Music

An Iranian artist that I really like is Mohsen Namjoo. He mixes blues and rock with traditional Iranian music. In my opinion he has a moving voice and powerful lyrics that sometimes seem to make little sense. He claims to be portraying the contradictions in today's society between what is called traditional and what is called modern.

Some of his lyrics:

"One morning you wake up and realize that you are gone with the wind, there is no one around you and a few more of your hairs have gone gray. Your birthday is a mourning ceremony again... That you are born in Asia is called the oppression of geography. You are up in the air and your breakfast has become tea and cigarettes."

"What belongs to us is two-day old couscous!... What belongs to us is a copy of the Godfather movie!... What belongs to us is our unasked-for creation!... What belongs to us is our shamed government!"

"See that your brother has been martyred, give it a number. See that you don't exist, give it a number... See how we give our oil money for water and electricity, numbers, numbers, numbers."

Check out his website and a sample of his music at: http://www.mohsennamjoo.at/

He's what you would call an underground artist in Iran, though one his CDs was finally released here and sold tremendously in the stores. He's a hit because he doesn't make political anthems, he only points out what most people are subconsciously thinking in society and turns it into poetry set to music. The government sees him as controversial, but I think he is making his way through the system little by little. As far as know he is currently in Europe working on a new album.