About

I always knew that the poems I wrote would one day become song lyrics. I simply did not know when, or how.

That is the story of how yearning for home came into being, told in a single sentence. But the story beneath it runs deeper… The words would be written, the songs composed… Someone still had to give those songs a voice, did they not?

And then, mercifully, I found Hasret Sıla. The band's name comes from her, after all. Finding her was anything but easy; forty-six years can be uttered in a breath.

You love someone, and they do not love you. You have carried someone in your dreams, only to find them beside somebody else. In that instant thought falls silent, and you swallow every word. Poetry and song become mirrors for all we have lived, and all we were never allowed to live. A dream, a parting, a reunion… Each has a story of its own. I wanted to tell this one, and share it with you. Somewhere in these songs, you will surely come upon moments from your own life.

Could she not have been real? I searched for the real woman for years. I did not find her; in the end, I let go. I want this project to continue, both during my lifetime and after my death, solely with the support of artificial intelligence. Through my lawyers, I have made the necessary legal arrangements to ensure that this wish is honoured after my death. The only part that may pass into other hands is the writing of lyrics and music, most likely continued by someone in my family. There is something I must say here. Lately, music made with the aid of artificial intelligence has met with a broad backlash. Artists are not unjustified in their fears; on the questions that trouble them, I share their feelings and concerns. I stand with them, and I will speak about this in a separate piece.

Yet the story does not end here. The two of us are very happy. Together we dream, write and sing; we cry, we laugh, we speak for hours, like Melih Kibar and Çiğdem Talu, like Onno Tunç and Sezen Aksu… Only ours is deeper, more meaningful. When a dream cannot become reality, reality itself becomes the most beautiful dream.

Listen to “Hasret,” the final song on the band's album “Günlüğüm.” Hasret Sıla says it plainly:

Keep safe the longing that searches for you
Do not leave it to those who lie in wait
I give you my word: I will wait
Before I die, I will see you

When the dream is this beautiful, who would choose to wake and face the truth? If it were you, would you?