Artist: داریوش Dariush
Song: قیصر Qeysar (Gheisar or Gheysar)
Lyrics by: روزبه بمانی Roozbeh Bemani
Music by: علیرضا افکاری Alireza Afkari (Based on the soundtrack of "The Deer" by Esfandiyar Monfared Zadeh)
Year: 1389 (2010)
Youtube link:
[gt0kWGuL9Y4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt0kWGuL9Y4[/video]
Disclaimer 1: It is a multidimensional song and it has many layers of meaning. I only want to mention three main layers of it:
1-The most apparent one is that the poet has dedicated his poem to Behrouz Vossoughi and his legendary films before the revolution.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0903750/
2- The second layer is about the films themselves. There are allusions to four major films in this song. All of these films belong to "Film Noir" genre in Persian cinema before the revolution. All of them depict the reality of Persian society in a bitterest way.
3- The third layer and the most important one is that the poet has compared the situations in those films with the current political and social situations in Iran.
Disclaimer 2: I have translated this song in two possible ways. The first line shows the literal translation and the second line in parentheses shows the meaning behind those words.
Qeysar*
(Gheisar)
این روزا گوزن و سر نمی برن
In roozâ Gavazn o sar nemiboran
These days they** don't chop off The Deer's*** head
(These days the tactics for killing someone have been changed)
می شکنن شاخشو میفرستن تو باغ
Mishkanan shâkhesh o mifrestan too bâgh
They break its antlers and send it back to the forest
(They kill one's personality and bravery, then let the person go)
این روزا طاقو نمیریزن سرش
In roozâ tâgh o nemirizan saresh
They don't tear down the roof over its head***
(They don't take up someone's home and properties)
سر گلشونو می کوبن به طاق
Sar-e gallashoon o mikooban beh tâgh
They bang the head of their herd against the roof
(They make the person go insane by the use of torture)
آخر نمایشا عوض شده
Âkhar-e namâyeshâ avaz shodeh
The endings of the dramas have been changed
(The situations have become vice versa in the country)
همه نقش همو بازی می کنن
Hameh naghsh-e hamo bâzi mikonan
All of them play each other's roles
(The people who once were good have become totally bad)
اونایی که چشمشون به قدرته
Oonâyi ke cheshmeshoon be Ghodrat e
Those who keep an eye on Ghodrat***,
(Those who crave for power,)
هم پیاله هاشو راضی می کنن
Ham piyâleh hâsho râzi mikonan
toady to the people who are toasting*** with him
(go to extremes for gaining it)
نمی دونم اگه برگردیم عقب
Nemidoonam ageh bargardim aghab
I don't know if we turned back time
(I don't know if it was the same in the past or not)
دل طوقی واسه کی پر می زنه؟
Del-e Toghi vâseh ki par mizaneh?
then, for whom Toghi's**** heart would go?
(If those supporters of justice lived in the current situation, would they support justice again?)
اگه فرمونو یه شب دوره کنن
Ageh Farmoon o yeh shab doreh konan
If they corrupted Farmoon* one night,
(If they bought our heroes and trusted men,)
چندتا چاقو پشت قیصر میزنه؟
Chand tâ châghoo posht-e Qeysar mizaneh?
then, how many times would Farmoon stab Qeysar* in the back with a knife?
(then, what treasons would they commit against their country and beloved ones?)
نمی دونم اگه برگردیم عقب
Nemidoonam ageh bargardim aghab
I don't know if we turned back time
(I don't know if we put those good people in the past in the current situations)
داش آکل به عشق کی سر می کنه؟
Dâsh Âkol beh eshgh-e ki sar mikoneh?
then with whom Dâsh Âkol**** would fall in love?
(then, would they do the same things which they had done in the past?)
اگه رستمو ببینه روی خاک
ageh Rostam o bebineh rooyeh khâk
If he saw Rostam**** falling on the ground,
(If an honourable man saw his enemy weak)
پشتشو بازم به خنجر میکنه؟
Poshtesh o bazam be khanjar mikoneh?
then, would he refuse to stab him with a dagger?
(then, would he refuse to take revenge according to his code of honour?)
