In this song every line is preceded by the same call: "Haleylim sevdiğim", "my halay, my love". All twelve lines open with it, and it gives the piece its second name in the repertoire. On the 1943 collection slip the title is plainer still: "Haleylim (Halay)". Hüseyin Kılıç sang it on 5 July 1943 in the village of Zigala, known today as Aydınca, and the team recorded it on disc; its number in the TRT repertoire is 4597. The repertoire data write the village as "Uygur Köyü".

Catalogue Data

  • Repertoire no.: TRT Turkish Folk Music repertoire 4597 (kırık hava section)
  • Region: Amasya; "Uygur Köyü" in the repertoire, Zigala (Aydınca) in the conservatory catalogue
  • Source performer: Hüseyin Kılıç, who is also the performer
  • Collected by: Ankara State Conservatory (Halil Bedii Yönetken, Muzaffer Sarısözen, Rıza Yetişen)
  • Date of collection: 5 July 1943; in the conservatory catalogue no. 3590, disc 1108/A-3, titled "Haleylim (Halay): Bin bir çakı bıçağım"
  • Transcribed by: Altan Demirel
  • Mode: Uşşak scale; final and closing note La
  • Metre: 4/4
  • Range: La to Re, four notes
  • Words and music: anonymous
  • TRT link: since TRT has no open repertoire address for individual works, the data and lyrics of score no. 4597 can be read on Repertükül.

Lyrics

The call "Haleylim sevdiğim", written in brackets at the start of each line in the score, is kept below.

(Haleylim sevdiğim) Ben bir çakı bıçağım
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Yalan değil gerçeğim
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Kim olsa sever beni
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Ben bir cahil uşağım
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Sarısın seçemedim
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Güzelsin geçemedim
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Sevdan bir yeşil ipek
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Dolaştı açamadım
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Elma attım nar geldi
(Haleylim sevdiğim) Dar sokaktan yar geldi
(Haleylim sevdiğim) İlişmeyin yarime
(Haleylim sevdiğim) İki ayda bir geldi

In the first quatrain the young man praises himself. He is as sharp and handy as a pocket knife, he says, and his words are no lie; anyone would love him, for he is a "cahil uşak". In Anatolian dialects "uşak" means a boy, a young man; "cahil" here means young and green rather than ignorant. Boast and modesty meet in the same line: he is keen as a blade, and still very young.

The second quatrain turns to the beloved. "Sarısın seçemedim" can be read in two ways: you are fair-haired and I could not tell you apart from the others, or I could not take my eyes off you. The following "güzelsin geçemedim", "you are beautiful, I could not pass you by", seems to support the second reading. Love is likened to a skein of green silk; it has tangled and cannot be undone. The third quatrain opens with an old mani formula: an apple is thrown, and a pomegranate comes back. The beloved who comes down the narrow street comes only once every two months; the singer warns everyone to leave her be.

Story

Printed sources tell no story of how this song came to be made. The note "Halay" on the slip is the only clue to where it was sung: it is a song for the halay circle dance.

Musical Features

The tune stays within the four notes from La to Re, one of the narrowest ranges in the Amasya repertoire. In Nail Demircioğlu's table of the eight Uşşak-type Amasya songs, three have a four-note range: "Ben Bir Çakı Bıçağım", "Değirmen Önünde Bir Böyük Tarla" and "Kaf u Nun Hitabı İzhar Olmadan". The conservatory catalogue places all three among the recordings made at Zigala on 5 July 1943; for the last two, place and date are given in square brackets as estimates. The tune never drops below the final and does not touch Sol, the leading note of Uşşak.

The metre is 4/4. The "Haleylim sevdiğim" placed before each line lengthens the seven-syllable line and creates a regular breathing space suited to the halay steps. According to Demircioğlu, 4/4 is the most frequent metre among Amasya's Uşşak songs, at 62.5 per cent, and this song belongs to that majority. Haluk Yücel lists it as "Ben bir çakı bıçağım" in his 2018 classification by type.

Performers and Recordings

Hüseyin Kılıç sang four pieces for the team on 5 July; the conservatory catalogue's index gives his name with recordings 3588, 3589, 3590 and 3609. Of these, "İnce Çayır Biçilmez" and "Gidiyom Deme Bana" also entered the TRT repertoire (1885 and 1875). On the same side of the disc, just before this recording, there is another halay song by him, "Gelme Ecel (Halay)", which was not taken into the repertoire. As for performances after Kılıç and disc recordings, the publications consulted hold not a single record of them.

Amasya's songs are assessed together under the title The Melody of Yeşilırmak.

Bibliography

Academic studies

Other sources

Online sources