REORIENT:

A few months back in January, a friend of mine – a classical Iranian musician – sent me a link to a song, What Does All this Have to Do with You? by a band called ‘Velshodegan’. Also included in the message was a note: here is the kind of classical Iranian music you’ve been longing for. The vocal and instrumental styles were in the classical Iranian genre, and the lyrics of the song protested the social regulations imposed on people’s appearances and lifestyles. Shave your moustache / Don’t shave your beard / … Shape your [eyebrow] arch higher / … Vay – what does all this have to do with you, my friend? Two refrains from a pop song were quoted on the track, juxtaposed with slang sung in a classical vein; there was also a critical stance towards the beloved: Oh you, who used to read Sadegh [Hedayat] / Oh you, who used to be all about Sa’di / You ruined my life / What were you after?

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