ADRIAN FLORIDO, HOST:
On his song "Embrasse Moi," the musician Navan sings about a farewell kiss.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMBRASSE MOI (MARA BEBOOS)")
NAVAN: (Singing in French).
I was home, and I was cooking with my mom in the kitchen. And she was asking me to sing this song for the longest time because it's her favorite song. And she's like, can you please sing this for me so I can listen to it?
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMBRASSE MOI (MARA BEBOOS)")
NAVAN: (Singing in French).
FLORIDO: In the version you're hearing now, Navan begins the song in French, the language he learned after his family left Iran for Canada just before he turned 13. But the original lyrics are in Persian.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "EMBRASSE MOI (MARA BEBOOS)")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
I started playing it with my guitar, and I was like, oh, the first line, like, the chorus line is like, mara beboos, which means, kiss me. And I'm like, ooh, maybe, like, this can be sang into French too. So I started writing it and then the lyrics just came to me because it was so beautiful, so I translated into French.
FLORIDO: Navan's new album, "Kisses On The Moon," is about love and about pain - much of it for his homeland, which has been engulfed in war. He sings in three languages - French, Persian and English. It's expanded the reach of his music. But he says of the three, it's Persian, the language of Iran, that's most special to him.
NAVAN: Persian, or we call it Farsi, is such a beautiful language, and Iran has such a rich history, which has assisted the language to be so rich with beautiful poetry and literature. And so I try to take every opportunity to showcase my language to a broader audience. But it really depends on the song. Sometimes when I start a song - and I feel like, oh, this section, my feeling can be described better in English or in French. Or sometimes if I'm feeling super emotional about something, I stick to Farsi because my own language makes me feel the most.
FLORIDO: You have a song called "Kisses On The Moon," which is a love song, and you do sing that song in Farsi.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KISSES ON THE MOON (BOOSEH TU MAH)")
NAVAN: (Singing in Farsi).
FLORIDO: Why does Farsi lend itself so well to songs about romance?
NAVAN: Because the country and the people and the energy of those 85 to 90 million people in there is full of love.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KISSES ON THE MOON (BOOSEH TU MAH)")
NAVAN: (Singing in Farsi).
And we've had so many love stories that were mixed with pain, and that's why we can write so much about love, but at the same time, the difficulties of being in love. And that song is my main song of the album, and it's the title of the album, "Kisses On The Moon," or in Farsi it's "Booseh Tu Mah."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "KISSES ON THE MOON (BOOSEH TU MAH)")
NAVAN: (Singing in Farsi).
FLORIDO: A couple of songs on the album are explicitly about Iran and that pain that you're talking about feeling, especially about what's happening in your country right now. I want to listen to a little bit of this song called "IRAN."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IRAN")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
FLORIDO: What are you singing about here?
NAVAN: I'm singing about my city that I was born and lived 13 years of my life in there with some of the most beautiful memories that I've experienced. And I am giving a life to Tehran like it's a person. And I'm saying that Tehran is feeling so sad. Because of all the tears that it's been crying, its trees are bending, and my heart is stuck in there.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IRAN")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
I wrote the song in early January when there were protests that happened.
FLORIDO: And before the start of the current war, yeah.
NAVAN: It was before the current war. It was actually released about a month before the war. It was at the end of January. And I wrote it after seeing so many of my peers and my friends going to the streets and having friends of friends that have been injured or killed in the protests.
FLORIDO: Yeah.
NAVAN: So I was so moved and so saddened by seeing what's happening in there that I felt like I had to write a page of history through my music.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IRAN")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
FLORIDO: How have Iranians both in Iran, if you know, and in Canada and in the U.S. been responding to your music?
NAVAN: The support has been absolutely overwhelming. It's like I'm living my dream. It's been super positive with so much support, and this makes me feel ecstatic every morning that I wake up because I feel like I'm doing something important.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BI KHATEREH")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
FLORIDO: You've made no secret of your opposition to the Iranian regime. And it's well known that political expression is severely restricted in Iran. Do you feel that you do have a responsibility, given that you are making Iranian art outside of Iran, to speak up about what's happening there?
NAVAN: I think every artist has a responsibility to be the voice of its people. And I am a part of this 90 million Iranians that are living in this world, and I want to be an echo of their voice when I can.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BI KHATEREH")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
FLORIDO: Do you hope to someday perform in Iran? Do you even allow yourself to think about that?
NAVAN: I think about it at least once a week. Of course, being an Iranian singer that is trying to put my mother's language, my nation's language, my people's language on the map, the biggest dream for me is to perform in my own country, whether it's in my own city of Tehran or whether it's in Shiraz or Isfahan. All of these are stunning, beautiful, beautiful cities with even more beautiful people.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOO BAROONA")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language).
I believe that that day is going to happen sooner or later, and I'm hoping that it's soon because it's been my childhood dream since I was a kid to perform and to sing. And being on stage feels like home to me.
FLORIDO: Well, Navan, thank you so much for this album. I've really enjoyed listening to it, and thanks so much for taking the time to talk with me.
NAVAN: Of course. Thank you so much for giving me the time. It's been a pleasure and honor to speak with you.
FLORIDO: Navan's new album, "Kisses On The Moon," is out now.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "TOO BAROONA")
NAVAN: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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