10 Mayıs 2013
Geçtiğimiz hafta herhalde rüyamda görsem inanmazdım diyeceğim bir olaya oldu. Ataşehir Belediyesinin katkılarıyla ücretsiz halk dinletileri kapsamında eşim Belediyeden davetiye getirdi. Davetiyenin kapsamı 2 Mayıs gecesi Zübeyde Hanım Öğretmenevinde gerçekleştirilecek İdil Biret Konseri idi. Bir Devlet Sanatçısı olmasından öte bir Dünya Sanatçısı olması sebebiyle böyle bir ortamda bulunmak, araya mikrofon – hoparlör gibi aracılar girmeden doğrudan İdil Hanımın bastığı tuşların çıkardığı sesleri duyacak olmak beni fazlasıyla heyecanlandırdı. Küçük kızım Burçak okulda çalmakta olduğu pek çok enstrümana bu sene Yan Flütü eklediğinden, o da benim gibi heyecanlıydı. Aynı heyecanı Annem ve Vesamet Teyzem de fazlasıyla duymaktaydılar.
Saat sekizde başlayacak konser tam saatinde başlayıp Tchaikovsky’den eserler ile sanki beş dakika kadarmış gibi hissetsek de 1 saat kadar sürdü. Konser bitiminde İdil Biret, geldiği gibi dönüp arkasını sahneden ayrıldı ama bitmek bilmeyen alkışlar sayesinde geri dönerek beş dakikalık bir parçayı daha seslendirip konserini sonlandırdı.
Belediye Başkanımız Battal Bey, tabi yaptığı büyük işin bir parça kaymağını yemek üzere kendisini tekrar sahneye çıkartarak çiçeğini ve plaketini takdim etti. Dünya gözüyle böyle bir fırsatı yarattığı için Battal Beye ben de gıyabında plaketini takdim ettim. CHP Kadın Kollarının geçtiğimiz yılın Ramazanında Belediyenin katkılarıyla İlçe sakinlerine sunduğu Cami Ziyaretleri sebebiyle bazı kadınların “Elevidir, Melevidir ama İyi insandır” laflarını ben de candan desteklediğimi söylemeliyim.
Bundan sonraki hayatımda dahil olmak üzere herhalde katılmış olduğum konserlerin en tatmin edici ve önemlisinin bu olduğunun hakkını verip katılmış olduğum diğer konserlerden de bahsetmek isterim.
Lise yıllarımda, o zamanlar Telif Hakkı diye bir şeyin varlığı bilinmediğinden üstelik lise öğrencisinin kasete para vermeyeceği de düşünüldüğünden evimizde çokça dinlediğim bir albüm karması vardı.
Kasette “Pete Seeger” ve “Arlo Guthrie’nin” birlikte vermiş oldukları konserden parçalar vardı. “Guantanamera” ve “We shall overcome” adlı parçalara kulaklarımız daha bir aşina olduğundan Pete Seeger ismi daha tanıdık olsa da ben ince sesiyle Arlo’yu daha bir tutuyordum. Şansa bakın ki 1990 yılında yolumun düştüğü Amerika’nın Missouri eyaletinin St. Louis şehrinde Mastır-Doktora öğrenimi gören kuzenim Aziz’in evinde oturmakta iken Pazar günleri nedense ücretsiz olarak apartmana bırakılan gazeteye göz gezdirirken Missouri Eyaletinde gerçekleştirilecek Arlo Guthrie konserini gördüm. Konser yaklaşık 2 saat uzaklıkta bir yerde yapılacaktı. Bedava dağıtılan gazetenin Allahın bir hikmeti olduğunu düşünüp bu konsere gitmem gerektiğini anladım. Kuzenim Aziz hem hafiften Amerikan Folk diyebileceğimiz tarzın kendi tarzı olmadığını hem de okuldaki işleri sebebiyle kendisinin katılamayacağını ama gitmek istersem arabasını ödünç verebileceğini söyledi. Gazetedeki ilanın altındaki telefon numarasını arayıp konser için biletimi aldım ve konser günü akşamüstü arabayla yola çıktım. Elimde o zamanın en ileri yol gösterme aracı haritayı kullanarak yolda bir benzinciden yol tarifi de alarak konser salonuna geldim.
