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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
*The full article can be found here: |
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