Aşık Veysel, Cem Karaca, Barış Manço.... The Origins of Our Recent Identity and Culture

An Aşık Veysel passed from this world.

One day Cem Karaca and Barış Manço praise each other's songs on the screen in a semi-debate.

Yes, Cem Karaca and Barış Manço also passed from this world.

This little Hacivat Karagöz scene with praise sauce starts with Cem Karaca saying that there has never been a song like your song "Dağlar Dağlar", to which Barış Manço replies that there is no song like your song "Dağlar Dağlar", you have "Resimdeki Gözyaşları", no you have "Namus Belasına Gardaş", Then, after a little Hacivat Karagöz imitation, the night continues with a duet performance of Aşık Veysel's folk song "Uzun İnce Bir Yoldayım" (Long Ince Bir Yolayım), which Kurtalan Ekspres started to play with the participation of dear Cahit Berkay, the representative of the famous Mongols, with whom both of them once worked together.

How beautiful that scene is. They both remembered Aşık Veysel together.

That scene is actually the meeting of two old friends after many years. 

Although they had sung together in other places before, the 4x21 Doludizgin program on TRT (music channel, I think), hosted by Barış Manço, was a program where these two giant men were once again engraved in the memories of millions in front of the screens.

Cem Karaca was the symbol singer of the left with his music up until those days, he was even expelled from Turkish citizenship because of his song "May 1st".  

For this reason, he had to live in exile abroad for many years.

When he regained his citizenship thanks to Turgut Özal, he was labeled a "renegade" especially by the extreme leftists with the accusation that he was no longer the same and that he was siding with right-wing politics, perhaps due to the fatigue of years of living abroad.

But for those who know what he has done, the years when he appeared on this program are the years when he continued his music life as the artist of the hearts.

In fact, with the song "I'm very tired" on their new album, he clearly said what he was going through. 

He is really tired.

But Cem Karaca also showed that he continued in his old style with "I am a walnut tree".

What about Barış Manço? 

He is another giant of our music world, who never changed his line, but did not make political music like Cem Karaca, but sang songs about donkeys, camels, bears and other animals, but stayed away from political issues throughout his life.

Yes, we were a bit saddened by the last move of his life. It was a bit disappointing.

When everyone is in the public eye so much, they are remembered for the mistakes they made.

Both of them left us today and went to eternal peace with their sins and good deeds.

But their music is still on the tongues, still in the ears. Many of their songs are in new interpretations by new bands.

Both of them have made a great contribution to Turkey's becoming Turkey, and have taken their place in our memories as giant artists of an era.

(For example, Altın Gün is one of my favorite bands as one of the representatives of today's bands in their line).

***

What does Aşık Veysel say about this life? 

He calls this life an inn with two doors. You enter through one and leave through the other.

It was his sublime heart that brought the two giant artists together that night. They sang Aşık Veysel's folk song "I am on a long thin road" together.

***

There are many different trends in the music world today. 

But we can say that today's music world has come to this day with the roadstones laid in those days. 

Naturally, Turkey was also very influenced by the world music trends.

From Turkish art music and folk songs, pop music became the most popular music style of today.

I still listen to art music quite often and even folk songs sometimes. But I think especially young people only listen to pop music now.

What was that song by another giant artist?

Who came and who went...

Yes, Ajda Pekkan should have been included in this article somehow.

***

For example, Sezen Aksu was on stage once.

I saw her once in my life with my own eyes.

At Lütfi Kırdar, we were building an additional hall downstairs, the Rumeli Hall. Sezen Aksu was going to give a concert in the main hall. 

I watched the rehearsals from the back of the hall. 

Our construction office was inside the main building, right at the back exit of the hall. You could see the construction site below from above. We called the office an eagle's nest.

That was the first time I saw him, albeit from a distance.

***

Today, that little sparrow has taken its place as one of the building blocks of music history.

There were many critics at the time. Even I stopped listening to her songs for a while. 

I still don't look at the little sparrow as I did in the years when she released her first album. So my resentment is still not over.

Still, we cannot underestimate what she has done for this country, for the music world. 

We call him a little sparrow, but he is actually one of the giants.

She has to live on her own with her mistakes and good deeds.

For us, his old listeners, there is nothing to do but listen to his old songs with pleasure.

Even though I cannot forgive her, I still love her songs.

***

Yes, artists are the people who transform this country and give it an identity.

In that Doludizgin program where Barış Manço had Cem Karaca as a guest (I think it was 1993 when the program was broadcast), someone in the audience that day said that the country was in search of identity. He asked for both of their opinions on this.

And Barış Manço appreciated the audience as a good question.

***

All this time has passed, do you think Turkey has found the identity it was looking for?

I think there are still pains. I don't think it has.

Today, of course, there are no more people with guns in their hands and raiding coffee houses like in those days, even before that, before the 80s. I remember when he said that he was looking for his identity, he was referring to those days.

But today, we can say that polarization has reached its peak.

In fact, I think the situation is even worse today than those days.

In those days, people were able to make their own decisions at least a little bit. 

Also, the corruption in society was not as much as it is today. 

Yes, there was political division in those days too. Corruption cases, favoritism in the state cadres were also there then.

Even the judiciary was the judiciary of the government, although not as much as it is today.

But today I think we have reached a really disastrous situation.

Nowadays, the captain is the one who steers the ship, you don't have to fear anything if you are in favor of the government, and to hell with those who stand against it.

Watch a little bit of the daily news and you will see that I am right.

Immorality is rampant, fraud is rampant, you don't trust anyone...

Yes, if this is the identity that has been sought and found all these years, I think society has been searching for the wrong identity all these years.

If this was to be the point, it was a waste of time.

***

I was talking about artists, I was talking about Aşık Veysel. 

We can count many more.

Artists have a duty to transform society. 

Cem Karaca said that I am what I am.

It is true, artists do not consciously fulfill this duty. But artists are the mirror of society.

Society follows artists, is influenced by the lyrics in their music, the world described in poems becomes the world of society, many identify with the characters in novels.

Among artists, whoever the society likes stands out.

Therefore, artists actually have a great burden on their shoulders.

If we want to get rid of our current meaningless social structure, I think we should continue our search for identity.

For this, our artists need to perform their art with this consciousness.

Unfortunately, this is the way it is. You cannot escape from duty.

***

Yes, a Aşık Veysel passed through this life, his eyes were blind, but his heart's eye saw the future better than all of us.

How many I hugged as friends

My faithful companion is the black earth

I wandered in vain and tired in vain

My faithful companion is the black earth

I've been attached to many beauties

I saw no loyalty, I found no benefit

I got all I want from the earth

My faithful companion is the black earth

Sheep gave lamb gave milk

He gave food, he gave bread, he gave meat

Scarce when he did not beat it with a pickaxe

My faithful companion is the black earth

My faithful companion... is the black earth. 

I hope one day we will find the identity we are looking for.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow.