Ahmad Zahir's Influence

The creator of the above video was clearly Afghan. Not only for the simple fact that they uploaded "Zendegi Chist" to Youtube and wrote its title in Dari, but because of the images chosen. Only Afghans would upload a video about life's pitfalls with a compilation of images of flowers and celebrating love. That doesn't make sense for the song at all, but Afghans love love no matter if the song they're representing does or not. In a similar way that Bakhtar Zamin ("Zendegi Chist" uploader) presented the song to their liking visually, our next artist does the same visually and musically. Sadriddin is a well-known Tajiki artist whose collaborations with other Tajiki and Afghan artists within the last 10 years are some of the most popular in the Afghan music world. Most of his songs are in Dari, a familiar language in Tajikistan thus his fan following spans widely. Also, his Dari is impeccable so I thought he was Afghan for the first 20 years of my exis...

"Zendegi Chist" is unlike most other Ahmad Zahir songs because of its relatively serious subject matter. The chorus, "Zindegi chist? Khoone dil khordan/ Zar deewarein arazoo mordan." means "What is life? Perpetual grief/ You die under a wall of hope." These lyrics are unlike Zahir's other well-known pop/dance jams. And quite confusing considering the theme of images presented in the video above. Despite its relatively melancholic lyrics, the song has many covers; mostly by Afghan artist. Although its most popular rendition (according to Youtube) is by Iranian artist Mansour who gave "Zendegi Chist" a positive spin with new lyrics and an "I love life" video featuring him and a woman cruising in a Jeep on a sunny day. Mansour's summer drive is a vastly different aesthetic than what I imagine Zahir would've created, but it works for his audience. As "Zendegi Chist" works for its listeners. Maybe a break from all ...

"Sultan-E-Qalbam" remains a staple in Afghan culture whether or not artists stay true to the original lyrics. Most of the time, they do not. I'm not sure whether this is specific to covers of Afghan songs, but artists always feel it necessary to change the lyrics. For most English-language songs I hear, this is not the case. Maybe everyone thinks they know better than Ahmad Zahir or that his words were inapplicable to today's cultural landscape. Whatever the reason, Zahir's songs remain influential no matter the tweaking. Leila Forohaur and Aref Arefkia's cover of "Sultan-E-Qalbam" is proof of this. Leila Forohaur is an iconic Iranian songstress. Her musical career started in the 70s and lasts to this day. She's known for her dance and pop songs which are popular in Iran, Afghanistan and countries bordering the two. Forouhar and Aref's cover is also unique because of its success despite never having a studio recording. And this song was...

"Sultan-E-Qalbam" or "king of my heart" tells the story of a woman Zahir loves. It's another timeless song with a lot of instrumentation backing up its sweet lyrics. Its chorus "Sultan-e-qalbem tu hasti tu hasti/ Darwazi haye dilem rah shikasti/ Paiman yaari tu barman bebasti/ Chashm intezaram" translates to "You're the king of my heart/ You broke my heart's walls/ You made a pact to love me/ My eyes wait to see you." This song is slower than the dance numbers Zahir is known for, but remains popular because of its rhythm. Although its lyrics are wonderful like "Az barg-e gul qaghaz saazam/ Nama-e shereen be pardaazam" which means "I'll make paper from petals/ To write your sweet name on," most artists who cover this song change the verses. Maybe it's because their old Dari style is unfamiliar to modern audiences since the way Zahir structures sentences varies slightly from what is used colloquially toda...