"Tusen Tegninger"
I’ve always been a big fan of Karpe Diem, if I recall correctly I’ve been bumping their tunes since the “Glasskår” EP from all the way back in 2004 (Time flies, I’m getting old…). Needless to say, I was rather euphoric when it came to their new release, “Aldri solgt en løgn”, which by my standards proved yet again why Magdi and Chirag are thus far unchallenged within the realms of Norwegian rap.
Introductions and an otherwise awesome track listing aside, the song I’d like to spotlight today is “Tusen Tegninger”, which has received a fair amount of attention in the media lately. I’m not going to be THAT guy, and I say I’m extremely cool because I was ahead of the curve and loved the song from the moment I could get a hold of it (I did). I feel that due to the fact that the song now has a beautiful video (mcsinghfilm.com, much respect to you!) accompanying and making the song more accessible for some of the more lyrically impaired of the recipients, paired up with the recent chaotic happenings in Egypt makes this as good of a time as ever to bring it up.
If you expect me to take some stand in the latter matter, you need not read any further, as I do not possess enough insight to support any opinion, I just hope it all pans out in an eventually peaceful and constructive manner for the people of Egypt. I can’t express how moved I was by seeing the picture above, to me this basically sums up the things I hope mankind can embrace, a love for the next man, regardless of his color, faith or belief. So many have said it before me, it’s just funny how we refuse to evolve and rather indulge in fear and hatred just because we don’t share. Share information, share moments, share conversations, just any form of interaction helps an awful lot. Like the picture above, where Christians showed up in great numbers to protect their fellow men during their prayers, who were of Muslim faith. The shrewd part in this context is that something like this even can be a rare and moving sight; it should be a natural thing derived from all religion standings in regard to the supreme importance of human life, and love for one’s next.
I will probably forever have this image on my mind when I listen to this song, and especially the line:
“Men brorskapet er ikke lenger mellom de som tror på det samme/ Har en bror som er Hindu, og det handler om å godta at andre har en mor som / og kanskje en far som lærte dem noe annet /om livet, som at himmelen er et mål og livet kanskje en casting/”
I consider myself an agnostic, which is basically a reservation from conforming to one belief; I’m just convinced that a higher entity or power exists. I refuse to name this given phenomenon, and I will not live according to any book or scripture, I’m more concerned with the concept that human kind has to educate itself, and if we can’t get along with each other, we can’t get along with ourselves. But I’m not here to elaborate in my personal matters, they are however quite relevant in consideration to the text I lay before you, as matter of opinion is alpha and omega in this context. The beautiful part is being able to enjoy tunes and text so free of preconceived notions and ethnocentrism that people of all persuasions and faiths can relate and support the message conveyed. When Mike mentioned in an earlier post a homie who called this the most important song in Norwegian hiphop in a long time, it was me who uttered those words. I have yet to meet an individual who doesn’t like this song, and you have to be plain downright stupid or blatantly oblivious to all impressions rendered to ignore the message in this song. I’ll be straight and honest, and say that I was teary eyed the first time I heard it, sitting on the bus choking on an ocean of feelings, something I still do to this day. It summons a cacophony of sensations I can’t really describe, but the main point is that it constantly revitalizes my belief in my fellow men, a reassurance that it’s okay to be different and still love without hesitation. Magdi never really says something we haven’t heard before, but the beautiful part is how he reminds us what truly matters, and how the unimportance of certain things sadly enough sometimes shadows the magnitude of humankind’s essence. No man is an island, yet too many of us act like dictators.
I’m afraid I can’t do this song enough justice, as I hardly believe some random post on an otherwise awesome blog could ever justify or rightfully portray the immense effect of this song, how it manages to empathize Magdi’s story so that we can feel all the issues connected to it. But on that note I’ll take my leave, as I can’t force you to like it, but I will however feel sorry for you if you don’t. Don’t blame the fact that you don’t like Karpe (you lame) or that you don’t like religion or whatever stupid excuse you want to put forth to belittle the fact that you should be ready to heavily defend that statement, you should be able to enjoy this regardless of musical preference or religious belief. I’m not even going to finish this one with any sly remarks or clever quotes, the only correct way to end this session will obviously be an embedded video provided by your favorite streaming-service.
Sensei Rydis gets teary eyed by this song, even though he is the most masculine being ever to live.
