Refugee's Son

This track was born from a real headline: Ilber Ortayli's origin story: born May 21, 1947 in a refugee camp in Bregenz, Austria to Crimean Tatar parents who fled Stalin's 1944 mass deportation. Family emigrated to Turkey when he was two. Rose to become Turkey's most famous historian, teaching millions through television and fifty-plus books.. The lyrics weave in verified details — Born May 21, 1947 in Bregenz, Austria refugee camp; Parents were Crimean Tatars who fled Stalin's 1944 deportation; Family emigrated to Turkey when he was 2. Echo Park wraps the story in country, electronic, hip-hop, pop, rock, making the headlines feel personal and immediate. Lines like "Bregenz, nineteen forty-seven, Austria cold as stone" anchor the track in specifics that generic coverage misses. The mood — hopeful, sweeping, emotional — reflects the emotional reality behind the numbers. Every Majik's Studio news track exists to make you feel the story, not just read it.

[verse 1] In a wooden barracks east of the Rhine Where the mountain fog rolls in off the borderline A mother rocked a baby born without a home Bregenz, nineteen forty-seven, Austria cold as stone His father carried nothing but a name they couldn't take Crimean blood and Tatar tongue, a people forced to break Stalin drew the order, forty-four, the trains rolled south But the stories of the homeland never left his mother's mouth [pre-chorus] They said you'll be forgotten They said you'll disappear But a boy was learning languages While the world forgot his tears [chorus] Refugee's son, refugee's son Look at what you've done You carried every story Till the whole world heard every one Refugee's son, refugee's son From a camp beneath the Alpine sun You gave a nation back its memory Refugee's son [verse 2] Two years old, they crossed the water into Istanbul A boy who spoke in three tongues before he started school Turkish from the neighborhood and German from the camp Russian from his grandmother who read by candlelamp Ankara, the university, the books stacked to the ceiling Halil Inalcik said, son, you've got a gift for feeling Chicago winters couldn't freeze the fire in his brain He wrote about the empire like he'd lived through every reign [pre-chorus] They said the past is buried They said it's dust and done But he could hear the sultans breathing Every single one [chorus] Refugee's son, refugee's son Look at what you've done You carried every story Till the whole world heard every one Refugee's son, refugee's son From a camp beneath the Alpine sun You gave a nation back its memory Refugee's son [bridge] Fifty books in six translations Ten languages and more He walked through every century Like he'd walked the halls before They put him on the television Sharp and unafraid And suddenly a nation learned The history it had made [verse 3] Celal Sengor called him Turkey's greatest mind alive But he was just the boy from Bregenz who refused to not survive Seventy-eight years from barracks to the books that lined his shelves He taught the Turks to love their past and understand themselves March thirteenth, the hospital, the final page was turned But every student sitting in the classroom knows what Ortayli learned That history ain't a dead thing sleeping in the ground It's the voice of every person who refused to not be found [chorus] Refugee's son, refugee's son Look at what you've done You carried every story Till the whole world heard every one Refugee's son, refugee's son From a camp beneath the Alpine sun You gave a nation back its memory Refugee's son [outro] Refugee's son Refugee's son You gave a nation back its memory Refugee's son