I’m listening to Istanbul -- İstanbul'u Dinliyorum (Orhan Veli Kanık, 1914 – 1950)

Lyrics: Orhan Veli (Kanık), (the Wikipedia  article I am referring to is uncharacteristically worded very badly. You may have trouble understanding what it is trying to mean). This 20th century Turkish poet was one of the pioneers of a new wave in poetry of his time. Despite his short life, his influence on later generations have simply been immense.
Music: Zulfu Livaneli. Only the master could attempt such an undertaking.

Orhan Veli's poems are quite simple and direct. They form an opposition, a protest to the more embellished, structured, and complicated language of the poetry of his time, and before. Although quite romantic, the objects and themes of his poetry are usually simple and everyday happenings that can happen to anyone. Here is a well known poem of his that exemplifies this fact:

Now that I became drunk,
I remembered you again:
My left hand,
My clumsy hand,
My miserable hand!

Aren't we sometimes amazed, stupefied at how our left (or right) hand is incapable of doing things that the other hand does so skillfully? What makes them so different? What is the reason or purpose? Efficiency? One may propose that it is really quite inefficient to have a hand that does less. Why don't I have two right hands? ... Anyway, such a simple and common thing can easily become Orhan Veli's concern. God knows what he was thinking! I guess, he was drunk and trying to light his cigarette with the matchbox in the "wrong" hand.

Musical Performances and interpretations:

• Zulfu Livaneli: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQSFvLRPGLs. The original.
• Yavuz Bingol: www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN1gqcu5cTQ. A beautiful performance from this very versatile and skilled artist.
• Leman Sam: www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TOQnPII-rY. Always one of my favorites. A good interpreter of Livaneli songs.

Original lyrics:
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İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı
Önce hafiften bir rüzgar esiyor;
Yavaş yavaş sallanıyor
Yapraklar, ağaçlarda;
Uzaklarda, çok uzaklarda,
Sucuların hiç durmayan çıngırakları
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı.
                 
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı;
Kuşlar geçiyor, derken;
Yükseklerden, sürü sürü, çığlık çığlık.
Ağlar çekiliyor dalyanlarda;
Bir kadının suya değiyor ayakları;
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı.
                 
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı;
Serin serin Kapalıçarşı
Cıvıl cıvıl Mahmutpaşa
Güvercin dolu avlular
Çekiç sesleri geliyor doklardan
Güzelim bahar rüzgarında ter kokuları;
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı.
                 
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı;
Başımda eski alemlerin sarhoşluğu
Loş kayıkhaneleriyle bir yalı;
Dinmiş lodosların uğultusu içinde
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı.
                 
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı;
Bir yosma geçiyor kaldırımdan;
Küfürler, şarkılar, türküler, laf atmalar.
Birşey düşüyor elinden yere;
Bir gül olmalı;
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı.
                 
İstanbul'u dinliyorum, gözlerim kapalı;
Bir kuş çırpınıyor eteklerinde;
Alnın sıcak mı, değil mi, biliyorum;
Dudakların ıslak mı, değil mi, biliyorum;
Beyaz bir ay doğuyor fıstıkların arkasından
Kalbinin vuruşundan anlıyorum;
İstanbul'u dinliyorum.
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P.S.: Just by coincidence, I came to know, only a few days after posting this translation, the details of a research project that has been going on in my department. It involves frogs, I mean after killing them. By the way, probably, hundreds of thousands of animals are being killed every year in the name of research. Well, don't be so sentimental: it is either them or you! The moment of reckoning is when you are in the hospital. Do you want that cure? Then, some other creatures will have to be killed for testing. No? Then, accept the death, and that is that! Anyway, what they do is simple. They try to quantify things about muscles. Hmm, what better than a frog leg? So, they measure things about their muscles, after killing them humanely, of course. They sedate them, if you want to know. Long story short, it turns out that the right and left legs of a frog do not measure equally. Somehow, the nature has a tendency to make one of the two similar organs of ours slightly superior to the other. Knowing what evolution does, this points at some bizarre optimization of natural selection that eventually decided in this disparity, which must have been more efficient in some ways. I don't have any answers, I simply report a finding: unlike Orhan Veli, frogs are left-handed!

Night Dawns Early In Jailhouse -- Akşam Erken İner Mahpushaneye (Ahmed Arif, 1927 - 1991)

Lyrics: Ahmed Arif (1927 - 1991). I have to repeat what I said about him in a previous post:

"... one of the greatest poets of Turkey, and definitely the greatest Kurdish master of Turkish language in poetry. Many of Arif's poems have been put to music by various musicians including Cem Karaca, Fikret Kizilok, Ahmet Kaya, and Zulfu Livaneli. For a fuller list, please see this Wikipedia page."

