Persian Tracks I Like

[StillUndefeated]

 

Googoosh, 1978. She’s 75 now.

[El Luchador]

I'm happy to see America wasn't the only country turning out horrible music in the late 70s. 

[StillUndefeated]

3 minutes ago, El Luchador said:

I'm happy to see America wasn't the only country turning out horrible music in the late 70s. 

Come on, it’s great! Give it a few listens and you’ll love it.

[El Luchador]

Just now, StillUndefeated said:

Come on, it’s great! Give it a few listens and you’ll love it.

It's probably meant to be listed to on an AM radio in a Ford Pinto to get the full experience.

[Gene Mills Fan]

Now I know where Michael Jackson stole the moon walk

[StillUndefeated]

Ok, after the incredible reception from Americans for the first song (everyone loved it… ), let’s move on to the next track.

I guess I should give you a little background first. This one’s by Mohsen Namjoo, and he’s singing a poem by Hafez - one of Iran’s greatest poets who lived in the 14th century.

The performance was in the Netherlands, and I’m pretty sure most of the Dutch audience were half-asleep… .

Hafez's super respected in Iran - basically, everyone has a copy of his Divan at home. Think of it like a holy book; during traditional Iranian holidays, people read his poetry, and many Iranians have memorized some of his poems. Hundreds of essays have been written interpreting his poetry, and big names like Goethe have written essays about him.

Because of this, there’s always been this expectation that anyone performing Hafez should respect his lofty status. The idea is: don’t reduce Hafez’s "beloved" to some ordinary person, or his "wine" to just grape juice, because some scholars argue he’s using them metaphorically - and he probably wasn’t an actual wine-drinker.

That said, there are plenty of alternative interpretations; some Iranians even keep a copy of Hafez’s Divan next to them when drinking wine. Anyway, to really get Namjoo’s song, you need to understand this whole cultural vibe around Hafez.

The first few lines of the poem Namjoo sings go like this (the first line is almost impossible to translate properly - it’s full of wordplay that doesn’t work in English - but here's the basic meaning):

Don’t let your hair be blown by the wind - it’ll destroy me.

Then he continues:

Don’t play hard to get with me - I can’t take it.

... Don’t drink with everyone, or my heart will ache. …

Namjoo at first starts in the traditional way, with that highbrow, fancy style people expect when performing Hafez.

Here, it’s like he’s giving the kind of interpretation you’d hear in Iranian literature departments. But then, partway through, he stops, goes back to the beginning of the poem, and changes his tone completely. The new tone feels like a casual conversation between a boy and a girl hanging out - the boy is whispering these words (the poetry) to his girlfriend. This is actually a different interpretation of Hafez, one that a famous modern Iranian poet, Ahmad Shamlou, supported.

This shift really shocked a lot of traditional Iranians who love Hafez, and some of them even disliked Namjoo for it. But he doesn’t stop there. He takes it one step further and, using vocal effects, playfully mocks both interpretations. It’s like he’s saying: maybe all these interpretations are wrong, because Hafez is too clever and sly for anyone to ever fully grasp him.

 

 

 

 

 

[mspart]

Here's an oldie but a goodie from the gold ole USA. 

mspart

[StillUndefeated]

Alright, American friends, I want to show you something here that you’ll probably find pretty fascinating: Baba Karam, a dance that originally comes from the jaheli style of the street-wise kids in the lower neighborhoods of Tehran.

The history of this dance goes back roughly 80–90 years, to a time when the cafes in the lower parts of Tehran were hangouts for working-class men who drank heavily. The southern neighborhoods of Tehran have always been, and still are, economically lower than the northern parts, and their lifestyle was very different.

I don’t know if you’ve ever read John Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat, but if you have, you’ll get the vibe—guys drinking, getting drunk, picking fights. That’s basically what the southern parts of Tehran were like back then. After work, men would gather in cafes, drink, and sometimes end up in fights. And of course, there were some guys everyone respected—or feared. They were the big shots of the neighborhood. Every neighborhood had its own gang leaders, each with their own followers. Some of these leaders were decent people, some not so much. Some were so famous that at times they even played a role in political events.

These gang leaders were called jahel. Literally, it means “ignorant” or “uneducated,” but in practice, it meant someone fearless. They had a very distinctive style: black suits, bowler hats, white shirts, often with open collars, and a special handkerchief they carried. You can see their look in the photo below.

 

 

Even their walk was different from ordinary people—they had to show their jaheli style and status in the way they moved, talked, and looked around. Not just anyone could pull it off. They used to say, “A laat (jahel) is born a laat and dies a laat,” usually in a fight—most of them died in knife fights.

Their dance was jaheli, too. A very specific masculine dance, done in those same outfits, with special moves. For example, they’d put a shot glass of aragh (a local spirit) on their forehead to show they weren’t drunk. One move involved throwing their handkerchief in front of another respected gang leader—kind of like saying, “I’m your junior, you’re the boss.” This was also a thing in traditional Iranian wrestling, where throwing a handkerchief in front of a wrestler meant acknowledging defeat. They brought all these gestures into their dance. Over time, this dance became known as Baba Karam. There’s a lot of debate about its history, but that’s the gist of it.

