Sayonne, Salman Ahmad and Junoon fans share an awkward space when it comes to the 1997 classic after a consensus had been established that the once breakthrough track had been butchered last Friday when Coke Studio took the mantle.
Criticism was rampant, legs were pulled and Satire was written and the trolls on social media posted with a collective rage. What was not expected, however, was the pioneer of the track himself ‘Salman Ahmad’, jumping on the bandwagon ensuing a cringey debate on his twitter handle ‘Sufisal’.
Perhaps the latest baffling thing was when Salman Ahmad shared our ‘Dependent’ Satire on Sayonee, coupled with an equally baffling caption. The caption is almost as ill fitting as Rahat Fateh Ali Khan’s voice on Sayonee itself
PM orders a state funeral for #Sayonee & a parliamentary committee for #Gulalai but pin drop silence on #Trumpsahib https://t.co/m23oEoc8Ip
— salman ahmad (@sufisal) August 25, 2017
Salman ‘Junoon’ Ahmad, began by citing Youtube and Facebook statistics for the song and how ‘successful’ it really was as a result.
not attacking anyone.I’m stating facts.Sayonee has been viewed by millions on YT & FB, with an 85% approval rating. https://t.co/nFNEuFF3oo https://t.co/r3H2PHMAP3
— salman ahmad (@sufisal) August 26, 2017
He then extended his personal experience to make a broad generalisation that attempts to prove the ‘success’ of Sayonee.
I love so many great songs but I view them on YT or FB w/o leaving any comments good or bad. Majority of ppl view songs w/o commenting. https://t.co/fh2prdFltc
— salman ahmad (@sufisal) August 26, 2017
A parallel between the banning of Sayonee back in 1997 and the response it received 20 years later became full circle when Salman saw the two as equal. The problem was that people were able to call him out on the fact that the former was for political reasons and the latter, fittingly put, was more a musical issue. Salman, however, promptly grouped his hate for Mian Nawaz Sharif and the music critics that never really ‘got’ Sayonee.
You can’t fake history bro. The album Azadi & Sayonee in 1997 was first attacked by music critics then MNS:). https://t.co/boCO2pPEah https://t.co/XJFjovda98
— salman ahmad (@sufisal) August 26, 2017
One piece of constructive criticism, came through to the rockstar but when retweeted, became laced with a link to a lecture on Art by Wilde. The intent may never be known.
Art seems ugly at first but gets beautiful with age… https://t.co/OJ7uLZzGtm https://t.co/1vJYz5ghKP
— salman ahmad (@sufisal) August 26, 2017
Perhaps Salman and we should let go of Sayonee altogether, considering the fact that new Coke Studio episodes are going to make the track a fading memory soon. This process may be accelerated if Salman stops responding to the hate and continues to be the polymath that he is.
Salman the Youthia that he is
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