Yesterday I heard a very saddening news. It seems that last Thursday Bahman Alaedin, a Bakhtiari folklore singer, has passed away in Karaj, where he lived the last period of his life.
Alaedin, or Massoud Bakhtiari as he named himself later on, had the most elegant and 'sad' voice one can imagine. He began his career before the Islamic Revolution, as a singer and his very first tape was sung in Persian, and not the Lori dialect. But he changed heart and decided to sing Lori (the Bakhtiari tribe is a part of the Lor tribe). His main break through tape was called "bar aftow" (bar aftab --> sunrise) and introduced a new melody to Bakhtiari folklore music, as his incredible voice sang Lori on top of Bakhtiari-like melodies performed by unconventional instruments.
Yet, what makes him so special and makes me so sad now that he has gone, is that he sang Lori (Persian dialect) so grammatically perfect, and used words, metaphors and sayings that were authentic to the Bakhtiari culture. He expressed his emotions through metaphors that described the nomadic life of a Bakhtiari, and he did that mostly through a symbolifying of the nature and the ordinary life of a nomad. In other words, with his words, he visualized the nomadic life of a Bakhtiari, his pleasures, his sadness, his difficulties and his hopes. He revived the authentic Lori language, the Bakhtiari traditions and nomadic life through his sings. And He (on purpose with a capital H) did that in a time when the Bakhtiari way of life was being minimized through industrialization and the following urbanization, a period which saw many aspects of the Bakhtiari culture being reduced to fewer and fewer members and the tongue, Lori, which was barely recorded somewhere, was getting mixed with regular Persian and even English words, a process which was referred to as "lor-farangi"; in short, the Bakhtiari way of life and communication was melting like snow before sunlight and he provided a shadow; it was him that created an eternal and exceptional roof which protects, and guarantees continuity to, many Bakhtiari aspects of living, and especially our tongue.
Not willing to exaggerate, I can firmly say that he, of course not to the same extent and in a different context, in a linguistic way he did something similar to what Ostade Toos, the late great Ferdosi, did for the Persian Language.
If I close my eyes and listen to his music, it takes me back to my childhood days in Iran; those hot afternoons of Shahin Shahr (near Esfahan), our yard, the perfect shadow of the trees, the midday silence...and then Alaedin's perfect and calming music, which felt and will always feel so authentic, and his amazing voice which filled my ears with serenity. It is to him that I owe a great deal of my Bakhtiari identity and that I will never forget, as Alaedin and his music are scripted in my heart.
I guess he was right about life. He sang:
Be yad eyari, bohar owordi, ze viret rahd mar ghararemoon?
Biao bar aftow, gola ne worchin, ke tond erre i boharemoon
Biao ta javooni narade hani, be bange dela homseda wabooym
Wafa nikone zendei be kasi, ze yak si che ekhai joda wabooym?
Meaning in Persian:
Be yad miari, bahar owordi, az yadet raft magar ghararemoon?
Bia toloo (sunrise), golha ra bechin, ke tond(sari) mire in baharemoon
Bia ta javooni narafte hanooz, ba sedaye dela hamseda beshim
Wafa nemikone zendegi be kasi, az ham chera mikhai joda beshim?
Well…I guess life indeed knows no loyalty to anybody, not even our greats.
One of the things I appreciate most about him is that in those turbulent days of the revolution he brought out a song in which he sang "Bakhtiar khow egoo-e, bes begarin goosh", meaning: (Dr.) Bakhtiar talks well, listen to him. That was a knowledgeable and brave thing to do.
Through this thread I wanted to express my condolences to everybody who knew him or had heard of him. Iran has lost a patriot and the Bakhtiari tribe has lost a cultural personification of itself, an identity marker for its members. His passing away created a void that cannot be filled by anyone.
What a loss, what a man, what a legacy.
Alaedin, or Massoud Bakhtiari as he named himself later on, had the most elegant and 'sad' voice one can imagine. He began his career before the Islamic Revolution, as a singer and his very first tape was sung in Persian, and not the Lori dialect. But he changed heart and decided to sing Lori (the Bakhtiari tribe is a part of the Lor tribe). His main break through tape was called "bar aftow" (bar aftab --> sunrise) and introduced a new melody to Bakhtiari folklore music, as his incredible voice sang Lori on top of Bakhtiari-like melodies performed by unconventional instruments.
Yet, what makes him so special and makes me so sad now that he has gone, is that he sang Lori (Persian dialect) so grammatically perfect, and used words, metaphors and sayings that were authentic to the Bakhtiari culture. He expressed his emotions through metaphors that described the nomadic life of a Bakhtiari, and he did that mostly through a symbolifying of the nature and the ordinary life of a nomad. In other words, with his words, he visualized the nomadic life of a Bakhtiari, his pleasures, his sadness, his difficulties and his hopes. He revived the authentic Lori language, the Bakhtiari traditions and nomadic life through his sings. And He (on purpose with a capital H) did that in a time when the Bakhtiari way of life was being minimized through industrialization and the following urbanization, a period which saw many aspects of the Bakhtiari culture being reduced to fewer and fewer members and the tongue, Lori, which was barely recorded somewhere, was getting mixed with regular Persian and even English words, a process which was referred to as "lor-farangi"; in short, the Bakhtiari way of life and communication was melting like snow before sunlight and he provided a shadow; it was him that created an eternal and exceptional roof which protects, and guarantees continuity to, many Bakhtiari aspects of living, and especially our tongue.
Not willing to exaggerate, I can firmly say that he, of course not to the same extent and in a different context, in a linguistic way he did something similar to what Ostade Toos, the late great Ferdosi, did for the Persian Language.
If I close my eyes and listen to his music, it takes me back to my childhood days in Iran; those hot afternoons of Shahin Shahr (near Esfahan), our yard, the perfect shadow of the trees, the midday silence...and then Alaedin's perfect and calming music, which felt and will always feel so authentic, and his amazing voice which filled my ears with serenity. It is to him that I owe a great deal of my Bakhtiari identity and that I will never forget, as Alaedin and his music are scripted in my heart.
I guess he was right about life. He sang:
Be yad eyari, bohar owordi, ze viret rahd mar ghararemoon?
Biao bar aftow, gola ne worchin, ke tond erre i boharemoon
Biao ta javooni narade hani, be bange dela homseda wabooym
Wafa nikone zendei be kasi, ze yak si che ekhai joda wabooym?
Meaning in Persian:
Be yad miari, bahar owordi, az yadet raft magar ghararemoon?
Bia toloo (sunrise), golha ra bechin, ke tond(sari) mire in baharemoon
Bia ta javooni narafte hanooz, ba sedaye dela hamseda beshim
Wafa nemikone zendegi be kasi, az ham chera mikhai joda beshim?
Well…I guess life indeed knows no loyalty to anybody, not even our greats.
One of the things I appreciate most about him is that in those turbulent days of the revolution he brought out a song in which he sang "Bakhtiar khow egoo-e, bes begarin goosh", meaning: (Dr.) Bakhtiar talks well, listen to him. That was a knowledgeable and brave thing to do.
Through this thread I wanted to express my condolences to everybody who knew him or had heard of him. Iran has lost a patriot and the Bakhtiari tribe has lost a cultural personification of itself, an identity marker for its members. His passing away created a void that cannot be filled by anyone.
What a loss, what a man, what a legacy.
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