Music Around the World: Afghanistan

My junior year of college, my Music History class was assigned a project to research the native music of a foreign country we’d never visited to present to the entire class. I never in a million years would’ve guessed that I’d like doing that project, but I LOVED it. It was so fascinating to learn about different instruments that I wasn’t used to and different musical styles and vocalizations, and I worked so incredibly hard on that project and was so proud of it. I decided to do something similar to that here on the blog – our first country, Afghanistan, was not the country that I chose for my project, so I looked at this musical culture with fresh eyes and have really enjoyed it over the last week.

Here’s a few quick facts about Afghanistan for those not super familiar with the country itself: Capital City: Kabul Official Languages: Dari, Pashto Ethnic Groups: Pashtun, Tajik, Hazara, Uzbek, Aimaq, Turkmen, Baloch, and others Religion: 99.7% Muslim Government: Unitary presidential Islamic republic (currently under the leadership of President Ashraf Ghani) Originally formed in 1709 by the Hotak Empire Land Area: 251,830 square miles Estimated Population as of 2019: 32,225,560 (44th largest nation) They do drive on the right side of the road for anyone who was wondering.

Afghan music is noted for having Persian, Indian, Pashtuun, Tajik, and Hazara influences. Prominent instruments include tablas (an Indian percussion instrument which looks like a pair of small drums with goatskin heads), lutes (a guitar-like stringed instrument), and rubabs (similar to a lute or guitar, one of the national instruments of Afghanistan), and primary languages include Dari (variety of the Persian language) and Pashto (known in Persian literature as the Afghani language). I picked eight songs that I’ve been listening to for the past week and have really come to enjoy to highlight here.

Leili-Jan by Ahmad Zahir Ahmad Zahir was an Afghan musician, songwriter, and composer known for being the first (and currently only) Afghan “superstar.” Born in 1946, he primarily sang in Dari and Pashto and experimented in multiple styles of music such as Indian classical, Iranian, Pashto, English, Qataghani, and romantic Logari. He is still considered to be an Afghan musical icon for being a huge pioneer of rock and pop music, sometimes referred to as the “Elvis of Afghanistan.” He passed away in 1979 at the age of 33, with the media reporting he was killed in a tragic car accident. Leili-Jan is one of his most well-known songs, and is still widely known, appreciated, and played throughout his home country. The lyrics below are translated to English from the original Pashto. Leili, Leili, Leili-Jan, you ruined my heart/You didn’t come to this village, killed having this wish/Black eye like a crow, may your mother won’t see your wounds/Mother may see or not, lover shouldn’t see your wounds/It’s raining, lover is coming to the corridor/I asked for a kiss, her eyes were full of tears

Bache Kabul by Aryana Sayeed Aryana Sayeed is an Afghan singer, songwriter, and television personality who, similar to Zahir, sings in both the Dari and Pashto languages. Currently residing in London, she is one of Afghanistan’s most famous musicians, and she performs at concerts and festivals both in her native Afghanistan as well as out of the country. Her single Bache Kabul was released in 2019, and I definitely felt like it was song that’s very easy to dance to and enjoy. It did get a little repetitive for sure, but so do a LOT of English pop songs, so it wasn’t anything super different. The lyrics below are translated from the original Arabic to English. I have such a sweetheart, a loyal sweetheart/He steals my heart with just a glance/I want to spend the rest of my life with him/I’m feeling better whenever I see him/I have such a sweetheart, a loyal sweetheart/He stole my heart with just a glance/I want to spend the rest of my life with him/I’m feeling better whenever I see him/He has two deer eyes, his smile has magic/This boy from Kabul is playing with my heart/He has two deer eyes, his smile has magic/This boy from Kabul is playing with my heart

