Mabel Matiz and Cultural Lines in His Music Videos

Posted on June 26, 2020  •  5 minutes  • 895 words

Fatih Karaca, or with his stage name Mabel Matiz is a Turkish musician and song writer. “Crimson On My Handkerchief” (Mendilimde Kırmızı Var), “Your Colored Hair” (Boyalı Da Saçların), and “Oh, Darling” (A Canım) music videos are going to refer in the post.

Mabel Matiz - Crimson On My Handkerchief (Mendilimde Kırmızı Var) feat. Siber Gürsoy

The video is filmed in Turkey’s Adıyaman Province. It reflects a messenger’s mission to deliver a mail between two lovers that divided by mountains in old times. Nemrut Mount is seen in the video. We also see a point about Sufism .

The Tumulus of Mount Nemrut has been discovered in 1881 and it is on the UNESCO World Heritage List . King Antiochus I of Commagene's was built statues of Gods, such as Zeus, Heracles, and his own in 62 BCE, Hellenistic period.

Lyrics

There’s crimson on my handkerchief
Did you not see my tears
I burned up, I blazed, beloved
If you’d brought water, would I still be on fire

Oh, how numbered days fly by
This burden must be borne
Written words remain, spoken words take wing
May my heart lament

Give back, give back my dreams
Reality is agony
Can my heart endure not seeing its desire
Let it see again and again

Hyacinth petals in my handkerchief
My soul aches, the nightingale weeps
Who can bear to be apart from their beloved
The nightingale’s solace is the rose

Mabel Matiz - Your Colored Hair (Boyalı Da Saçların)

This is one of the masterpieces of his music videos. The tale is about two lovers in an Anatolian village. In the beginning, the bride is seen as her hair is brushing by an elder woman, maybe her grandmother while two tears through their eyes, and a currycomb on a horse in a barn. The horse is an essential figure in Turkish cultural heritage. There is an amulet, Eye bead Nazar against the evil eye, on the head of the horse. Beauty and purity are the main themes in the first scenes.

Bride and her love are seen in the other scenes with happiness. His gift to the bride, a necklace, is her hands before her wedding. There are some peers of her that wedding ceremony and they wear traditional colorful clothes. On the other side of the story, the Bride and her love are having a traditional folk dance with Zeybeks . Both of them are sharing their happiness of wedding with neighbors and relatives. During that scene, we also see the singer.

After that, her love has left the bride for compulsory military service and leave her a letter on their secret location. On the wedding day, a jug fills in with coins and candies is cracked by the Bride. That is another tradition in Anatolia that believed to bring blessings to the new family. When she leaves home, the truth is revealing.

Oh, Darling (A Canım)

It is an iconic reflection of the arranged marriage situation. In Turkish culture, and it still has some roots till nowadays, the mother and her peers choose a bride for their sons. We see those mothers and they wear traditional costumes. That kind of clothes still chose by women in Anatolian cities, villages.

When they come to that situation groom’s house, firstly the landlord offers guests eau de cologne as a customary habit. Is there a point about hand sanitizer? Maybe.

During that visit, Turkish coffee has offered to guests within Turkish porcelain, may be made in Kutahya . After finishing them, of course, there will be coffee fortune-telling by a guest kinswoman.

Sezen Aksu ’s picture, one of the most influential Turkish artists, is seen in a scene.

There is another customary scene about the henna night of the bride. According to custom, there is a henna night before the wedding ceremony which only women invite to that night. During that night, the bride gets hennas in her palms. The habit is broom’s mother has to offer a gift, generally a piece of jewelry to open her palms. After that, henna painting her palms. At the end of the ceremony, the bride prays for the blessing of her wedding, and all of them dancing around the bride.

Lyrics

So upset with you
My emotions churning
Despising even myself
Demons and mind at war

If you feel, then spit it out
Will you drive me from house and home?
If it doesn’t flow, then I’m done
And gone without a trace

I’m only human, darling
My saz strings are made of clay
If only you’d lead me astray
You have no idea how we’re going up in flames

Love me, love me not
Where’s the passion?
Is the scale always tipped in your favor?
Even though you squander

If you feel, then spit it out
Will you drive me from house and home?
If it doesn’t flow, then I’m done
And gone without a trace

I’m only human, darling
My saz strings are made of clay
If only you’d lead me astray
You have no idea how we’re going up in flames

I came naked, fire all around
My mirror broke, will it see?
This beast, sweaty with love
Will it learn its lesson?

Thank you Mabel, for all your contribution to the Turkic Cultural Heritage.