Yerevan
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(from the album taxidoscopio)
Yerevan, Armenia, April 2005, Invited by the ΑΝΒ avand-guard folk music club
Mount Ararat, perpetually snowy, towers above Yerevan.
On the cusp of Soviet, European and Asian culture, Armenia is gathering its pieces and stands on its own feet with the help of enlightened Armenian artists and wealthy Armenians of the diaspora. And while in Greece the drachma has been long replaced by the euro, it is still the national currency in Armenia.
Before we leave for the airport, we record the early morning sounds of the city.
In the streets of Yerevan
a town crier cried
His countries woes
carrying on his back
Black memories, distant scents
Pained words and musics
West and East
strangely Merge
under Ararat
Black Asian night
and everything is burning
in the heart of Chevac
In the streets of Yerevan
colorful bazaars
Armenia’s fate
played on dice
Aging buildings, ruins
Demolished symbols, statues
Asia and America
soviet mentality
in the mind of Chevak
Stifling heat
with a snowy peak
on mount Ararat
In the streets of Yerevan
cranes tower above
Euros and dollars
save face
New mores of the new God
Neon lights of capitalism
Poverty, wealth and opulence
strangely merge
under Ararat
Art and politics
and maybe a drachma will remain
in the purse of Chevak
Translated in English by Alexandra Alexandri
