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the Message Continues ... 12/183
Newsletter for February 2017
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Is Rumi the Inspiration behind
Today's Love Songs?
In the early days when I had just started translating Rumi I became aware
of what I thought then were
strange similarities between
Rumi lyrics and the American
blues. How could it be, I
thought. How could lyrics from
an 800-year old Persian poet
have anything in common with
songs from a 20th Century
American phenomenon?
Despite my initial disbelief I found similarities in four major themes
that run through these two
genres: Heartache, Drunkenness,
Disagreeable Lover and
Aloneness.
HEARTACHE
Rumi of course routinely exclaimed proudly how the pain of love was
exclusive to him. In fact in my
Rumi translation of his poem "Go
Back To Sleep," he is shunning
all those who aren't fortunate
enough to be suffering from this
heartache. He is commanding them
to go back to sleep, which means
remain in darkness of ignorance
and give up your desire for
growth and evolution. Just like
in the American blues, this
heartache was also paramount for
Rumi.
Rumi says:
DRUNKENNESS
"I am so drunk
DISAGREEABLE LOVER
"My man don't love me
And here's one from Rumi
"Everyday my heart falls deeper in the pain of your sorrow.
Here, Rumi's sorrow is of course heartache or having the blues.
Also similar to the line "love will make you drink and gamble,"
complaining about the heartless
lover ruining one's good name,
is routine in Rumi poetry.
ALONENESS
So these similarities over the years made me aware about a connection
between Rumi and the blues, in
fact I used to perform a song
called Rumi Blues with blues
music and rhythms, honoring the
connection without actually
fully understanding the reason.
THE AFRICAN AMERICAN CONNECTION
The article exposed the missing link for me: that blues is an African
American experience. And African
American of course denotes
origin from Africa and this is
where things get interesting.
Although the article focuses
more on religion and the musical
connection to Africa, the point
that interests me is the lyrics.
The Persian classical poets, specially Rumi, where immensely popular in
the East. In fact Rumi has been
a giant in Middle East ever
since the 13th Century. And the
Persian classical metaphors for
heartache, drunkenness,
disagreeable lover, and
aloneness were well established
all through the Mideast from the
Mediterranean Sea to India,
North, West and East Africa and
the Moorish Spain.
The African slaves, who were familiar with the imagery and metaphors of
the Persian classical poetry,
brought these ideas with them to
the US and gradually through
generations as English became
their native tongue learned to
express them in the New World.
THE BLUES IS THE SOURCE OF TODAY'S POP MUSIC
So next time you hear a young crooner tearing his or her heart out in a
modern love song, you have Rumi
to thank for.
Shahram Shiva |
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