Salaam Afghanistan by Farhad Darya Farhad Darya Nashir, known by his stage name Farhad Darya, is an Afghan singer, composer, and music producer, also serving as the UNDP National Goodwill Ambassador for Afghanistan. Darya is a big name in Afghan music for his patriotic music, and his fan base is not only located in his home country but also Southern Asia, Central Asia, and Tajikistan. Like Sayeed and Zahir, Darya also sings in Dari and Pashto, but sings in Uzbek, Persian Hindi-Urdu, and English as well. Salaam Afghanistan is a good example of his patriotic brand of music. The English translation of the lyrics is listed below. From this vagrant soul, the wandering traveler/From this land of loneliness, this prison, hail on dear Kabul, hail on Afghanistan/I’m in a timely journey of wandering, far away from the skirt of Kabul River/Weary hearts’ pilgrimage is calling me, where to go to escape the grief of my heart/The heavens is punishing me for no sin, I am an orphan in a murderer’s claw/I am the voice of a martyred nation, I am the aged rabab of wound and endurance

Afghanistan National Anthem by Finsbury Orchestra I think it’s important when talking about a country to address their national anthem because it’s such a huge symbol of pride for many of that country’s population. Adopted in 2006, “the national anthem shall be in Pashto with the mention of ‘God is Greatest’ as well as the names of the various tribes of Afghanistan’ (per the country’s constitution). With lyrics by Abdul Bari Jahani and music by Afghan-German composer Babrrak Was, the lyrics are translated below in English from its original Pashto. So long as there is the earth and the heavens/So long as the world endures/So long as there is life in the world/So long as a single Afghan breathes/There will be this Afghanistan/Long live the Afghan nation/Long live the Republic/Forever there be our national unity/Forever there be the Afghan nation and the Republic/Forever the Afghan nation, the Republic/And national unity, national unity

Kataghani by Homayun Sakhi This instrumental piece is my second favorite piece that I listened to this week. Homayun Sakhi is an Afghan Rubab player, actually regarded as more of a “master” of this instrument for his techniques he’s perfected over the years. Born in Kabul, he currently resides in California’s Little Kabul near Fremont and teaches music at the Afghan children’s school that he opened there. He revealed in a 2013 NPR interview that he will practice the Rubab between 8-12 hours a day, which is when he develops many of his unique techniques.

Baalkada by Lucky, Naghma, & Jimmy Khan Naghma Shaperai is an Afghan singer who has been around since the early 1980s, starting her musical career with her ex-husband Mangal as half of a popular Afghan musical duo until the early 1990s. She primarily sings in Pashto, but will also record in Dari. Her fanbase is very prominent in Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and among the Pashtun people of Pakistan. She is considered to be the voice and face of Pashtun traditional music in Afghanistan. The song Baalkada was featured on season 11 of the Pakistani show Coke Studio in 2018 with fellow musicians Lucky and Jimmy Khan. I honestly loved the beat here, it was not what I was expecting at all and ended up being a lot of fun to listen to. I tried to get the English translation of the lyrics to include here, but the translations all kept messing up and looking like just straight nonsense words, so sorry about that bummer.

Mola Mamad Djan by Mahwash Farida Gulali Ayubi, now known by her stage name Ustad Mahwash, is an Afghan singer. In 1977, she is the first woman to have been conferred the title Ustad, which is an honorary title that means Masterr in the Dari language. Born in Kabul, she now lives in Fremont, California and tours internationally with her all-star ensemble known as Voices of Afghanistan. Mola Mamad Djan was a song that took me a few listens to really appreciate it, but it has that very uniquely Afghan feel to it and I did end up liking it quite a bit. Finding the lyrics to this song proved to be extremely difficult, but I was able to find that the English translation of the song title is Mola Mamad, My Beloved.

Rubab Solo by Mohammad Omar THIS classical instrumental piece was my favorite of the entire week for sure. Born in 1905, Ustad Mohammad Omar was an Afghan Rubab player who began his musical career by studying under his music teacher father. He ended up becoming the Director of the National Orchestra of Radio Afghanistan, which made him responsible for bringing together various folk musicians from the different regions and communities of Afghanistan. Omar received a Fulbright-Hays Foreign Scholar Fellowship in 1974 to teach at the University of Washington, which made him the first Afghan musician to teach at a major university in the US. He passed away in 1980 at the age of 75. This piece (recorded in 1961) is so intricate and beautiful, I was completely mesmerized every time I listened to it.

Hopefully you enjoyed this slightly nerdy history lesson blog – I’m really looking forward to doing more of these in the future to education myself and others about international musical cultures. See ya’ll next week!