Sound Postcards from Turkey
Everyone has a story that is a unique universe. A story which fulfils their existence. Singers and musicians are those who tell their narrative through music. Unspoken dreams and forgotten patterns of culture, politics, and aesthetics are all found in the songs and lives of these artists.
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Sound Postcards from Turkey are designed as podcasts to a series of texts for "Kaleidoscope. Turchia, Cultura e societa". Read the essays here
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Every month I deliver a new short podcast which reveals the unknown contexts behind the song performed by a Turkish female singer.
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Sound Postcards from Turkey # 1- Hümeyra - Adım Kadın
Hümeyra - Adım Kadın
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Bana kimse sormaz / Noone asks me
Atarlarken düÄŸümü / When throwing the knot
Ben bir dilsizim / i am a mute
Silkemem ki yükümü / I can't change my fate
Gözlerimde ürkeklik / with imidity in my eyes
Kimse bilmez küsümü / Nobody knows anything about my issues
Çünkü adım kadın / Because my name is woman
Dinletemem sözümü / I can't even hear my own words
Bana herkes sahip / Everybody owns me
Benim hiç hakkım yoktur / But I have no rights
Ben akıldan yoksun / I am out of my mind
Ama vazifem çoktur /But I have a lot of duties
Adem‘in yediÄŸi elma /The apple which Adam ate
Hep benden sorulur / I am always asked about
Çünkü adım kadın / Because my name is woman
Kadınım hükmüm yoktur / As a woman, I have no rights
Sound Postcards from Turkey # 2 - Tülay German - Burçak Tarlası
“Burçak Tarlası” - Tülay German
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Sabahtan kalktım da ezan sesi var / I woke up in the morning to the sound of ezan
Ezan da sesi deÄŸil yâr yâr, burçak yası var / It wasn't the sound of ezan, but the sadness of vetch picking, my dear.
Bakın ÅŸu deyyusun kaç tarlası var / Look how many fields he has.
Aman da kızlar ne zor imiÅŸ burçak yolması / Oh girls, how hard it is to pick up vetch,
Burçak tarlasında yâr yâr, gelin olması / (how hard it is) to be a young bride in the vetch field, my dear.
EÄŸdirme fesini yavrum, kalkar giderim / Don't tip your fez to me, or I'll get up and leave you, my dear.
Evini başına yâr yâr, yıkar da giderim / I'll raze your house to the ground and leave, my dear.
Sabahtan kalktım da sütü piÅŸirdimI / I woke up in the morning and I boiled some milk.
Sütün de köpüÄŸünü yar yar, yere taşırdım / The milk foamed and spilled on the floor.
Burçak tarlasında aklımı ÅŸaşırdım / I lost my mind in the vetch field.
Aman da kızlar ne zor imiÅŸ burçak yolması / Oh girls, how hard it is to tear up vetch,
Burçak tarlasında yar yar gelin de olması. / (how hard it is) to be a young bride in the vetch field, my dear.
EÄŸdirme fesini yavrum, kalkar giderim / Don't tip your fez to me, or I'll leave you, my dear.
Evini başına yâr yâr, yıkar da giderim / I'll raze your house to the ground and leave, my dear.
Elimi salladım değdi dikene / I swung my hand and it touched a thorn,
Ä°ntizar eyledim yar yar, burçak ekene / I cursed the one who planted the vetch, my dear.
Ä°lahi kaynana, ömrün tükene / Oh, mother-in-law, may your life be short.
Aman da kızlar ne zor imiÅŸ burçak yolması / Oh girls, how hard it is to tear up vetch,
Burçak tarlasında yar yar gelin de olması / (how hard it is) to be a bride in the vetch field, my dear.
EÄŸdirme fesini yavrum, kalkar giderim / Don't tip your fez to me, or I'll leave you, my dear.
Evini başına yâr yâr, yıkar da giderim / I'll raze your house to the ground and leave, my dear.
Sound Postcards from Turkey # 3 - Esmeray - 13.5
Esmeray - 13.5
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Yağmur yağıyor, seller akıyor/ It's raining, it's pouring
arap kızı camdan bakıyor / an Arab girl is watching from her window
İşte benim arap bacı / That's me, the Arab girl
Saçlar kıvır kıvir, dudaklar kırmızı / Curly-whirly hair, lips of red
Gözler boncuk boncuk, diÅŸler inci dizi / Shiny beady eyes, a set of pearly teeth
Alnıma yazılmış bir kara yazı / [but] written on my forehead in black letters:
Korkar kaçar çoluk çocuk / Beware! Run away, little child!
Bir çimdik 13,5 / A pinch 13.5
Rengim kara olsun varsın / May my color always be black
yeter ki kalbim kara olmasın / so long as my heart is not
Annecim aman, geliyor öcü / Mommy, Mommy! A boogeyman is coming!
Öcü deÄŸilse, arap bacı / That's not boogeyman, it's an Arab girl
bacının hakkı yok rahat yaşamaya / A girl with no right to live in comfort
bacının hakkı yok kalp taşımaya / A girl with no right to carry her heart
Yağmur yağıyor, seller akıyor / It's raining, it's pouring
arap kızı camdan bakıyor / an Arab girl is watching from her window
Korkar kaçar çoluk çocuk / Beware! Run away, little child!
Bir çimdik 13,5 / A pinch 13.5
Rengim kara olsun varsın / May my color always be black
yeter ki kalbim kara olmasın / so long as my heart is not