Music:

• Hüseyin Türkoğlu: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKDK62UcXjQ&list=PLEE03C20B2E20AC29. There is almost nothing about him on the Internet! Yet, I remember the music so vividly, even today. It takes me back, so many years ... Nostalgia firmly grabs me: I remember! ... I could only find a few references to his album "Yol Türküsü" which supposedly includes this piece. Back in seventies, we only had unmarked, pirated cassette tapes containing performances of "whomever" we were told. Thus, I am ashamed to confess that I don't remember his name. However, I remember the song. It is still the best music that fits the poem, which, by the way, is very difficult to put to music.
• Cem Karaca: www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8xlKwNk20. An intriguing attempt by the master. I cannot find a classification for it, but it contains winds of jazz, blues, soft rock, lounge music, Anatolian rock, and pop, of course.
• Sevinç Eratalay: www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RBue8Z3PWQ. An interpretation by this ardent revolutionary singer. Beautiful voice.
• Fuat Saka: www.youtube.com/watch?v=8AjnFesHVto. A nice composition by this master musician. This is probably the best in management of the irregular meter of the poem.
• Ahmed Arif: www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUWuKjKj1i8. The poem from the poet himself.

As I did many years ago, I listened to the poem again, from the voice of its owner. And, what is here is my interpretation of what he tried to tell. He was jailed for two years and that was enough for him. It is easy to say "two years", it isn't easy to live them. In 1950s, it must have been a living hell .

One simply cannot comprehend how it must have been for others who were convicted for tens of years: without a guiding principle, without an understanding, without an imagination, ... Just fulfilling a destiny marred with hopelessness and worthlessness. This is the misery of humanity: have a taste of it!

Here is the original lyrics as I confirmed from the recorded voice of the poet:
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Akşam erken iner mahpusaneye.

Ejderha olsan kar etmez.

Ne kavgada ustalığın,

Ne de çatal yürek civan oluşun,

Kar etmez, inceden içine dolan,

Alıp götüren hasrete.

Akşam erken iner mahpusaneye.

İner, yedi kol demiri,

Yedi kapıya.

Birden, ağlamaklı olur bahçe.

Karşıda, duvar dibinde,

Üç dal gece sefası,

Üç kök hercai menekşe ...

Aynı korkunç sevdadadır,

Gökte bulut, dalda kaysı.

Başlar koymağa hapislik.

Karanlık can sıkıntısı ...

"Kürdün Gelini"ni söyler maltada biri.

Bense volta'dayım ranza dibinde.

Ve hep olmayacak şeyler kurarım,

Gülünç, acemi, çocuksu ...

Vurulsam kaybolsam derim,

Çırılçıplak, bir kavgada,

Erkekçe olsun isterim,

Dostluk da, düşmanlık da.

Hiçbiri olmaz halbuki,

Geçer süngüler namluya,

Başlar gece devriyesi jandarmaların.

Hırsla çakarım kibriti.

İlk nefeste yarılanır cıgaram.

Bir duman alirim dolu,

Bir duman, kendimi öldüresiye.

Biliyorum, "sen de mi?" diyeceksin,

Ama akşam erken iniyor mahpusaneye.

Ve dışarda delikanlı bir bahar,

Seviyorum seni,

Çıldırasıya.
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Rose And Emigrated, Tribes of Avsar -- Kalktı Göç Eyledi Avşar Elleri (İlleri), (Dadaloğlu, 18-19 c.)

Lyrics: Dadaloğlu (approx. 1785 - 1868), one of the most famous folk poets of Anatolia.
Music: Anonymous. Source Person: Muharrem Ertaş (Kırşehir, Turkey). Compiled by: Şenel Önaldı.

There is not much known about Dadaloğlu that can be based on historical facts. From the poems attributed to him, one may infer that he must have lived in and around a region of Taurus mountains surrounded by Kayseri, Maraş, Adana, and Kırşehir districts of south central Anatolia. Unlike many other folk poets of Anatolia, he displays a warrior character besides his poetic one. He is probably a personification of rebellion against the policies of the Ottoman reign of the times, particularly against the forced settlement of nomadic tribes, which, to them, must have amounted to giving up a revered way of life, to a threat to their continued existence, to a possibility of being absorbed into the mainstream -- of losing identity.

