This song, whose name sets two neighbouring towns side by side, was recorded in Ladik, a district of Samsun. On the conservatory's 1943 journey towards the Black Sea, the team worked in Gümüşhacıköy on 9 July and, after Havza and Vezirköprü, reached Ladik on 13 July. Among those who sang for them that day was a student at an institute, Arif Çevik of Gümüşhacıköy. The performers' list in the catalogue records his home as the Gümüşhacıköy district of Amasya and the place where he was recorded as Ladik. It is this note of origin that brought the song into the TRT repertoire, under number 4500, as a song from Gümüşhacıköy.

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: TRT Turkish Folk Music repertoire 4500 (kırık hava section)
  • Region: Amasya, Gümüşhacıköy
  • Source performer: Arif Çevik
  • Collected by: Ankara State Conservatory (the 1943 team of Halil Bedii Yönetken, Muzaffer Sarısözen and the technician Rıza Yetişen)
  • Date and place of collection: 13 July 1943, Ladik; in the conservatory catalogue no. 3800, disc 1151/A-3, titled "Amasyalı-Zileli"
  • Transcribed by: Altan Demirel
  • Mode: Uşşak scale; final and closing note La
  • Metre: 4/4
  • Range: Sol to Mi, six notes
  • Words and music: anonymous
  • TRT link: as the TRT repertoire has no public page for individual works, the data and lyrics of score no. 4500 can be read on Repertükül.

Lyrics

The text below is taken from score no. 4500; the score's capitals have been lowered to ordinary case, and the "de yar yar yar yar" tags at the line ends left in place.

Amasyalı Zileli
Pınarları lüleli de yar yar yar yar
Pınara bir kız gelmiş
Eli kolu kınalı da yar yar yar yar
Kara tavuk kaçıyor
Kanadını açıyor da yar yar yar yar
Bıldır ki sevdiğim yar
Bu yıl benden kaçıyor da yar yar yar yar
Altını bozdurayım
Sıraya dizdireyim yar yar yar yar
Elma armut değilsin
Cebimde gezdireyim yar yar yar yar
Üzüm koydum sepete
Yar oturur tepede yar yar yar yar
Ben bir yeni yar sevdim
Şan olsun memlekete yar yar yar yar

All four quatrains are in the seven-syllable mani form, and each stands on its own. A "lüleli" spring is one whose water runs through lüle, the spouts fitted to a fountain; the first quatrain brings a girl with henna on her hands and arms to that water. "Bıldır" means last year: the love I had last year runs from me this year. The black hen spreading its wings and fleeing is the farmyard image of that flight. In the third quatrain the young man is ready to change his gold and lay it out in rows, but his beloved is no apple or pear that he could carry about in his pocket. "Şan olsun memlekete" in the last quatrain asks that the new love be made known to everyone; the text leaves no clue as to whether this is a boast or a reply to the old love.

The opening line, which gives the song its name, places two towns together. Zile today belongs to Tokat and borders Amasya. Whether "Amasyalı Zileli", "from Amasya, from Zile", describes one person, a girl with roots on both sides, or simply names two neighbouring towns, the lyrics leave open. The words mention the two names once and never return to them.

Story

Who made the song, and on what occasion, is not known; the collection slip goes no further than the title, place, date and performer.

Musical Features

Nail Demircioğlu identifies eight of the 48 Amasya songs in the TRT repertoire as Uşşak in character and gathers their final notes and ranges in a single table. "Amasyalı Zileli" stands first in it: final La, metre 4/4, lower limit Sol, upper limit Mi, a range of six notes. According to Demircioğlu, Sol, the leading note of Uşşak, appears in only two of the eight songs; one is this song, the other "Tokat'ın Mezerliği". The tune thus moves within a narrow space but uses the leading note, dipping one step below the final before returning to La. The full scale is not used, and the melody never rises above Mi.

The repertoire data give the same note, La, as both final and closing note, so the song does not end on a suspended cadence. The "yar yar yar yar" added to the line ends works as a refrain that rounds two seven-syllable lines into one musical phrase. When Haluk Yücel classified the songs of Amasya by type and metre in 2018, he included this one in his list as "Amasyalı, Zileli (Gümüşhacıköy)".

Performers and Recordings

The earliest known performance is Arif Çevik's 1943 recording in Ladik. In the conservatory catalogue his name appears with this single piece; the list of performers gives his year of birth as 1926 and his occupation as "enstitü talebesi", institute student. The catalogue's comparison table with the TRT repertoire lists the song under the heading "Amasya'lı Zile'li" and confirms the collection date as 13 July 1943. The repertoire data name no separate performer. On who sang it later, and whether it ever reached a disc or an album, the publications searched say nothing.

Readers who want to see this Gümüşhacıköy song among Amasya's other tunes in the repertoire can turn to The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Academic studies

Other sources

Online sources