Hello, hello, you are listening to WREK Atlanta. Welcome to yet another episode of Continental Drift! You can listen to the recording of the episode here.

Today’s episode is about Bangladesh!

Bangladesh, or more officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh,] is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, and one of the most densely populated. Bangladesh borders India to the north, west, and east, and Myanmar to the southeast.

The capital is Dhaka and the official language is called Bengali. 

Here is the playlist (the last song was not played on the episode and thus is a bonus to the reader!).

Rabindra Sangeet (Music of Rabindranath Tagore)

Music written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore, Nobel Laureate. Combines elements of Indian classical music, folk music, poetry, phylosophy; explores themes of nature, love, humanism.

"Amar Shonar Bangla": the song was composed in 1905, and now it is the national anthem of Bangladesh!

"Ekla Cholo Re" ("If No One Answers Your Call, Walk Alone")

Fun fact: he has a song "Purano Shei Diner Katha" based on a Scottish ballad "Auld Lang Syne" by Robert Burns.

Nazrul Geeti or Nazrul Sangeet

Nazrul Sangeet means "music of Nazrul", so again, these are songs written and composed by Kazi Nazrul Islam, who was the national poet of Bangladesh.

It is said that he composed 4000 songs!

We are going to listen to "O Mon Romzaner Oi Rozar Sheshe", a popular Bengali Islamic song for Eid-ul-Fitr. 

Here is a quote from Wikipedia: "Nazrul's musical style is characterized by revolutionary mass music, which played a significant role during the Indian Independence Movement and the Bangladesh Liberation War. These songs feature strong, provocative words and captivating tunes that challenge conservatism and address broader philosophical and spiritual dimensions of life." I am not sure who wrote the article on Bangladesh music, but it is really well-written.

"Additionally, Nazrul pioneered the Bengali Ghazal around 1927-28, blending the Persian tradition of love songs with Bengali music, which served as the first major introduction of Islamic themes into mainstream Bengali musical tradition. His ghazals remain a distinctive innovation solely attributed to him."

18 genres of folk that mentioned on Wikipedia!

Baul is a genre of folk music, and Lalon (poet and musician) is a very good example of it.

Fakir Lalon Shah wrote a lot of songs (between 2000 - 10000 is the claim, but only 800 are considered authentic). His music was learned orally, but then some of his followers transcribed it. His work inspired musicians even nowadays.

Another quote from Wikipedia, because I want to: "His music is characterized by simple yet deeply moving language that addresses day-to-day problems while aiming to describe an indescribable reality beyond materialism."

So, the origin of this song is perhaps the following: Both Hindus and Muslims wanted to claim his affiliation with their faith, so he wrote this song.

Sob Loke Koy Lalon Ki Jaat (Everyone Wonders What is Lalon's Faith)

Here is the translation of some of it:

Everyone wonders, "What's Lalon’s faith?"

Lalon says, "I've never ' seen' the face

of faith with these eyes of mine!"

Circumcision marks a Muslim man,

what then marks a Muslim woman?

A Brahmin I recognize by the Holy thread;

how do I recognize a Brahmin-woman?

Khachar Bhitor Achin Pakhi (The Unknown Bird Inside the Cage)

Here is the translation.

Barir kache arshinagar (the city of mirrors behind my home)

Here is the translation.

Another song (not from Lalon) in the genre of Baul is Kalo jole kuchla tole.

Our last song from Baul is a joking song  "Mobile Phoner Mastani", which shows that Baul artists still write about day-to-day challenges and philosophize about modern problems.

I translated some of the lyrics using ChatGPT.

"The rowdiness of the mobile phone,

Oh, I know your traits inside out! (0:33)

The rowdiness of the mobile phone,

Oh, I know your traits so well! "

Pop

After the end of Bangladesh War of Independence (a conflict between Bangladesh and East Pakistan that ended in independence of Bangladesh), more of the Bangladeshi music started to incorporate Western pop.

We will play a song by Azam Khan, who is a "pop samrat" (emperor of pop) of Bangladesh.

Did you know that George Harisson and Ravi Shankar have an album "The Concert for Bangladesh"? We will play one song from it.

Hip-Hop/Rap

We will play an awesome song by Bangladeshi-American hip hop group, Stoic Bliss.