Whether or not the poem, as translated here, really belongs to a person named "Dadaloglu" is still disputed in literary circles (see, for example, this article by Ismail Gorkem, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey, 2006). The poem, with all of its variations, should be considered as the result of the collective work of folk poets, reaching us via oral tradition in this final form, among a few others. For example, in a Muharrem Ertas recording (a rare original), some verses differ from what was compiled, despite citing him as the source. Further, even in his son's, Neset Ertas's rendering there are slight variations from the father's. In another recording, of a local performer, not only some verses show variations, but there are others which are hardly intelligible, and are probably incorrect. Such things, I found, are quite common in folk music. Frequently, I find myself struggling to determine the original lyrics and meanings. Nevertheless, in all variations of this poem, current or historic, what stays firmly unchanged is the unambiguous expression of chivalry, protest, and challenge to authority.

Now, the music:

• Muharrem Ertaş: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ffa2CONoW5Q (Thanks to Kalan Muzik, via MUYAP). This is a rare recording of this great master from the traditional school. Some verses are slightly different from the commonly accepted form of the lyrics. The style, of both vocal and instrumental, is singularly beautiful and authentic.
• Cem Karaca: www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGIH3DHfqp4. A great interpretation in rock style by this master musician and one of the founders of the Anatolian rock movement.
• Hasan Yükselir with Yediveren orchestra (TRT Müzik): www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMxCDztKsrg. A perfect performance.
• Ümit Tokcan and Mehmet Erenler: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkKhRNjrTxs. A beautiful performance in the original style from these two masters.

NOTES:

• In some versions the first verse goes like this: "Emigrated again, the tribes of Avsar", which may be more fitting to what was happening then, that is, when the empire was trying to relocate these communities here and there with limited success and a lot of sentiment.
• In M. Ertas's recording, the second verse goes like this: "The tribes that pass over are ours". However, in Turkish, both these versions sound quite alike: one is with "ağır ağır" (slowly), the other is with "aşıp aşıp" (passing over [repeatedly], as if mountains). Thus, it is difficult to determine which one the original intended.
• The word "Kirman" in the first verse of the second quatrain refers to a city or region of Iran, known as Kerman (see this Wikipedia article). The "Kirmani Sword" is a curved sword believed to originate in Kirman during the reign of Seljuk Turks in Iran. In some versions of the poem this verse goes like this: "Curved sword on our waist is Kirmani".
• The spearhead mentioned in the second verse of the second quatrain is referred to with different words in other versions. The one used here is "temren" which is probably derived from "demir" or "temir", meaning "iron", which is not surprising and more acceptable.
• By far, the most difficult was the second verse in the last quatrain. The word used in all versions is "davlumbaz". This is, I determined to my satisfaction, is a corrupted version of "davulbaz". The former means a totally different thing: hood (as in kitchens or part of chimneys) or paddle box. Accepting the latter, however, does not solve the problem readily. "Davul" is a type of drum. Then, what is "davulbaz"? The suffix "-baz" (from Persian) is used for denoting a person who does or excels in a certain thing, similar to the suffix "-er". For example, "hilebaz" literally means "trickster". Therefore, "davulbaz" would have to be "drummer". However, many of my sources, including the Turkish Language Agency dictionaries (TDK) and a personal acquaintance of mine, who excels in Turkish literature, insist that it refers to a smaller drum, especially used in war activities. So, I used it ... It doesn't end there, however. In different versions of the poem, one would find three different phrases: "davlumbazlar vurulur", "davlumbazlar derilir", and "davlumbazlar gerilir". The last one is quite unlikely as it means "drums are stretched", though it is functionally feasible. The second means "drums are gathered", which may be meaningful since before going to a war it was customary to have a ritualistic announcements and displays, which often involved music. The first one, nevertheless, is the most used in many versions. It means "the drums are hit". If one considers what comes before this, "the guns sing", this version presents itself as the most likely one the poets meant to use. It probably depicts the actual moment of the fight, especially the beginning. Originally I used the second version. Then, however, I decided that the first would be a better choice.
• One last word. In all versions, this troublesome verse is rendered as "Öter tüfek davlumbazlar ...", as if whatever happens to "davlumbaz"s is due to "guns singing". In this sense, I still think it is viable that what was meant by "davlumbaz" was "drummer", so that they were shot when the guns were fired. In this translation, I pulled back what happened to drums before what happened to the guns simply to keep the rhyming going. Normally, I would have to translate it as "Gun sings and drums get hit" or "Gun sings and drummers get hit".

Original lyrics:

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Kalktı göç eyledi Avşar elleri,

Ağır ağır giden eller bizimdir.

Arap atlar yakın eder ırağı,

Yüce dağdan aşan yollar bizimdir.

Belimizde kılıcımız Kirmani,

Taşı deler mızrağımın temreni.

Devlet vermiş hakkımızda fermanı,

Ferman padişahın, dağlar bizimdir.

Dadaloğlu der: birgün kavga kurulur,

Öter tüfek davlumbazlar vurulur.

Nice koçyiğitler yere serilir,

Ölen ölür, kalan sağlar bizimdir.

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