Six Songs
Suna Alan
Illustration: Hannah
Kirmes-Daly
The following
are six songs from the Kurdish repertoire that Suna Alan has performed during
the past ten years. The first is a song that she wrote herself.
1. Nadia
Lyrics & Music: Suna Alan
YouTube:
Translation
Oh mother, I can’t hear your voice
I have fallen into a deep well, a dark well, give a voice!
Life was dark, freedom was far away, I was
wounded
Life was dark, freedom was far away, death was
better
Far away, far away your eyes!
Far away, far away your eyes!
Oh mother, I woke up from a dream
The sound of your voice and your laughter are in my ears
I am Nadia, your gazelle, the red poppy of Shingal
I was a happy child; I grew up in happiness
Closer, your voice is closer; closer, hope is closer
Closer, your eyes are closer; closer, a bright future is closer
Original: Kurdish – Kurmanji
NADİA
Lê lê lê dayê,
dengê te
nayê
Lê dayê ketim bîra
kûr, bîra reş, deng bide!
Jiyan tarî, azadî dûr,
brinîdar bûm lê daye
Jiyan tarî, azadî dûr,
mirin xweş bû lê daye
Dûr e dûr, dûr e dûr
çavên te!
Dûr e dûr, dûr e dûr
çavên te!
***
Lê lê lê dayê
rabûm li xewnê
Te bang dikir navê min, kena te li bîra
min
Ez im Nadia, xezala te, gulê
bûka Şingal ê
Zarokek dilgeş bûm ez, mezin bûm
di nav şadî
Nêz e nêz, dengê te, nêz e nêz hêvî!
Nêz e nêz, çavên te, nêz e nêz ronahî!
Note: The Yazidi
Kurdish activist Nadia Murad was kidnapped from her village during the genocide
perpetrated by ISIS members (also known as Daesh) in
2014, together with hundreds of other women, and remained in captivity for
months. Nadia Murad was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, wrote a book, and
became a UN Goodwill Ambassador.
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2. Canda
Lyrics & Music: Anonymous
Region: Êlih (officially Batman) / Northern
Kurdistan (officially
YouTube:
This is a lament sung by a woman who left her hometown Êlih (Batman) to marry her husband in Colemerg
(officially Hakkari). However her husband goes to
Translation:
You promised to come today
Night is over, my dear, you have not come
I waited again, until the morning call of the prayer from the mosque
I've kept you in my heart for three years
You rip my heart out of me
Everyone in our village knows
Three years I waited for you
Original: Kurdish – Kurmanji
Canda, tu gul ba
biçanda
Te sozek wê roja han da
Şev çû canê tu
nehatî
Ez mam heya mele bang da
Tirsim ya dil bêjim
hîna,
ew dil lo li ba min tina
Tiştê bi serê min hatina
Him ditirsim him newêrim
Canda, can
bi te dispêrim
Têr nabim çendî binêrim
Te divêm û nikarim bêjim
Te di nava dil da vedişêrim
Sê sal mi dil da hilanî
Te dil ji navam deranî
Herkes li gundê me dizanî
Ku sê sal ez li benda
te mam
Canda, tu gul ba
biçanda
Te sozek wé roja han da
Şev çû canê tu
nehatî
Ez mam heya mele bang da...
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3. Çiya bilind in, te nabinim-
Kurmanji
[The mountains are high; I can't see you]
Lyrics & Music: Anonymous
Region: Agirî (officially Agri)
/ Northern Kurdistan (officially
YouTube:
This is a lament sung by a man, whose 7 brothers were killed by the
brothers of his fiancée during a fight between the two villages in Agirî due to the highland shares. He expresses the pain of
his brothers and his fiancée that he couldn’t forget despite the intervening
years.
Translation:
The mountains are high
I cannot see you
The roses have turned to red
I cannot pick them
The girls of my dear father's house in the
village are beautiful
They have melted the hearts of the young men
of our village
Original: Kurdish –Kurmanji
Lê lê dînê
çîya bilind in.
Te nabînim, te nabinim, te nabînim.
Hey lê dînê
min got gul sor bûnê.
Ez naçirpînim.
Wey lê dînê
min got
qîzên mala
bavê min bedew in
Wey la dînê min got
xortên gundê me, me helandin.
