SEVDALINKA FAN AND POET SAFET KAFEDŽIĆ

If we wrote about composers who created their poems and songs after the model of the traditional Bosnian and Herzegovinian love song – sevdalinka, it would be wrong to omit the name of Safet Kafedžić. “Bosnian Yesenin” is the attribute that this great man was given during his life, because of his poems. He was one of our most fruitful authors, whose songs were recorded on millions of sound-recording mediums, from 1966 until his death, and even later. Since sevdalinka is distinguished by its being a creation of a folk author, the greatest reward for a poet and a composer is the fact that his creation has been adopted by people and when people recognize it as their own tradition they later identify with. It is the case with poems and songs of Safet Kafedžić. Many of them were written by this artist, and people adopted them as folk songs.

Safet Kafedžić was born in Sarajevo on 15 March 1910. He was a poet, playwright, essayist and humorist. Safet’s family name used to be Kahvedžić, but they changed it after the Second World War. He began to write poetry since his early youth. He was a member of Muslim Cultural and Educational Society “Gajretˮ. The society gathered many artists and intellectuals, including those who would later become doyens of sevdalinka such as Zaim Imamović, who collaborated with Kafedžić during the latter's life. Kafedžić's plays were performed in the National Theater in Sarajevo. His plays, monodramas and satires were permeated with Muslim folklore of Bosnia and Herzegovina. As Kafedžić's son Ahmed remembers, Safet was given high fees after the plays were performed, and he used to bring home bags full of money. Communists did not like such an activity and therefore Kafedžić was arrested in 1945 on the charge of aiding the occupiers. He was summarily sentenced to five years of maximum-security prison. His only misfortune was that his plays “Džafer-begov jeminˮ, “Po suncu ti meni hodioˮ and “Čaršijska poslaˮ were performed in the National Theater in Sarajevo during the rule of the infamous Independent State of Croatia. No musician, conductor, singer and actor of the Croatian National Theater in Sarajevo (not even any singer who sang at the Croatian Radio, which later became Radio Station Sarajevo) was arrested, and they later become prominent participants in the cultural life and recognized Yugoslav artists. Arrests were repeated in the following years as well. According to memories of Safet's son Ahmed, when partisans entered Sarajevo, they said that there would be no rich people any more. At that time, Safet happened to be nearby and asked them whether, in this case, everybody would be poor. Soon after this event, Kafedžić was arrested. Whatever Kafedžić began to do and if he earned a lot of money, he was arrested, since earnings were treated as a crime. On one occasion he was released from prison for good behavior. His wife and family members asked him what he was doing in prison, and he replied that he was preparing a theater play with inmates. His wife disapproved, saying that he had been arrested because of his writing. Safet told her not to worry, because he was in prison already. Arrests lasted until 1965, when he was finally let alone. Thus, he spent a total of twenty years in the communist prison.

Upon the release from prison, Kafedžić continued to write. It was the mature stage in his writing. After the destructive earthquake in Skopje in 1963, all bigger cities in Yugoslavia initiated a drive for aid to the victims. Thus, in 1973, a humanitarian concert was launched in Sarajevo, which would engender the idea of a festival which was to become the most prestigious festival of folk music in Yugoslavia, “Ilidžaˮ. The festival actively started from 1965, and a year later several songs by Safet Kafedžić were performed. Safet Isović sang the song “Kono, Fatoˮ, while Zaim Imamović performed songs “Kraj pendžera Jusuf stariˮ and “Oj, Ilidžoˮ. These songs became very popular. Song “Kraj pendžera Jusuf stariˮ was particularly noted:

Kraj pendžera Jusuf stari/kahvu srče, čibuk žari/gleda šeher-grad/i sjeća se davnih dana/onog vakta i zemana/kad je bio mlad./K'o jelen je nekad bio/konje jaho, vino pio/Jusuf soko siv/s djevojkama sevdisao/uz šargiju pjevat znao/kao niko živ./Oj, mladosti, zlatni dani/đulistane poharani/divan li si haj/Đulbeharo, ime slatko/Zehro, Šuhro, Lejlo, Hatko/vaj, sevdahu, vaj./Šta je život – dva koraka/od avlije do sokaka/kratak, kaljav put/šapće Jusuf mutna čela/niz bradu mu suza vrela/kaplje na dlan žut.

(Old Jusuf sips coffee by the window / smokes / looks at his beautiful city / and remembers olden days / the time when he was young. / He used to be like a deer / rode horses, drank wine / Jusuf a grey falcon / flirted with girls / could sing with shargia / as nobody else. / Oh, youth, golden days / devastated rose garden / aren't you beautiful. / Đulbehara, a sweet name / Zehra, Šuhra, Lejla, Hatka / oh. Love. / What is life – two steps / from the front yard to the street / a short, muddy road / Jusuf whispers with blurry mind / a hot tear drips down his chin / to the yellow palm.)

Ever since, the songs he wrote lyrics for were on the regular repertory of festivals “Ilidžaˮ and “Beogradski saborˮ. The songs often won first prizes. Besides festivals, many singers recorded his songs on their sound-recording mediums. There are almost no differences between the lyrics he wrote and those by folk authors. One of such lyrics is the noteworthy song “Safaˮ which was recorded by saz player Muhamed Mešanović – Hamić in 1973:

Sinoć sam ti, Safo, dvoru dolazio/na pendžeru tvome ružu ostavio/da okitiš njedra ljepša od jasmina/ako mene ljubiš, radosti jedina./Jutros kad te vidjeh, Safo, moja vilo/na njedrima tvojim ruže nije bilo/mjesto moga cvijeta, majci živa bila/kitio te zumbul komšije Halila./Safo, moja Safo, moj nevjerni druže/zar su ljepši, dušo, zumbuli od ruže/zar je tebi draži gavran od slavuja/i biseri lažni ljepši od dragulja.

