I really shouldn’t be listening to Ahmad Zahir, but I do. I have over 20,000 songs on my iPod, but the majority of songs on my favorites play list are Ahmad Zahir’s songs. I’m a big snob when it comes to sound quality, yet I cannot honestly call any of Ahmad Zahir’s recordings stellar. I don’t really understand the lyrics very well, but somehow it’s the lyrics that draw me to the music. I practice the blues on my guitar for hours on end. But when I just feel like playing a song, it somehow always comes out to be one of Ahmad Zahir’s. I suppose I’m living some sort of hypocritical paradox.
As a cocky teenager, I used to make fun of Ahmad Zahir, when my parents or older siblings would listen to his music. I would say his melodies are copied from others, the lyrics are old Persian poetry, the sound quality is poor. All the endless array of criticisms I used to use, still apply today. But somehow, now I love that same music.
It seems as though the music of Ahmad Zahir has seeped into me slowly over the years. It has taken hold, and not even my intellectual analysis of its shortcomings can free me from its grip. I often find myself paralyzed by his music. I put my iPod on shuffle and go for walks. When an Ahmad Zahir song makes its inevitable entrance into my play list, I often find my mood suddenly altered. The snippets of poetry that I can sometimes comprehend often strike into the deepest corners of my mind.
I was a small child when Ahmad Zahir died. I remember seeing the sadness of those around me. At the time, I knew something bad had happened, but I could not comprehend the scale of that loss. Now, each time I hear one of his songs, I understand a little better what everyone else was mourning. There was greatness in Ahmad Zahir. In a country and time with little technological advancement, he moved people’s souls with a few lines of poetry, simple music, and an amazing voice.
Today, in the surround sound, sub woofer, iPod altered world I live in, the sounds that move me the most, are the sounds of those poorly recorded songs of Ahmad Zahir. Perhaps there is no paradox in my love for Ahmad Zahir after all. It is not technological advancement or slick recording tools that matter. What matters most is the quality of the voice, the depth of the poetry, and beauty of the human soul that puts it all together. Those are qualities Ahmad Zahir possessed and that is why I still listen to his music today.
Article Initially Published on my site Lablabu.com
Tags: Ahmad Zahir Music
