Bir Düşmanım Var by Jakuzi

Review by Emma Schneck

The short: 

This song is a Turkish language song about fighting an internal struggle to constantly feel happy. 

The long: 

Turkish synth-pop band Jakuzi rose to prominence in Istanbul’s underground music scene after the release of their debut album, Fantezi Müzik in 2016. 

One of their most popular songs off of the album, Bir Düşmanım Var, roughly translates to “I Have an Enemy.” The song recounts the internal struggle of the band’s frontman, Kutay Soyocak, and his mental fight against self-doubt and being his own worst enemy. 

“The song is about inner demons and delusions of grandeur, about being unhappy and failing to clarify where this feeling comes from,” explains the band. 

The song uses the famous Turkish idiom “Bir çuval incir için”--“I ruined things for a sack of figs”. The saying typically refers to when you take a situation which is already good, and you try to improve it only to end up ruining it and making it worse than it was before. In the lyrics, Soyak explains how his attempt to focus on his dream in life only made him unhappier than before.

To listen or not to listen:

Definitely give it a listen! Even if you don’t understand Turkish, most of us can identify with being caught up in some far-off dream and battling our own insecurities. Jakuzi captures the feeling of  being unhappy with your place in life with a dreamy, synthy melody that contrasts the song’s bleak lyrics.