İçeri girdiğimde konsere gelen en aykırı kişi olarak ben görünsem de daha önce değil kendisini görmek, resmini bile görmemiş olduğum lise yıllarımın sesini, neredeyse hiç değişmemiş olarak karşımda gitarını çalarak görmek bana yapmış olduğum yolun yorgunluğunu unutturdu. Aynı İdil Biret konserinde olduğu gibi nasıl geçtiğini anlayamadığım yaklaşık 2 saatin sonunda zevkten dört köşe olmuş bir halde salonu terk ettim. Konserde söylemiş olduğu ve saçma bir hikâyeyi anlatan “Alice’in restoranı” adlı, daha önce muhtemelen yarım saati bulan süresi nedeniyle kasete eklenmemiş olan, söyleşi-meddah gösterisi şarkısını keyifle dinledim ve öğrendim. Daha sonra Türkiye’de televizyonlarda yayınlanan aynı şarkının filmini de saçmalığı sebebiyle yürek dayanmıyor ama ben hem ilk defa dinlemenin hem de aynı havayı teneffüs etmenin keyfiyle zevkle seyretmiştim.
(ilgilenenler için şarkıyı dinlemek için (tabi Arlo’nun güncel hali ile) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo)
şarkı sözleri de yazının altına ekledim)
Konser deyince aklıma hep Boğaziçi Üniversitesinde okurken, gece Yurtta kalmak üzere özel izin alıp kaldığım Rahmetli Barış Manço’nun konseri gelir. Keyifle izlediğimiz konser sonrası yurtta konserin dedikodusunu yaparken okulda okumakta olan Iraklı bir öğrenci bir şarkıyı anlamadığını söyledi. Her ne kadar gayet güzel Türkçe konuşabiliyorsa da “İşte Hendek İşte Deve” şarkısındaki Hendek’in ne manaya geldiğini anlayamamış. Biz önce Türkçe sonra İngilizce başlattık anlatmaya “Hendek” nedir diye. Ama adam Nuh diyor peygamber demiyor, bir türlü anlamıyordu. Biz çukur dedik anlamadı, delik dedik anlamadı. Ama nedense aniden “Haaaaa anladım” haykırışından sonra “Handekh” diyerek Arapçada da hendeğin aynı olduğunu anlayıp bizi bayağı bir güldürmüştü.
Herkese keyifle dinleyeceği konserler diliyorum.
Önceki Yazı “İleri saat“
Sonraki Yazı “Benzemez Kimse Sana“
This song is called Alice’s Restaurant, and it’s about Alice, and the
Restaurant, but Alice’s Restaurant is not the name of the restaurant,
That’s just the name of the song, and that’s why I called the song Alice’s
Restaurant.
Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on, two years ago on Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the Restaurant, but Alice doesn’t live in the restaurant, she lives in the Church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and Fasha the dog. And livin’ in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of Room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin’ all that room,
Seein’ as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn’t Have to take out their garbage for a long time.
We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it’d be A friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So We took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW Microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed On toward the city dump.
Well, we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across. Across the Dump saying, “Closed on Thanksgiving.” And we had never heard of a dump Closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.
We didn’t find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the Cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile Is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we Decided to throw ours down.
That’s what we did, and drove back to the church, had a thanksgiving Dinner that couldn’t be beat, went to sleep and didn’t get up until the Next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, “Kid, we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of Garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it.” And I said, “Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope Under that garbage.”
After speaking to Obie for about forty-five minutes on the telephone we Finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the Police officer’s station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the Shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the Police officer’s station.
Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie could’ve done at The police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for Being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn’t very likely, and We didn’t expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out And told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again, Which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer’s station There was a third possibility that we hadn’t even counted upon, and we was Both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said “Obie, I don’t think I Can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on.” He said, “Shut up, kid. Get in the back of the patrol car.”
And that’s what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the Quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts, where this happened here, they got three stop Signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars, Being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to Get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of Cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer’s station. They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and They took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each One was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach, The getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that’s not to Mention the aerial photography.
After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put Us in the cell. Said, “Kid, I’m going to put you in the cell, I want your Wallet and your belt.” And I said, “Obie, I can understand you wanting my Wallet so I don’t have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you Want my belt for?” And he said, “Kid, we don’t want any hangings.” I Said, “Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?” Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the Toilet seat so I couldn’t hit myself over the head and drown, and he took Out the toilet paper so I couldn’t bend the bars roll out the – roll the Toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie Was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice (remember Alice? It’s a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few Nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back
To the church, had another thanksgiving dinner that couldn’t be beat, And didn’t get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.
We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty-seven eight-by-ten Colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, sat down. Man came in said, “All rise.” We all stood up, And Obie stood up with the twenty-seven eight-by-ten colour glossy Pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing eye dog, and he Sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing eye dog, and then at the Twenty-seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing eye dog. And then at twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy pictures with circles And arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry, ‘Cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American Blind justice, and there wasn’t nothing he could do about it, and the Judge wasn’t going to look at the twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy Pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each One explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And We was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but that’s not What I came to tell you about.
Came to talk about the draft.
