Andre Arzoo
“The HayEli Project is for every
Hay person who is not afraid of reality and is
willing to look themselves in a mirror. The
Armenian People certainly deserve to know
the truth. It is the truth that is going to set
you free. This project is the art of telling the
truth,” (http://www.hayeli.com)
I heard about this group for the first
time in 2007 when I accidentally came across
their ‘Hayer’ music video on YouTube. Since
then, I’ve been keeping pace with their album
releases, ‘The love of my settlement, cut off
from my fatherland’ and ‘Sapon’, and with
their provocative yet unveiling music videos.
The project is based on raising crucial
questions and sparking much needed
controversy about Armenian identity and
Armenian issues, both inside the Republic of
Armenia and the Diaspora, in today’s trying
world where politics and everyday life have
clouded such thought and questioning. HayEli
Project does an astounding job in challenging
Armenian related social and economic
questions that today’s generation faces, such
as inter-racial marriage, the drive for selfenrichment
and material gain, and the recent
political crisis and turmoil in Armenia.
The project’s first album, ‘The love
of my settlement, cut off from my fatherland’,
begins by explicitly breaking down the content
of the album, “These songs are unfamiliar,
they are unknown to your ears. They are not
of Baku nor of jazz. Don’t be surprised while
listening,” continuing with warnings to the
listener that if the individual is not interested
in controversy and with music outside of the
social norm, then simply put, don’t listen.
In this album, the project points
out how ridiculously convenient it is for
Armenians with no talent or cultural influence
to become “well known” and “successful”
artists, mentioning the singer Andy, while at
the same time pointing fun at “rabiz” artists
and their pessimistic views on life. It may be
easy to react negatively towards such
opinionated music; however, I think the
project is right in its criticism of modern
Armenian music for its lack of authenticity
and influence of truly traditional Armenian
music, though this is subjective. The project
does, however, sympathize with some modern
Armenian artists such as Aram Asatryan, his
contributions to Armenian music, and the
gossip and tragedy that surrounded his life.
As mentioned earlier, the song
‘Hayer’ is also recorded on this album, which
is an aspiring song about the geopolitical status
of the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian
Diaspora. “Your grandfather is Turkish-
Armenian, your father Persian-Armenian,
grandmother from Karabakh, mother from
Ararat, you from Hollywood, born in Russia,
raised in Beirut, buried in Yerevan.” The song
discusses the reality of a people who have
been scattered throughout the world as a result
of centuries of persecution, deportation,
Genocide, revolution, and foreign domination.
The song goes on to mention the people who
have seen the rise and fall of empires such as
that of Rome, the Ottomans, and the Soviets,
and who have been subjugated under these
powers only to outlast them in the end with
subjacent losses and tragedy through each
experience.
It highlights to what extent such a
history and timeline of persecutions has
affected the identity of Armenians, “You know,
your grandchildren do not understand you, and
tomorrow your children won’t recognize
you…when you come home years later, you
walk as a tourist in your own home,” from
working abroad to support your family, which
is an overwhelming case for many Armenian
families in numerous countries today. The song
also goes on to stress such important points
as marrying within the Armenian race in times
where the Armenian population is in a
dramatic decline and where expatriation has
had a staggering increase for decades, the more
prevalent habit of Armenians praising and
holding dearly onto their lives in foreign lands,
and pointing out the territorial destruction
and reduction of the Armenian homeland.
Equally as important, the song also
highlights the attitude many Armenians have
towards such issues, either purposely ignoring
them and staying ignorant of them, or even
worse: accepting them as an inevitable reality
and continuing on with their lives in their
pursuit of self-enrichment and individualprosperity.
“Enjoy yourselves like pigs, eat
and be full, hide and burry your dirty works,”
arguing that Armenians are only “lying to
[themselves] in other people’s lands,” with
their insufficient excuses and sayings, “what
Armenia? We have no fault of our own, what
can we do that Armenia has no master?”
