Vahe H Apelian
A week ago, I translated Levon Sharoyan’s posting on his Facebook page he had titled “Everything is Over”. But I opted to title my translation as “Hyortik, is everything over, are we done for?”. (see the link below).
I opted to change the title of Levon Sharoyan’s posting because I was reminded of The Five Fingers band’s popular song by name, “Hyortik”.
According to Nairi dictionary, hyortik means the sons of Armenians, or Armenian by birth. Although strictly speaking it is gender specific, but we know that the Armenian language does not have different pronounces for males and females. Hyortik may be translated as “children of Armenians”, or “sons and daughters of Armenians”. I believe that is what The Five Fingers band had in mind when they came with their signature song “Hyortik” in late 1960’s or early 1970’s.
The Five Fingers band was made of a group of talented Armenian musicians. I hold Stepan Frounjian, a member of the band, its good will ambassador who continues to share his inordinate musical talent on Facebook from Racine, Wisconsin where he also serves the Armenian Apostolic Church as arch deacon.
I got to know more of the Five Fingers band because I translated Boghos Shahmelikian’s memoir of the band and of the Armenian pop music that suddenly burst onto the Armenian scene in late 1960’s. Boghos Shahmelikian was also a member of the band. Those interested to know about the band and the era may read my introduction of the book I translated with the help of my cousin Jack Chelebian MD. I will also post the link for that blog below.
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| The lyrics of Hyortik, courtesy Vahig Vartabedian |
The first sentence of the Hyortik lyrics addresses the “sons and daughters of Armenians who live far away”. The song urged them not to forget the Armenian language, but to speak it. It extolled them not to be assimilated, and in turn, teach the history of the Armenians to their children so that their children would also know “արժէքը հայերուն” (the value of the Armenians).
Who were the children of the Armenians who lived far away? Far from where?
It is hard to fathom now that that message was for the Armenian youth who lived “far away”, that is to say in the west, in the Armenian sense of West (Europe, Americas,....). It may also be hard to fathom now that they meant Armenians of their age who lived far from the Armenian community of the Middle East, especially in Lebanon and Syria that were regarded as the cradle of Diaspora Armenian culture. Living far from these communities posed a danger for losing the Armenian identity. The very notion of a free independent and democratic Armenia was not in their wildest imagination, like the rest of Diaspora, that could come in a quarter of century. In Diaspora, the Armenians in Lebanon lived in a cultural raccoon that Armenians in Constantinople, Tiflis lived at different times in our history. The Armenian communities of Lebanon, Syria, and to a certain degree those in the Middle Eastern countries were culturally safe and secure to perpetuate the Armenian culture and the GREAT DREAM that the Wilsonian Armenia exemplified. The concern was for the Armenians living “far away”.
The members of the Five Fingers were born and raised in that veritable Armenia that was the Armenian community of Lebanon. They felt safe and secure as Armenians. It is the state of the “Armenianness” of their brothers and sisters in those faraway lands that preoccupied and concerned them, and fired their youthful imagination. It is for them they composed their signature song, Hyortik.
But, little did they knew that in a few decades Armenia will become independent while the communities of Lebanon and Syria, experiencing politically seismic events, will come to the state that would compel Levon Sharoyan to titled his posting, “Everyhting is Over”.
After some vacillating I decided to share the following to end my reflection on the one-time popular song by the Five Fingers band. Those in Diaspora, who have something to say as to how best the elected government of Republic of Armenia should govern Armenia, or whether the citizens of Armenia are patriotic enough or not, or if the authorities are doing justice in their teaching of Armenian history or history of Armenia, have their priorities upended. Instead of mending our own yards in the Diaspora, the Diaspora leadership spent its resources by resorting to having a political say as how best the citizens of Armenia should mind their yard, instead of leading Diaspora mind its own yard. Obviously, the analogy is made as a matter of speech.
True that political events shook the social foundation of the Middle East and in doing so, shook the very foundations of the Armenian communities in Syria and in Lebanon. But, instead of attending to the needs of the Diaspora communities and preparing the worst that was inevitably to come, attention was shifted, resources were directed and diverted, emotions were heightened at the governance of the newly free, independent, and democratic Armenia to the neglect of the Diaspora. This shifting of priorities contributed immensely to bringing the Armenian communities in Syria and in Lebanon to their present deplorable state. Like anything else, there are those who are more responsible than others for the poverty stricken present state - both as poverty goes and also culturally - of the Armenian communities in Lebanon and Syria, the one time cradles of the Armenian Diaspora.
Quo vadis, Diaspora Armenians?
Indeed hyortick, is everything over, and are we done for in the Diaspora?
Links
1. Hyortik, is everything over, are we done for? – 1/2: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2024/08/hyortik-is-everything-over-are-we-done_11.html
2. Dawn of Armenian Pop Music: http://vhapelian.blogspot.com/2021/04/dawn-of-armenian-pop-music-primary.html
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