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4. Heyder Heyder
Lyrics & Music: Anonymous
Region: Dêrsim (officially Tunceli)
/ Northern Kurdistan (
YouTube:
This is the story of a a
village in the Mazgirt district of Dêrsim, where people from the Demenan
tribe lived. Heyder, is a wise man who is loved and respected. He writes
poetry, plays the tembûr and sings.
During the Dersim massacre in 1938, it was
time for his village. The soldiers enter the village and start burning. On the
other hand, every living creature escaping from left to right is struck by a
rain of bullets. Heyder has three sons and a wife as
wise as himself.
He loses sight of his three sons, but he is not willing to leave his
wife, who has a bullet wound, alone in the flames. The old man takes his wife
on his back and climbs up the slopes of a mountain. He takes refuge in a cave
with his wife, but her condition is very bad. He cannot do anything to heal her
wounds. At the same time he wants to know what has happened to his children.
He thinks that he won't be able to sit there and hide and do anything.
He decides to go back to the village, hoping to find a medicine that will cure
his wife's wounds and find his children. When Heyder
comes to the village, he hears the sound of laments, sees the burning houses
and the smell of human corpses fill his lungs. He finds and buries the lifeless
bodies of his two eldest sons among the corpses stacked on top of each other in
the village square. He learns from his neighbours that his young son took
refuge in a cave on another mountain in that region with a family. He starts
looking for his son without thinking and finally finds him alive. Taking his
son, he travels to the cave where he hid his wife, but Heyder's
wife is no longer alive when they arrive. Heyder
leans over his wife and reads a poem in Kurdish. This poem will be the last
word that Heyder will speak, for ten years, till the
day of his death. Nobody will ever hear him speak again.
Original: Kurdish – Kurmanji
Ya
Xızırê kelek û gemiyan
Ya
Ewliyaye esman û çiyan
Ya
siware hespe xewnan
Xızır
Xızır tu dermane hemu derdan
Xızır
Xızır ya Xızır
Ez
çûme dere bederan
Ez
ketme cenge be çeran
Gula
tare me ra bigir
Çel
sûware ser xil xeran
Çûme
diyare Sewase
Kureyş
pe Mansur ve ketne base
Çare
me ra begiştana
Ax û
cam ax û vexar bi tase
Heyder
Heyder, Heyder Heyder [x2]
Heyder
Heyder, Derdê Derman
Me
ra bişin Şahê Merdan [x2]
Ew
kanîya ji kewire
Çil
bacîyan av li bırê
Gula
carê me ra bike
Sultan
Oli ya Xidirê
Heser
Mamûd li bilinde
Abûzer
li serê riyanê
Bende
piran ax û canê
Ji
derdan re ew dermanê
Heyder
Heyder, Heyder Heyder [x2]
Heyder
Heyder, Derdê Derman
Me
ra bişin Şahê Merdan [x2]
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5. Zembilfiroş
[Zembeel-firosh – Basket-Seller]
Lyrics & Music: Anonymous
Region: Amed (officially
YouTube:
This is a ‘Rejection of Love’ story. An unrequited
love. The story takes place in Farqîn
(officially Silvan) district of Amed.
Zembîlfiroş is a wise person who has given up the
blessings of the world. He is a man who tries to make a living by wandering
around selling baskets. As he wanders, his path happens to pass to Farqîn (Silvan). Zembîlfiroş
draws the attention of Xatûn (Khatoun),
the wife of Farqîn Beg (ruler). She is struck by the
love at first sight and she declares her love but Zembîlfiroş
rejects Xatûn's love. Xatûn
does not accept the rejection and after this point Zembîlfiroş
becomes desperate and begs God to take his life. When he dies, Xatûn makes the same wish, and both die.
Translation:
Xatûn: ''My eyes are like mirrors
Lovelocks of my hair are like silk
My teeth are like pearls
My chest is like a highland''
Zembîlfiroş: ''Xatûn with
beaded necklace
It can't be by force
My fear is of God above.