The most recent works of the
project, however, have been related to the
Armenian Presidential elections of 2008, the
protests and political turmoil that followed,
and the tragic events of March first, where
several Armenians fell victim to political
violence. The song ‘Armenian Elections’
covers an array of issues centered within the
political sphere in Armenia and the toll these
issues are taking upon the citizenry. In this
song, the project criticizes the government
of the Republic of Armenia, newly “elected”
President Serzh Sargsyan, and its former
presidents, warning them of their undoing and
of the rising of the masses in protest of the
republic’s questionable governance and tactics.
The main issue, however, is of the
popularly accused fraudulent president
elections of February 2008, which positioned
Sargsyan as the new President of Armenia,
which many Armenians argue was just another
“technicality” in the continuation of canisterruling:
“From where did you bring that mafia
and tie them around our necks like
snakes?...You closed the eyes of 5,000 with
no questions asked, through your own strength
you grabbed onto power and elected yourself.”
The song also declares that the current
government under Sargsyan cannot hold onto
its power any longer and that after it declared
20 days under the ‘State of Emergency’, the
government will see the end of its rule.
The project distinguishes its
opinion and criticism as neutral, separating
its support from both the authorities and the
political opposition, which is significantly
represented by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the first
President of Armenia after independence from
the Soviet Union, whom many accuse of bribing
the political corruption and crisis of the last
two decades into Armenia under his rule as
president (1989-1998); “I don’t praise one
or the other, I look at the complaints of the
people. Why don’t they [the people] yell
‘Serzh – wonderful job!’ or ‘Levon get lost –
do not be elected!’?” The project goes on to
argue that if the elections were legitimate,
and if Sargsyan was fairly elected, then why
did the government not stay silent and instead
bring in the armed forces to suppress
demonstrators?
In the project’s second politically
related song, ‘March first’, the group brings
to reality the consequences of political
corruption and civil dissidence, all as the results
of the February presidential elections. In this
song, the group stresses the seriousness of the
events of March first and criticizes former
President Robert Kocharian for unleashing
armed forces against the citizenry, in which
later he would go onto national television to
defend as “necessary” to protect his service
men from the “violence” of the crowds. The
group reminds listeners of the times where
Armenia was under the rule of Soviet
dictatorship and compares the Presidencies
of Kocharian and Serzh Sargsyan to that of
Stalin: “Stalin has been born again! Did you
see? He has returned again! Do not go outside,
do not speak amongst yourselves, Stalin has
returned, he has returned once again!”
The song goes on to criticize the
opposition leader, Levon Ter-Petrosyan, for
his questionable absence during the violence
of March first, and goes on to accuse the
Armenian Revolutionary Federation, an
Armenian political party who supports the
current regime, of staying quiet and not
questioning the government for taking on
political prisoners, especially since the ARF
itself fell victim to such political tactics back
in 1994 when then President Levon Ter-
Petrosyan arrested party members and
eventually banned the party altogether. Also,
in the music video, the group reveals the
beatings, shootings, arrests, and intimidations
that took place on March first and following
the elections. The song closes with warnings
of future civil dissidence and political upheaval
in a country where un-tiresome political
corruption and abuse is increasingly becoming
unacceptable by the Armenian population, the
end result being the government’s demise.
Overall, these two pieces by the
project are an excellent and crucial example
of political protest in the form of musical
expression, while at the same time bringing
consciousness of dire issues and conflicts to
the average Armenian listener.
HayEli project is a result of growing
Armenian intellect and consciousness of
social, political, and economic issues that are
intertwined with the life and identity of every
Armenian. This group covers all spheres of
Armenian life through music and videos,
highlighting significant problems that
Armenians everywhere face, problems that
not everyone openly and comfortably admits,
discusses, or questions. This is the type of
critical thinking and artistic expression that
our generation lacks. It is not through pop
music and incoherent lyrics, retro and urban
lifestyles, or materialism, in which we as a
people will intellectually develop and grow in
our own national and ethnic identity.
Although I know that through this
article in no way could I introduce or describe
this group and its works with true justice,
however, I hope that this will introduce
something new into your lives as Armenians
and bring to light issues that you previously
did not ponder or question. Albums can be
found at most Armenian Record stores in the
Los Angeles area and in Armenia.
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