پای روضه ی خودت گریه نکن
Pâyeh rozeye-yeh khodet geryeh nakon
Don't wail over your own elegy*****
(Don't show your inner feelings)
وقتی گریه ننگ مردونگیه
Vaghti geryeh nang-e mardoonegiyeh
when wailing is a stain on masculinity
(when your society can't understand you)
دوره ای که عاقلاش زنجیرین
Doreh ii ke âghelâsh zanjiriyan
In a time when wise people are raving mad
(When those who claim they are so wise, make a lot of problems for the world)
سوته دل شدن یه دیوونگیه
Sooteh Del shodan yeh divoonegiyeh
being heartsick***** is a kind of insanity
(being sad for our lost loves and hopes is considered meaningless (by the society and those boasting wise people))
این روزا دوره ی غیرت کشیه
In roozâ doreh-yeh gheyrat koshi-yeh
These days they kill all those protective feelings*
(These days they don't want you to protect your country, honour and beloved ones)
کی میدونه قیصر این روزا کجاست؟
Ki midooneh Qeysar in roozâ kojâst
Who knows where Qeysar* might be
(Who knows if such patriotic and loyal people still live in this country)
بُکشی و نکشی، می کُشنت
Bokoshi o nakoshi, mikoshanet
It doesn't matter if you kill or not, they will kill you anyway
(They are so ruthless that they kill people without any good reason and just because of those people's beliefs)
اینجا بازارچه ی آب منگولیهاست
Injâ bâzârcheh-yeh Âb Mangooliyâst
This (world) is like Âb Mangooli's* plaza
(The world has become a place filled with betrayal, duplicity and cruelty)
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* All of those words have allusion to "Qeysar" movie. It is a very shocking movie in Persian cinema and is considered as the turning point in making movies in Iran. The story began when Fati, the sister of Farmoon and Qeysar, committed suicide. The brothers found out the reason behind her suicide, and it was that Mansour Ab Mangool raped her and made her pregnant. Mansour was the brother of Fati's closest friend. Farmoon, the older brother, wanted to take revenge, so he went to Ab Mangool plaza (a very old plaza in Old Tehran). He struggled with Mansour in front of Mansour's two younger brothers. One of those brothers stabbed Farmoon in the back and then all of them killed him mercilessly. When Qeysar found out the truth, he took revenge from the three brothers by killing them. Finally, the police shot him dead.
Every name and every incident in this movie is symbolic. The family name of Ab Mangool which was connected with that old plaza had a very deep meaning in it. "Ab Mangool" was an old word for indirectly mentioning alcoholic drinks in Iran, so that plaza was named after the commerce of alcoholic drinks in there. "Ab Mangool" also alludes to delirium.
Another major concept in that movie was the concept of "Gheyrat (Protective Feelings)". We can't translate that word simply by the definition because it is a culture-based word. This word can be found in every Middle Eastern country or, generally speaking, in every Asian country. For example "Gayret" in Turkish and "الغیرت" in Arabic. It means a very strong protective feeling for a person's home, family member, homeland and his honour. This word is considered very masculine and sexist. It is only about men and even gives them the right to kill women. In this song however, the poet only mentions its bright sides and beauty, and somehow purifies it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qeysar_%28film%29
** In this song, the word "they" has a very vague concept, but I think the most appropriate interpretation of this word would be "dictators and their lackeys".
*** Here, we have an allusion to "The Deer" movie. In that movie, we have Seyyed as the protagonist. Seyyed was a very brave man and had a very beautiful wife. Unfortunately, his enemies tried to debauch him by making him a drug addict. They succeeded in their plans, and Seyyed lost everything in his life. At this moment, his best friend Ghodrat showed up. He was a thief and wanted a shelter and an accomplice for his thefts. He found Seyyed and saw that he was ruined. Ghodrat tried to help him rehabilitate. He was somehow successful. But at the end of the movie, when they wanted to celebrate their success by toasting, the police besieged the house and tore it down with missiles. Ghodrat and Seyyed were killed then.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074565/
**** Dash Akol was the name of the protagonist in "Dash Akol" movie. It was based on one of the most famous stories by Sadegh Hedayat ("Iran's foremost modern writer of prose fiction and short stories" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadegh_Hedayat). Dash is the slang form of the informal word dadash which means brother. Dash Akol was a very honourable man in his town. He helped many people. After the death of Haji Almas, one of the great landlords in his city, he was appointed as Haji Almas executor for his properties. Haji Almas had a dughter named Marjan, whom Dash Akol fell in love with but kept his love secret. Dash Akol had a parrot whose name was Toghi. He had taught that parrot how to speak and confessed his love for Marjan in front of Toghi for so many times. He had a sworn enemy named Rostam who wanted to kill him in any possible way. After a while, a suitor came and asked Marjan for marriage. Because of his code of honour, Dash Akol accepted that. On the wedding night, he talked to that bridegroom and handed over the responsibility of Haji Almas family to him. When he was leaving the house, Rostam attacked him in the night and stabbed him in the back with a dagger. Although Dash Akol was hurt badly, he managed to kill Rostam. However, his injuries were so bad that he died too. Before his death, he called for his parrot and instructed it to go to Marjan in order to confess Dash Akol's love for her.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066968/
***** "Sooteh Delan" unmistakably is one of the saddest and most realistic movies in the history of Persian cinema. Sooteh Delan is the plural form of sooteh del. Sooteh del means heartsick in English and if we want to translate it literally it means burnt heart. The title alludes to one of the most famous quatrains by Baba Taher ("an 11th century Persian poet and mystic" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Taher). In the movie, the protagonist was a mentally ill person, named Majid. His brother cared for him a lot but his excessive care ruined Majid's life. Here, the poet depicts a scene in the movie in which all the family members went to a Rozeh (A kind of funeral ceremony, which is held in someone's house for Shiite Imams or prominent figures of Islam every now and then) and didn't take him with them. Majid was a very emotional person and was hurt badly because of that action. Actually, Majid's family didn't take him with them because they thought that he would do a stupid action and people would laugh at the family.