Xatûn I am repentant
I'm repentant to old Zoroaster
I can't give up my repentance''
Original: Kurdish – Kurmanji
ZEMBÎLFİROŞ
Zembîlfiroş zembîla tîne
Delalo zembîla tîne
Kolan bi kolan digerîne
Nan û dahnê pê
distîne
Xatûn li bircê dibîne
Bi eşqa dil dihebîne
Aqil diçe serda
namîne
Aqil diçe serda
namîne
***
Çavên min mîna eynan e
Biskê min mîna qeytan e
Diranê min mîna mircan in
Sîngê min mîna zozan e
Xatûna gerden bi morî
Qet nabe bi kotek û zorî
Tirsa min ji, wî! Reb ê jorê
Xatûnê ez tobedar im
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6. Li Merdine Li
Bagoke
Lyrics & Music: Hozan
Dilgeş
YouTube:
Translation:
At Bagok Mountain in Mardin
(province),
a
bloody massacre happened.
The battle continued
day and night
Long live our Bagok struggle
Bagok
Mountain is forested.
Soldiers came there
in
their thousands
to
fight against a handful of comrades.
The soldiers could
not frighten them
They fought very
bravely
They shook Bagok Mountain
and
wrote the story of their bravery
in
golden letters
Bagok
Mountain is renowned.
Blood was spilled
like water.
Long live the
partisans
A
hundred-times
salute
to those martyrs
Original: Kurdish
– Kurmanji
Lİ MÊRDÎNÊ Lİ BAGOKÊ
Li Mêrdînê li Bagokê
Xwin herikî wek cûhokê
Şer dewamkir şev û rokê
Biji şerê me li Bagokê
Biji biji şerê me li Bagokê
Çiyayê bagokê bi dare
Leşker hat ser bi hezare
Li wir bûbû axir
dewran
Li ser
serê çend hevalan
Çav ji dujmin
ne şikandin
Şer xweş kirin xemilandin
Çiyayê Bagokê hejandin
Dirok bi zêr neqişandin
Çiyayê Bagokê bi nave
Xwîn herikî weke
ave
Bijîn bijîn ey
partîzan
Li wan
şehîdan sed silave
Heval Delil bûbû
rêber
Xwişka Ayten eriş bir ser
Leşker hat sed bi hezaran
Heval kuştin gelek leşker
Note:
“Li Bagoke” is a Kurdish liberation song It commemorates a historical event
which took place in
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In April 1988, 20
fighters, members of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) lost
their lives after they put up a big fight against the Turkish army. The battle
took place at Bagok mountain.
It was the greatest conflict involving the Turkish military and the ARGK
fighters, who found themselves encircled by thousands of soldiers and village
guards (korucu). It was perhaps the first
great battle of the pro-Ocalan forces.
On 31 March
thousands of Turkish military personnel were deployed against the guerrillas
positioned in the lower part of Bagok mountain, to
the north of Nusaybin. Somebody had informed on them.
The soldiers had been deployed to the area from Mardin,
Nusaybin and Midyat during
the day, completing their preparations during the evening hours for the
operation that was planned to take place the next day. Thousands of
non-military personnel who knew Bagok were brought to
the theatre of operations alongside the Turkish soldiers.
On the morning of 1
April 1988, Turkish troops, supported by helicopters and fighter aircrafts,
sent a patrol into Efse village close to Bagok mountain. The soldiers
entered at exactly the point where the ARGK guerrillas were positioned. Caught
by surprise by the guerrillas' defensive gunfire, they were forced to retreat, sustaining
many casualties in the process.
After a short
period of panic the Turkish commanders surrounded the area from all sides with
thousands of soldiers. Their purpose was to annihilate the ARGK guerrillas in a
short period of time under intense fire.
The commander of
the ARGK guerrillas was Veli Yasar
(code name Delil), who had joined PKK while involved
in political activity.
He was an
experienced guerrilla who had taken part in many battles. At this time he was
actually on his way to Garzan, which was his own area
of activity. However, he had taken on the task of training newly-recruited ARGK
fighters in Mardin before going to Garzan. He trained 30 new recruits in 45 days.
The area encircled
by the Turkish army was where the recruits had been training with the ARGK. The
guerrilla units had just completed the ceremony of the oath of allegiance, and
had not yet left the area.
Delil was accompanied by Mustafa Kaplan
(code name Kazim) and 18 new ARGK fighters. This was
the group encountered by the initial Turkish patrol. The other guerrilla groups
took advantage of the panic of the soldiers and fought their way out of the
area of operation. In a sense, the group led by Delil
sacrificed themselves for the other ARGK fighters. The group also included Ayten Tekin (Rojin)
from Bingol-Karliova, who had joined PKK only 23 days
previously.
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