They got a building down New York City, it’s called Whitehall Street, where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected, Neglected and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one Day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. ‘Cause I wanted to Look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted To feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York, And I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all Kinds o’ mean nasty ugly things. And I walked in and sat down and they gave Me a piece of paper, said, “Kid, see the psychiatrist, room 604.”
And I went up there, I said, “Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I Wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and Guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill, KILL, KILL.”
And I started jumpin’ up and down, yellin’ “KILL! Kill!” and he started Jumpin’ up and down with me, and we was both jumpin’ up and down, yellin’ “Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!” and the sergeant came over, pinned a medal on me Sent me down the hall, said “You’re our boy”. Didn’t feel too good about it
Proceeded down the hall, gettin’ more injections, inspections, detections neglections, and all kinds of stuff that they was doin’ to me at the thing There, and I was there for two hours three hours four hours I was There for a long time goin’ through all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly things And I was just havin’ a tough time there, and they was inspectin’, Injectin’, every single part of me, and they was leavin’ no part untouched!
Proceeded through, and I finally came to see the very last man. I walked in, Sat down, after a whole big thing there. I walked up, and I said, “what do You want?” He said, “kid, we only got one question, have you ever been arrested?”
And I proceeded to tell him the story of Alice’s Restaurant Massacree with Full orchestration and five-part harmony and stuff like that, and other phenomenon
He stopped me right there and said, “kid, have you ever been to court?” And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty-seven 8 x 10 colored glossy Pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one. He stopped me right there and said, “kid, I want you to go over and sit down on that bench that says ‘Group W'”
And I walked over to the bench there, and there’s Group W is where they Put you if you may not be moral enough to join the army after committin’ Your special crime
There was all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly-lookin’ people on the bench there There was mother-rapers father-stabbers father-rapers! Father-rapers sittin’ right there on the bench next to me! And they was mean And nasty and ugly and horrible and crime fightin’ guys were sittin’ there On the bench, and the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one the meanest Father-raper of them all was comin’ over to me, and he was mean and Ugly and nasty and horrible and all kinds of things, and he sat down next to Me. He said, “Kid, what’d you get?”
I said, “I didn’t get nothin’. I had to pay fifty dollars and pick up the garbage.”
He said, “What were you arrested for, kid?” and I said, “litterin'”
And they all moved away from me on the bench there, with the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean, nasty things, till I said, “And creatin’ a nuisance” and they all came back, shook my hand, and we had a great time on the Bench talkin’ about crime, mother-stabbin’, father-rapin’, all kinds of groovy things that we was talkin’ about on the bench, and everything was fine
We was smokin’ cigarettes and all kinds of things, until the sergeant came Over, had some paper in his hand, held it up and said “Kids, this-piece-of-paper’s-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-
Know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing- You-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting- Officer’s-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say”
And he talked for forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he Said
But we had fun fillin’ out the forms and playin’ with the pencils on the Bench there
I filled out the Massacree with the four-part harmony. Wrote it down there Just like it was and everything was fine. And I put down my pencil, and I Turned over the piece of paper, and there on the other side in
The middle of the other side away from everything else on the other Side in parentheses capital letters quotated read the following words “kid, have you rehabilitated yourself?”
I went over to the sergeant. Said, “Sergeant, you got a lot of god-damned Gall to ask me if I’ve rehabilitated myself! I mean I mean I Mean that you send I’m sittin’ here on the bench I mean I’m Sittin’ here on the Group W bench, ’cause you want to know if I’m moral Enough to join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages after bein’ a Litterbug”
He looked at me and said, “kid, we don’t like your kind! We’re gonna send Your fingerprints off to Washington”!
And, friends, somewhere in Washington, enshrined in some little folder, is a Study in black and white of my fingerprints
And the only reason I’m singin’ you the song now is ’cause you may know Somebody in a similar situation
Or you may be in a similar situation, and if you’re in a situation like That, there’s only one thing you can do
Walk into the shrink wherever you are, just walk in, say, “Shrink, you Can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant”, and walk out
You know, if one person, just one person, does it, they may think he’s Really sick and they won’t take him
And if two people do it, in harmony, they may think they’re both faggots and They won’t take either of them
And if three people do it! Can you imagine three people walkin’ in, singin’ A bar of “Alice’s Restaurant” and walkin’ out? They may think it’s an organization!
And can you imagine fifty people a day? I said FIFTY people a day Walkin’ in, singin’ a bar of “Alice’s Restaurant” and walkin’ out? Friends They may think it’s a Movement, and that’s what it is the Alices’s Restaurant anti-massacre movement! And all you gotta do to join is to Sing it the next time it comes around on the guitar
With feelin’
You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant
Walk right in, it’s around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice’s restaurant
CUMAYAZILARI 