Semaphore

Broken Semaphore

I'm guessing we all have a particular song for our manuscripts, something we feel fits with the atmosphere or characters.

The playlist for MIST OF KAVALA started with a broken semaphore. --->

Semaphore is Greek for "signbearer", and there are entire systems that flag bearers use on the maritime and railway routes of the world.

Also, a sempahore is "in computer science, a mechanism for supporting mutual exclusion in concurrent programs" (wikipedia)

Both kinds of semaphore are useful to my main character's journey. So, enter my song for Taner:

Snow Patrol : "Called Out in The Dark"

It's like we just can't help ourselves

'Cause we don't know how to back down

We were called out to the streets

We were called in to the towns

And how the heavens, they opened up

Like arms of dazzling gold

With our rain washed histories

Well they do not need to be told

Show me now, show me the arms aloft

Every eye trained on a different star

This magic

This drunken semaphore

And I

We are listening

And we're not blind

This is your life

This is your time

We are listening

And we're not blind

This is your life

This is your time

I was called out in the dark

By a choir of beautiful cheats

And as the kids took back the parks

You and I were left with the streets

Show me now, show me the arms aloft

Every eye trained on a different star

This magic

This drunken semaphore

And I

We are listening

And we're not blind

This is your life

This is your time

(AZ Lyrics)

In the video - I especially love that he's wearing a green t-shirt which screws with the green screen.





What's your song?

Ferhat Göçer

I was watching American Idol the other night and a Harvard grad/White House intern belted out some lovely lyrics. She's beautiful too. Tall and skinny, long blonde hair...guys better line up for this girl. (But you're too intimidated, I know! Excuses...)  My point...some people are lucky in more ways than one.
Ferhat Göçer is another one of those people. If I need to be sick, I want him to be my doctor, because the sound of his voice would just make it all better!

A little bio about him:

He was born in Sanliurfa (way out in eastern Anatolia, off the radar so-to-speak). He graduated from Istanbul University with a medical degree and went back to Sanliurfa for his residency. When he finished, he headed to Istanbul as a surgeon at Haydarpasa Hospital. Not bad for a kid out of Sanliurfa, I tell you.

But he also has a degree from the State Conservatoire for his voice. His style blends east and west, with folk music playing a big part in his work. In October 2005, he released his first album, showcasing his special blend. I'm happy to say I was able to buy his latest on iTunes.

I've got all of his music. In fact, one of his songs was on my playlist for Burnt Amber. I'll translate the lyrics, because I can't find a good one anywhere:

Cennet - Heaven


What's it to me, if the world ends
If it's going to end, let this road of life come to an end
I have no fear, inside I'm full of satisfaction
I lived love with you for a lifetime
Even the lines on my face are named after you
You are the reason for every breath
If I come back to this world my love
I will look for you and find you again
I wouldn't trade heaven for one strand of your hair
I'll love you as long as my life allows


Ferhat gocer - cennet
Uploaded by sayit. - Explore more music videos.

It's a little tricky translating the specific turns of phrase he used, like living love, but I hope you get the idea. (If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, I have a playlist.com widget and this song is there too.)

And that part about coming back to this world to find her...yeah...that's Haydon :)

In this, case the lyrics happened to fit my story, but sometimes it's the other way around.  Are there specific lyrics that inspire you to write? Or do you just use the sentiments from a song?

In the housekeeping department...
The new blog schedule is M-W-F, posting at 6 am. :)

See you Wednesday!

Write My Name on Your Heart



via binscorner.com


Unut beni...AH!  Tarkan begs me to forget him everytime I listen. (He knows it's a lost cause.) But he seems to have had a change of strategy with his latest album Adimi Kalbine Yaz (Write My Name on Your Heart).

Beta readers are probably looking at this picture going "I know that face!" Yeah, he's the inspiration for my Turkish Casanova.

Tarkan may not be a household name here in the States, but he is THE biggest Turkish star.  He's known all over Europe too, thanks to Turkey's amazing nightclubs and their European patrons.

I'd love to share his videos, but they are really hard to come by, copyrights and all, so I encourage you to click the link to his official website (above) for some authentic Turkish entertainment.

And now, back to my revision!

Traditional Melodies

Image via Wikipedia

The Turkish saz, sometimes called the bağlama, is a long-necked cousin of the Middle Eastern Oud and the Western renaissance lute. It's the signature sound of arabesque Turkish classical music.

Like a piece of art, the back of a saz often features bands of gorgeous wood in varieties of mulberry, juniper, beech, walnut or spruce and the neck can be embellished with intarsia. The electro-saz, on the other hand, can look like something out of a rock band.  Kind of like a guitar, the saz comes in different colors and sizes and there are people who can make those few simple strings do magical things.

The clip from TRT is pretty traditional, until the musician switches to the "Pink Panther" theme and then on to some other riffs. Enjoy!

Related articles

• Music Review: Lute Fanciers Meet 3 Stars From the Past (nytimes.com)
• Musician Khyam Allami on how the 'ud changed his life (guardian.co.uk)
• Istanbul International Ud Festival

Music is a Universal Language

The last couple of posts have had music in them, so maybe it's time for a full post about it. A popular writers trend right now is to write while listening to music, hence the playlist on the sidebar. I need quiet to write, but I can't deny that some tunes inspire. Chains, Fortresses, Cennet...you know, stuff already running through my head anyway gets channeled when I'm listening in the car or kitchen and - A-ha! I have a moment of clarity. I listen to stuff from everywhere...language is not a barrier for me. At the moment Primavera in Anticipo (Laura Pausini and James Blunt) is on the top of my list. Half of it is in Italian, but I get it anyway.

In Turkey, like everywhere, there are different types of music. Halk muzik (folk) , Sanat muzik (classical, lots of arabesques), and then of course modern Pop/Rock/etc... I don't usually listen to the first two, although I appreciate them of course. I really like when artists take something from halk or sanat music and blend it into pop/rock. That I can't resist. Since I'm a former violinist, Can Atilla easily takes a "most played" track status in my iTunes library. He's a composer and his instumentals are just as important as the words. He likes to invoke images of the Ottomans...one of his albums is even titled 1453 (When Istanbul became the capital of the Ottoman Empire).

I just watched his video of Cariyerler ve Geceler for the first time. Its animation, but a very nice use of arabesques in every sense plus a bit of a steampunk vibe. Some indian woman singing background too... don't ask me what she's saying. Love the high violin crying out. Pure angst! If angst isn't YA, then what is?

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