Ömür Varol, a commentator for the pro-gov’t Beyaz TV, argued on Friday that due to its lyrics and name, Turkey’s iconic pop singer Sezen Aksu’s newest song “Manifesto” could be a call for a second coup attempt in autumn.
According to Varol, the song “Manifesto” brings to mind the word “memorandum,” which is generally issued by military officers in the aftermath of a military coup.
During a live TV show on Friday, Varol also analyzed the lyrics and a clip from the song.
The TV commentator mostly focused on these two lines: “The wind is blowing backwards again, oh we have a harsh autumn ahead of us” and then claimed that the singer may be signaling a second coup attempt in fall.
Here is the English translation of Sezen Aksu’s “Manifesto”:
Why is everyone so serious
Unread books but hardback
Straight, straight faced people
Locked deep down in their hearts
Neither a smile nor a good morning
Naturally there are lots of cases on the 3rd page
All the news is breaking news, shock, shock
Life despite everything right now
To make them say that we’re alive
To make them love us much
Oof
Lol lol
Come on come here party party
Lol lol
Come on bring love to heel, love love
Lol lol
Come on why is this war, war
Long live life
That’s the manifesto
The wind is blowing backwards again
Oh we have a harsh autumn ahead of us
Oof
Lol lol
Come on come here party party
Lol lol
Come on bring love to heel, love love
Lol lol
Come on why is this war, war
Long live life
That’s the manifesto
Why is everyone so serious
Unread books but hardback
Straight, straight faced people
Locked deep down in their hearts
The game garden inside of us
It is neither decorated nor painted nor has it a mask
Come on close your eyes and dream on
Lala lala a scene of a funfair
The wind is blowing backwards again
Oh we have a harsh autumn ahead of us
Oof
Lol lol
Come on come here party party
Lol lol
Come on bring love to heel, love love
Lol lol
Come on why is this war, war
Long live life
That’s the manifesto!
This is not the first time a singer has been accused of composing a “coup song.”
Columnist Bayram Zilan from the pro-government Milat daily argued in October 2016 that Turkey’s iconic pop singer Tarkan’s song “Cuppa” could have been composed for the July 15 coup attempt, saying that the song’s name would have been changed from “Cuppa” to “Cunta,” a Turkish word that corresponds to “junta, if the coup attempt had been successful.”
“The fact that a composer like Sezen Aksu, whose songs tug at our heartstrings, comes up with this sort of hollow song is a bit strange. Yet, what is even stranger is that this song was released one day before the coup attempt, July 14. Don’t you think it is a bit strange for a person like Sezen Aksu coming up with this sort of cheap song? Don’t you think that it’s a bit strange that a megastar like Tarkan, who turns down tens of lyrics offered him by many composers, sings this hollow song?” Zilan wrote in his column.
“İf the coup had been successful, would the Fethullahist junta have turned the word ‘Cuppa’ into ‘Cunta’ [Junta] and then used the song as a ‘coup song’? Why was this song released on July 14 and not on July 15, 16 or 18? Sezen Aksu and Tarkan need to answer these questions,” Zilan wrote.
Tarkan’s “Cuppa” was composed by singer, songwriter and producer Sezen Aksu, who has sold over 40 million albums worldwide.
Here is the English translation of Tarkan’s “Cuppa”:
Hey everybody
Get up get up get up, come on don’t stop
Hey hey everybody
Hey hey hey
Don’t turn on the TV
Don’t look at the phone, either
How pathetic, how ridiculous
Just like it was the apocalypse
Everything is for sale
Roughness in hearts
Sleeping around
People are on flow
Cuppa cuppa cuppa
Cuppa and cuppa cuppa
Screaming and shouting out loud
Dance till the morning (x2)
Hey everybody
Get up get up get up, come on don’t stop
Hey hey everybody
Hey hey hey hey
Don’t step back, back (x6)
We are born to this system
Everybody upsets everybody else
Is that so? It’s not our business
A lot of swearing
Everyone breaks the other’s heart
For once, ask the one who resents it
Why is it that some go this way and some go that way
Everyone is on the run
Cuppa cuppa cuppa
Cuppa and cuppa cuppa
Screaming and shouting out loud
Dance till the morning (x2)
Hey everybody
Get up get up get up, come on don’t stop
Hey hey everybody
Hey hey hey hey
Don’t step back, back (x6)
There is no remedy for this, we will burn, too
We will get fooled by someone, too
[But] first, we will get down and more down
Of course we will get ourselves air, too (x2)
Cuppa cuppa cuppa
Cuppa and cuppa cuppa
Screaming and shouting out loud
Dance till the morning (x4)
Hey everybody
Get up get up get up, come on don’t stop
Hey hey everybody
Hey hey hey hey (x2).
(Turkey Purge)