(Safa, last night I came to your castle / I left a rose on your window sill / to adorn your bosom more beautiful than jasmine / if you love me, my only joy. / I saw you this morning, Safa, my fairy / there was no rose on your bosom / the place of my flower, my dearest / was adorned by a hyacinth of neighbor Halil. / Safa, my Safa / my unfaithful friend / are hyacinths more beautiful than a rose / do you prefer a raven over a nightingale / and false pearls over jewels.)

Safet Kafedžić belonged to Sarajevo elite. It was said that he never wore the same suit two days in a row. His daughter-in-law Fatima remembers him with piety and respect: “He expressed all his love through poems. He found the greatest inspiration by the river Mošćanica, in Faletići. A white cigarette-box of “Sarajevska Drina” was his notebook. Many sevdalinkas were born on these boxes. In our garden, where he also wrote, there was a sofa. Whatever I did around the house, I knew the routine for six o'clock in the evening: I would make coffee in a small pot and brought the pot and a cup to him. It was his favorite ˮ (Radio BIR, program “Iz sehareˮ, devoted to creations of Safet Kafedžić, 2012). Kafedžić often found inspiration for his poems in the neighborhood of Sedrenik. He would watch Sarajevo from there and it is where his most beautiful poems were written.

During his career he wrote and composed over 300 songs in the spirit of sevdalinka. He signed many of them with different pen names, and therefore their exact number cannot be established, while others experienced several different interpretations. His songs were published by Produkcija gramofonskih ploča Radio-televizije Beograd, Jugoton, Diskos, Diskoton and other recording companies. Kafedžić was a consummate artist. One should single out the project “Bosanski teferičˮ (Bosnian party), which gathered greatest names in the area of folk music and acting: Zaim Imamović, Safet Isović, Nada Mamula, Zumra Mulalić, Zora Dubljević, Salem Trebo, Zehra Deović, Rejhan Demirdžić, Nada Pani, Etela Pardo and Aleksandar Mićić. Through songs and verses, the long-play record “Bosanski teferičˮ showed the beauty of traditional folk get-togethers by the river Mošćanica in the past:

Nekad bilo, pjeva se i priča/i pjevaće dok je zemnog hlada/na Obhođi, naspram Faletića/iznad divnog Sarajeva grada/žela moba age Fazlagića/sto momaka, trista djevojaka/i pred njima Fazlagića Zlata/babin ponos, materina hvala/žela srpom od suhoga zlata/sama žela sama zapjevala/Mošćanice, vodo plemenita...

(Once upon a time, people sing and tell / and they will sing as long as there's shade on the Earth / at Obhođa, across Faletići / above beautiful city of Sarajevo / Aga Fazlagić's friends reaped / a hundred guys, three hundred girls / led by Fazlagić's Zlata / father's pride, mother's praises / she reaped with a sickle of pure gold / she reaped herself, she sang herself / Mošćanica, noble water ...)

One of the most successful Kafedžić's songs is “Oči moje, kletvom bih vas kleoˮ. It became popular when Safet Isović performed it and recorded it in 1986 for Sarajevo based company “Diskoton“, accompanied by the ensemble of Omer Pobrić. This song with a high erotic chare and romance experienced many performances. Here is only the first stanza:

Oči moje, kletvom bih vas kleo/što vas šejtan na ruke uzeo/pa gledaste kroz tarabu staru/šta mi radi kona na bunaru.

(My eyes, I would like to curse you / because the devil overtook you / and you looked through an old fence / what my neighbor does at the well.)

The song “U haremu Aziz Abdulahaˮ was immortalized by the performance of unrivalled Safet Isović:

U haremu Aziz Abdullaha/trista šeset i pet djevojaka/svaka djeva za tim danom žudi/kad je Aziz u godini ljubi./Fatima je najljepša od cura/uvijek sjedi kraj rumena đula/na njoj kaftan i jelek se trese/a kroz svilu njedra provide se./Sjajni mjesec za oblake stao/u lijepu se Fatu zagledao/pa joj ljubi i miluje grudi/pazi, jadan, da je ne probudi./Za sevdahom svaka žudi djeva/neljubljena koliko bi htjela/jedan poljub sa mednih usana/premalo je u godini dana/premalo je i svakoga dana.

(There are three hundred and sixty-five girls / in Aziz Abdullah's harem / each girl yearns for the day in the year / when Aziz will kiss her. / Fatima is the most beautiful girl / she always sits by a red rose / her cloak and vest shake / and her bosom can be seen through silk. / The bright moon hid behind clouds / and watched beautiful Fata / it kisses and caresses her breast / carefully, not to wake her. / Every girl yearns for love / not kissed as much as she wants / one kiss from sweet lips / is too little in a year / it is too little even in a day.)

Safet Kafedžić songs were performed by the most renowned performers of folk music in Yugoslavia: Zaim Imamović, Safet Isović, Beba Selimović, Zehra Deović, Nedeljko Bilkić, Nedžad Salković and many others. Kafedžić collaborated with many composers. He was a long-time associate of Radio Sarajevo. He was active until his death. He died on 7 February 1983. He was buried at Sarajevo cemetery.

Sarajevo and Bosnia and Herzegovina have not paid proper respects to this prominent artist and the great name of our folk music. Unfortunately, there is no street in Sarajevo which bears the name of this artist, who significantly enriched our music tradition.

Safet Kafedžić's lyrics were performed by the most famous sevdalinka interpreters.

References

• Ovčina, Mirsad, program “Iz sehareˮ, devoted to creations by Safet Kafedžić, Radio BIR, 2012.