I heard "Azadi" twice and some "kh" sounds in the song. Yeah!
I will be back later!
Hi MPD,
Thank you for translating Shahin's song and thank you for the footnotes! Wow! "Tir" and "Bahman" can mean so many different things, you really need to have the background knowledge and language knowledge to understand this song. I was wondering what the verse mean? while your friend is in love with your woman ?
Does this song talk about the fact that Shahin immigrated to Germany after the student protest?
So Shahin is going to perform tomorrow? He'd better be careful, you never know, the pro-IRI people may show up and do something crazy and make a point!
I hope his concert is a success!
The concert was a success. No pro-IRI person in the crowd to do anything crazy.
Here is the youtube video clip of the song "Suddenly", performed at the Berkeley concert:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTvU2Somhd8
This poem, by Seyyed Mehdi Mousavi, is basically about peace and love, force and violence, departure and leaving loved ones behind, giving it all for the things that one cares about.