She’s the shimmying “Qélé Qélé” singer who took Armenia all the way to fourth place at Eurovision 2008.
And late last year, Sirusho reminded us that she’s much more than than a dance diva with the release of her Armat album. Now she’s dropped the latest cut from the LP — “Der Zor”.
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Just like she did on her 2016 single “Mi Togh Indz Menak“, Sirusho sings of the Armenian Genocide — Der Zor being a city in Syria.
When you hear the song, you can feel the Armenian soul sweep over your body. Sung in a mixture of Armenian and English, the track’s tragic story is clear for all to understand.
Sometimes I think I can hear the crying of a million souls
I hear the heartbeat of a nation lost in deserts of Der Zor
I left my home far away
In a desert far away… (Dle Yaman)… A girl singsI’ve walked the silent road of terror, I’ve seen rivers full of pain
The roads of nowhere was the only path that I was forced to take
I left my home far away
In a desert far away
This time, Sirusho really is delivering something new and brave. She and her team crossed the border and went to a Turkish city called Kars, shooting the music video in Ani. Given the geopolitical climate in the region, that was something completely unexpected.
The video begins in a school garden in LA. Sirusho looks at pictures of the ruins of Ani and moves forward. She reflects on the past and the pain which happened near the border of Turkey and Armenia. “My grandfather told me not to forget my past, my home and my Armenian name”, she says.
Sirusho Der Zor (Official Music video)
And that’s not all. Sirusho kept all the behind-the-scenes footage from the “Der Zor” video clip, and used it to create a special documentary, also called Der Zor. You can watch it below.
Sirusho Der Zor (Documentary)
What do you think of Sirusho’s latest work? Let us know in the comments below or react using the wiwibloggs app.
Photo: Screenshots via Sirusho/YouTube
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Our one and only Sirusho. I just want to express my gratitude to you as you are not only a singer who always cares about her recognition and celebrity, but also you always indicate how much patriotic everyone should be. You have proved that we all Armenians are very related to out history and roots. And It’s very exciting to see a video clip about Armenian Genocide shot in the Armenian land( Kars, Ani). Big thanks from whole Armenians to you for what you do. We love and are always willing to support you. ??????
Do not forget how fans both in Turkey and Azerbaijan shouted out “Allahu Akbar” while being required to moan the memory of victims at Paris terror attacks at local stadiums. They have stuck in their plans to build up a new Ottoman Empire and critisise people who stand together for justice.
ErvinSass and RedRainbow you are stupid, both of you.
@fjannel – Like I said. She only has done two songs on the subject. So 2/30+ music videos and 2/100+songs does not constitute “coming back every year” with the same stuff.
Steve you should stop getting LSDs, its affecting you in the bad way obviously.
Calum down, haters. It is an easy way to tell everybody to forget the slaughter of a nation, so that you bear no responsibility. Erdogan nowadays repeats his tales to erase Armenians an drew Azerbaijan beheaded 100 Armenian soldiers last year. Azerbaijan did the same slaughter in 1988 in Baku. Azerbaijan and Gurkey want to get united into one country an drew Armenia is just in the middle. They wana create a new Ottoman Empire. And Turks pretending to be peaceful have one thing in mind; it is to take over while Europe and create a chaliphate. They know that… Read more »
Ron, she makes a song about it, OK i got it. But coming with the same topic every year is not looking innocent to me, she is abusing it , its just a cheap PR.
@Moonlight – I understand where you are going with the whole forget the past and move on thing, but it’s really hard to do when literally almost every Armenian family has a relative or someone they know who was brutally murdered and a 100 years has passed and there has been no prosecution or recognition of those tragic events. I am speaking from a personal experience. My great-grandfather’s whole family was murdered in a matter of days. So, it really bothers me when people say “just forget it”. No, you shouldn’t forget it. You should fight to make sure that… Read more »
@fjaanel – clearly you haven’t heard her other songs that were released recently or post Eurovision. She literally did two songs on the Armenian genocide – this and Where were you?
@James
How a singer’s career can only be about just one event? Every year she comes up with the same story. Don’t you ever think may she abuse that matter?
I don’t think a box is a good metaphor, perhaps a picture frame that hangs on the side of your living room wall.
And unless you or your family have been personally affected by such a tragedy, you won’t know how they are dealing with the pain.
I actually found it healthy for Sirusho to channel her feelings of this event through music.To jsut let it out instead of keeping it in will give you a sense of ease and make the pain hurt a little less.
As painful as the past can be for a lot of people, historical events like this should never be forgotten. “Moving on” is never that simple.
Wounds may heal but scars will be there as reminders for succeeding generations, not just Armenians but to the rest of the world, to not only to remember but also learn from this harrowing experience and other similar others (Rwandan suicide, the current Syrian conflict, etc.) in order to make a world a much better place to live in the future.
They are just sooo dramatic. Seriously they are like out of this world, there are so much problems in the world atm, people are dying/suffering and yet armenians are stuck in history. The whole drama makes me just think that the main goal is to make people hate turks and that’s bad because the world needs LOVE in this time. Enough is enough.
Turk here! Okey, so our ancestors did something out of mind that none would have approved today. But that doesn’t mean you have to splash it where ever you go! I am being completely objective, stop coming to Eurovision with this genocide every effin year, damn, you bore all of us.
@Gohkan – beautifully written article. I know this is a very painful subject for Armenian people, rightfully so and I know this is a tough subject among Turkish people to publicly speak about, but I’m happy that you have chosen to cover this story.