Strangers (Istanbul)

Neon signs are bright on the Bosphorus tonight
Reflections racing, a satellite kind of light
We move so fast, the rhythm is a modern chase
But I'm looking for the memory of this place
I can't see the stars for the concrete in the air
Where did the cobblestones go? Is anybody there?
The old ferry whispers, a sound lost in the drone
This is your body, Istanbul, but where has your old soul gone?

I trace the map of the past on my mind
A simple beauty that the rush left behind
I close my eyes and I can hear it now
The vapur (ferry) horn, the distant ezan (call to prayer)
I don't know how

Oh, the 110 beat is steady in my vein
But my heart beats for the melody of the rain
On the silent roofs, in the hüzün (melancholy) of the past
I miss the slower rhythm that was built to last
Istanbul, you are beautiful and new
But I'm searching for the old ghost of you

The scent of saltwater mixed with burning gasoline
Replaced the jasmine where the wooden houses lean
We traded silence for the chatter of the crowd
Lost the old whispers in the language spoken loud
I see the grandmothers in the fading photographs
Walking slower on the winding, dusty paths
Did we forget the stories told in black tea smoke?
The gentle, Anatolian heart that finally broke

Senin eski yüzün nerede? (Where is your old face?)
Bu kalabalıkta, kaybolan o huzur. (In this crowd, that lost peace.)
We're strangers here, in the place we call our home
A bittersweet memory, when we stand alone

Oh, the 110 beat is steady in my vein
But my heart beats for the melody of the rain
On the silent roofs, in the hüzün of the past
I miss the slower rhythm that was built to last
Istanbul, you are beautiful and new
But I'm searching for the old ghost of you

Hüzün... The old city whispers... Hüzün... 110... Hüzün