Allı turnam bizim ele varırsan

Discovered a new song today:




My crimson crane, if only you could make it to our land
Say "sugar", say "cream", say "honey"
My rose, my rose, my wing is broken

Oh cranes, I can't hold [on]

My rose, my rose, my ağa 

My rose, my rose, my paşa

My rose, my rose, my love

My rose, my rose, girl

Oh cranes

If someone asks about us, 

Tell them, my love--your head bowed, suffering burning inside--

My rose, my rose, my wing is broken

Oh cranes, I can't hold [on]
Crimson crane, what are you doing going about in the air?

My wing is broken, I had to stay here

What a hapless creature I am in this world  [thanks go to Murat who helped me translate this line] 

Let the evening come, fly back [home], my beautiful [lit.: "telli" = "adorned with golden threads"] crane 

My rose, my rose, my ağa 

My rose, my rose, my paşa

My rose, my rose, my love

My rose, my rose, girl

Take away the vocals, and this melody could be from almost anywhere; such a sweet low-key rendition combined with modern arrangement. They probably added the synthesizer in the 90s, though. Luckily, it doesn't sound as hideous as it usually does when they  tamper with old tracks, which they did on the entire "Dünden Bugüne" series, butchering 150+ songs. "Allı turnam..." is also included in this series under the wrong title "Katip arzuhalim yaz yare böyle", which belongs to another great türkü.


...I'm quite sure I also heard another Z.M. song done in the very same style: mellow guitars, no oriental instruments. I can't find this song in my collection, so it's probably vanished somewhere in the depths of YouTube. I must try and remember what it was.