Shayan (Farzana Wahid)
Shayan | |
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| Background information | |
| Native name | সায়ান |
| Birth name | Farzana Wahid Shayan |
| Born | 2 September 1976 Montreal, Canada |
| Genres | Contemporary |
| Occupation(s) |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2008–present |
Farzana Wahid Shayan (Bengali: ফারজানা ওয়াহিদ সায়ান, born 1976) is a Bangladeshi musician, singer, lyricist, poet, music composer and a human rights worker based in Dhaka.
Early life[edit]
Shayan has been singing since she was about ten or twelve years of age. Despite belonging to a family where almost everyone was connected to music – amongst whom her father Khasru Wahid; her paternal uncle Ferdous Wahid (the pop star of the 80s the 90s); and her cousin Habib Wahid are the most popular ones – but her musical foundation was substantially shaped by her maternal family where musicality was an everyday phenomena, although no one pursued it as a profession. In spite of such advantages, she did not tread upon the predictable musical path her other family members did, a contrast which vividly reflects in her musical efforts, and from the very beginning her music genre has been an unconventional, philosophical and lyric oriented one.[1]
One of the most distinguished features of Shayan is that, she writes her own lyrics and composes tunes for them herself. And in this journey, her younger brother Ershad Wahid; who is her musical soul buddy, is the first listener of most of Shayan’s songs and does all her music arrangements since 2009. Till date, together they do many project's to proliferate awareness on different social issues. Moreover, the poet's musical affinity is much deeper with her paternal uncle – Faruk Wahid, who is a violin teacher and a devotee of Indian classical music, art and culture.[2]
Shayan wants to credit her mother the most whose musicality influenced Shayan rigorously and exposed her to various kinds of melodies as a child. It was her mother who used to practise music at home and sitting next to her quietly and listening to those sessions, Shayan received the most important wisdoms of her life as she refers to. Evidently, it was also a single mother’s life long struggle which inspired the singer to write those experiences in the form of her lyrics.[2]
Career[edit]
Shayan never received her licence to practise Law but worked as a tutor in different law academies in Dhaka and also has worked with several law firms as a junior assistant for more than a decade, merely to have a decent earning. From that point on, she was completely engrossed in music. The experiences she had gathered while working in the law field had a profound role to play in her song writing. The singer had deliberately avoided the court, as she considered the work of a lawyer a full time job and being a full time musician that would not have been possible for her. Beside her musical struggles, Shayan needed to have a backup profession to support herself, because like any other musician in Bangladesh, she too was dubious about making a career in music that would provide a comfortable living.
Since her childhood, Shahnaz Rahmatullah was Shayan's idol in music. In those days, being able to sing like the famous singer was the only aim in her life. At a tender age of fourteen, she had begun trying her hand in writing her own lyrics and composing her own music. As a teenager, she used to write songs which were primarily about love affairs. But as she was inching towards her adolescence her perspective had also started to mature up and she began writing songs about life in general – especially after she had turned twenty five. The years she spent in Canada (1997– 2001), the young singer got to experiment with lyrics and attempted to write on different themes, drifting away from the realm of love songs.[3]
First album[edit]
In 2008, Shayan published her first album ‘Shayaner Gaan’ under the music banner – Gaanpoka, which was formed by her friends, followed by a struggle of seven years.[3]
Second album[edit]
Shayan's 2nd release was in the year 2009[1] with two CDs titled, Abar Takiye Daakh and its second part Shopno Amar Haat Dhoro.
Social activities[edit]
Since the very beginning of her career, the musician has been working closely with different kinds of human rights organizations. Via her songs, she has been contributing in our society to change it for betterment and to elevate the awareness level amongst the masses. She had been working in collaboration with many government and non-government organizations by voicing her thoughts on different social issues.[4]
Influences[edit]
Shayan finds life to be her first teacher, muse and motivation. Notwithstanding that, she admits her debt of knowledge to some of the most renowned global musicians from the yesteryear as well as from the present music scene, such as: Shahnaz Rahmatullah, Lata Mangeshka, Kishore Kumar, Hemonto Mukherjee, Nikhil Banerjee, Rabindronath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Buddadeb Basu, Shumon Chattapaddhyay, Bhupen Hazarika, Farida khanum, Mehdi Hassan, Bob Dylan, Tracy Chapman and Leonard Cohen only to name a few who have had a tremendous impact on her musicality.
She writes, tunes and sings her own songs which she considers a life saving practice from a very early age and prefers to sing with a purpose she discerns more constructive and rewarding. The musician writes topic based songs as a part of her passion and profession, and she gathers her muse from the life she leads and the characters she is surrounded by. The topics of her songs usually revolve around random tales from her personal life, feminism, child rights, patriotism, humanity, compassion, youth spirit and mental health which she interprets in her own terms. Her songs are intended to convey a plea or prayer and a protest to her fellow people she sings to and She prefers to label her songs as 'Pro-life Songs'.[1]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Kṣōbha ō mamatāra gāna" ক্ষোভ ও মমতার গান [Anger and grave music]. Prothom Alo (in Bengali). Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 NTV Entertainment (2017-12-07), Taaza Chayer Adda | Episode 46 | Guest : Sayan & Shimu, retrieved 2018-06-04
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Jībanēra nānā raṅēra anubhūti niẏē āmāra gāna: Sāẏāna" জীবনের নানারঙের অনুভূতি নিয়েই আমার গান : সায়ান [My song about the different colors of life: Shyan]. banglanews24.com (in Bengali). Retrieved 2018-06-29.
- ↑ "Sacētanatā tairitē sāẏāna" সচেতনতা তৈরিতে সায়ান [Shyan to create awareness]. Kaler Kantho (in Bengali). Retrieved 2018-06-29.
Further reading[edit]
- "'Shayaner Gaan': A breakthrough album". The Daily Star. 2008-05-24.
- "Shayan: In a league of her own". The Daily Star. 2010-01-02.
- "Shayan Singer & Lyricist". 21st Anniversary Supplement. The Daily Star. 2012.
- "'Collective efforts can culminate in bringing positive change'... Shayan". The Daily Star. 2014-03-08.
- "'Hello, I am nobody'". The Daily Star. 2014-11-29.
- "Shayan writes new songs for May Day". The Daily Star. 2016-05-01.
External links[edit]
- Shayan's Blog: http://shayanerkotha.blogspot.com
- Shayaner Gaan (YouTube Link): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrfKfWZsBSy46H_6_LmA9lQ
- Bondhu68 (YouTube Link): https://www.youtube.com/user/Bondhu68
- "The songs of life | Farzana Wahid Shayan". TEDxDhaka. 2015-03-02.
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