Wearing his trademark hat, Meor Yusof Aziddin sang songs both current and evergreen on his acoustic guitar, his melodious voice carrying through the air, offering those within earshot a respite from their hectic day.

According to his autobiography “Gila Muzik”, Meor was born in a village in Bruas, Perak. The youngest of eight siblings, he deeply admired his older brother, Sohaimi Meor Hassan, who was a popular singer-songwriter at the time.

Meor gravitated towards the music of folk singers as he loved the honesty and authenticity of their lyrics, which to him had spiritual and mystical elements. Even the way in which they dressed when performing greatly appealed for him.

He loved music wholeheartedly. The bright, ringing sounds of an acoustic guitar in particular, had a mysterious hold over him, and needless to say, he was drawn towards anyone who played a guitar.

He also notes that his musical heroes did not have great voices like that of Tom Jones and Broery Marantika. Some of his early influences included, among others, Boy Dylan, Cat Stevens, Nick Drake and the popular Javanese musician, Ebiet G Ade.

Younger years

Meor learnt to play guitar from those around him as well as from “guitar chord songbooks” that were popular at the time. He would often wait for his friends in the city to bring back cassettes and videos of their favourite musicians.

He grew up living a simple life, and one of his first guitars was a cheap, “high-action” Lark “gitar tong” that he rescued from a dumpsite.

A rather shy and passive kid, he never performed while in school although he harboured dreams, even then, of becoming a musician.

He was also drawn to philosophy and devoured many books on the subject in hopes of writing more insightful lyrics that would be on par with those of his music idols.

While most considered music as a form of entertainment, Meor saw music as food for the soul – a sort of book of life that allowed him to be more in touch with humanity, life and nature.

Unsurprisingly, he eschewed the glamourous world of show business which thrived on publicity stunts, gossip and mushy love songs.

He never wanted to be a star; he only wanted his music to be enjoyed by others, and was most comfortable performing in his white T-shirt, blue jeans and “selipar Jepun”.

Life wasn’t easy for Meor. He worked different jobs before deciding to become a full-time busker in the early 2000s, something he had wanted to do for a long time but lacked the confidence.

Predictably, life as a busker came with its challenges. Meor has been chased away from restaurants, yelled at, looked down upon and even apprehended by officers from Jabatan Kebajikan Masyarakat.

Once, he was hauled off to Pudu Jail on suspicion of being high on drugs. He spent a few nights there and was released only after the police were satisfied that he was not a drug addict as they had earlier thought.

Fortunately, his wife was a pillar of support and encouraged his passion for music despite the hardships they faced together, including having to care for their autistic child.

As a singer-songwriter, it soon dawned on Meor just how much the Indonesian music scene differed from Malaysia’s. While Indonesian music touched on heavyweight issues like justice and civil rights, the Malaysian music scene was rather “tired” and “lifeless”, controlled as it was by profit-maximising record labels.

Wishing to make a change, he released one of his most cherished albums, “Dari Rakyat Untuk Rakyat”, a collection of socio-political songs he recorded in collaboration with activists, bloggers and poets.

All in, Meor has produced 10 albums. He accepted early on that only a few people would “get” his music as it wasn’t mainstream.

To him, album sales were secondary. He was more concerned about maintaining the freedom and authenticity of his songwriting – an undertaking he felt he was bound to.

Although he never made it big in the music scene, he was proud to be able to support his wife and four children as a full-time independent folk musician.

In 2010, Keretapi Tanah Melayu invited Meor to busk full-time at KL Sentral.

For the next 10 years, he would play for the colourful characters who streamed through the station. He seldom played his own songs as he appreciated that the average person would gravitate more towards the popular tunes they grew up with.

Besides music, Meor also wrote for a living. He was a columnist for several news publications and authored several autobiographical books.

Sadly, Meor passed away on Dec 24 last year from Covid-19 complications. He was only 54 years old.

Meor wore many hats but ultimately, he was a musician’s musician. Someone who stayed true to himself. And hopefully will be an inspiration to many others, his spirit, voice, words and music living on in the hearts and minds of those who loved him.