The modern version of the dance, which is what we see today as Baba Karam, really started when women joined in. The first time I think it happened was in the 1950s, when a woman named Jamileh danced Baba Karam in a cafe in Tehran. A woman doing this tough, masculine dance was incredibly appealing to men. Over time, women added feminine moves and playful hip gestures, especially involving hip and waist movements, which completely changed the traditional masculine jaheli dance. Later on, even men started copying some of these moves because they were more fun.

Even though the dance looks simple, not just anyone can do it right—it requires an understanding of the laati culture. For instance, gang members didn’t clap like ordinary people; simple clapping was seen as weak. Clapping had to be firm and sometimes with fingers spread out.

Okay, I think that’s enough background. The performance below is one of the best Baba Karam dances I’ve ever seen. Enjoy!

 

 

[Caveira]

 

[Gene Mills Fan]

9 minutes ago, Caveira said:

 

Do it right!

[StillUndefeated]

Russian girl dancing Baba karam — good energy, but she’s gotta work on her underhooks.

 

[Gene Mills Fan]

14 hours ago, StillUndefeated said:

Russian girl dancing Baba karam — good energy, but she’s gotta work on her underhooks.

 

Is this a concert? or a competition? Or an entertainment show? Does the crowd just sit and watch? If I walked in I'm sayin "ByeBye Karen."

[StillUndefeated]

44 minutes ago, Gene Mills Fan said:

Is this a concert? or a competition? Or an entertainment show? Does the crowd just sit and watch? If I walked in I'm sayin "ByeBye Karen."

Not exactly sure what kind of event it was, but it looks like it might be some kind of competition in Russia or Ukraine. I was just searching YouTube to see if I could find Americans or Russians doing the Babakaram dance, and I came across that video.

[StillUndefeated]

EBI "Jabeye Javaher"

My heart is like a garden,
a garden of orange blossoms,
A quiet little corner,
a cozy place for a weary soul to rest.

Sadly, nowadays,
love is what’s been forgotten,
love is what’s been forgotten.

On my love’s birthday night,
I gave my heart as a gift
to the one who made me fall in love.

Casting me to the wind -
My gift was sent back unopened.

Sent it back.
Sent it back.
Sent it back.
 

[Never got why everyone - singer included - is dancing like crazy over their gift being sent back unopened.]

[mspart]

I just saw the title of this thread and thought is was Persian Trucks I like.    Then I looked again and saw that I had misread. 

mspart

[StillUndefeated]

3 hours ago, mspart said:

I just saw the title of this thread and thought is was Persian Trucks I like.    Then I looked again and saw that I had misread. 

mspart

LOL.

Actually, I realized later it probably wasn’t the best title, but this board doesn’t let you change thread titles. I’m planning to keep everything I like about Iran in this one thread--music, dance, whatever--instead of starting a bunch of separate threads and cluttering the board. That way, if someone’s not into Iran-related stuff, they can just skip this thread.

[Gene Mills Fan]

15 hours ago, StillUndefeated said:

EBI "Jabeye Javaher"

My heart is like a garden,
a garden of orange blossoms,
A quiet little corner,
a cozy place for a weary soul to rest.

Sadly, nowadays,
love is what’s been forgotten,
love is what’s been forgotten.

On my love’s birthday night,
I gave my heart as a gift
to the one who made me fall in love.

Casting me to the wind -
My gift was sent back unopened.

Sent it back.
Sent it back.
Sent it back.
 

[Never got why everyone - singer included - is dancing like crazy over their gift being sent back unopened.]

This is nice. Emotionally and technically very nice. Always great to see people enjoying themselves. It is amazing the power music has to bring people together. I am wondering are there similar events in Iran? Would the visuals especially the audience be different if it was in Iran?

Edited February 13 by Gene Mills Fan

[StillUndefeated]

1 hour ago, Gene Mills Fan said:

This is nice. Emotionally and technically very nice. Always great to see people enjoying themselves. It is amazing the power music has to bring people together. I am wondering are there similar events in Iran? Would the visuals especially the audience be different if it was in Iran?

Absolutely! It really makes you happy to see others enjoying themselves. This singer, Ebi, is one of the famous singers from the Shah's era. After the revolution, like many others, he moved to the U.S. Nowadays, they hold concerts in places near Iran, like Dubai and Turkey, and thousands of Iranians attend. Usually, Turkey is easier for Iranians to travel to. This particular concert was in Istanbul. In Iran, concerts happen in many cities, and both men and women go, but unlike concerts abroad, they can’t dance or drink alcohol in public. Over the past four to five years, with the increase in public protests, the way people dress, especially regarding hijab, has changed somewhat. Previously, restrictions were stricter. The regime also does not give permission for singers from the Shah’s era to perform in Iran.

[StillUndefeated]

Persian food from a street-side kitchen.

 

[StillUndefeated]

Persian Mom