This song is inspired by a poem of Cahit Sıtkı Tarancı, named “Yağmur Yağadursun” (Let the Rain Pour). The arrangement and performance of the song is by Blaine Selkirk from Canada:
Category: Guitar Music
Time for a New Departure
A song that I had made in 1998 (wow, it’s been a while!), performed beautifully on the acoustic guitar by Roberto Diana:
Elif Elif {Elif Diye} – Inspired by a poem of Karacaoglan
This song by Gurdal Ertek is inspired by a poem of Karacaoglan, one of the most important classical poets in the Turkish culture. The poem has a repeated mention of Elif, the girl beloved by Karacaoglan.
Here is an arrangement of the song with acoustic guitar, arranged and performed by Roberto Diana:
Elif Elif {Elif Diye} – Music inspired by a Karacaoglan poem
Now let us tell the story behind the poem:
Elif (which corresponds to alpha in Greek, a in Latin) is originally the first letter in the Arabic language, and is also the first letter in the word Allah (the word for God in Islam). In the Turkish culture, as well as many other cultures affected with Islam, the letter Elif is considered as a symbol of the beginning of everything, and as a symbol of eternity.
Elif is also a classical girl name in Turkish culture.
The poem consists of impressionist descriptions of different images, all containing the shape of Elif, followed by repeated verses mentioning Elif. In the first section, a thin snow falling is mentioned. The blowing wind creates the shape of (a tilted) Elif character. So the poet, in his observation of a very different context, observes the letter Elif, and remembers the girl Elif. Or maybe it is the other way around, where he matches what he observes to the Elif character, and hence fully remembers his beloved Elif.
One interesting point about this poem is that Elif is described as a literate girl, who can write, of course starting with the letter Elif.
And for those of you who are playing music, here is the chord progression for this song:
G D D7 Em
A C Em. D C X2
F#m F#m G F#m
Bm F#m Em D Em D
G D D7 Em
A C Em. D C X2
F#m F#m G F#m
Bm F#m Em D Em D G
Delirium {Sayıklama} – Inspired by a poem of Necip Fazıl Kısakürek
Listen to the guitar arrangement
This song was inspired by the poem “Delirium” {Sayıklama} by Turkish poet Necip Fazıl Kısakürek.
Here is a acoustic-guitar-only arrangement that has been performed by jimstillers:
Delirium {Sayıklama} – Guitar-Only Arrangement
The poem begins with the silence of a room, only toned by the monotonic murmurings of a sleeping cat, making the sound {hırıl hırıl} (sound of a deep murmuring from the throat).
Next, the poet notices that the night is watching him through the windows like an eye. Meanwhile, many hunchbacked dwarfs are circling around him, with the sound {fırıl fırıl} (sound of one or more turning objects in the Turkish language).
The poet wants to escape from all, and escape into a far land. This time he will be the watching eye, observing his soul as if a city filled with soulful lights. The city lights shine {pırıl pırıl} (which means “shiny shiny” in Turkish).
At that moment, the silence is somewhat disturbed by a sound of a cry, a cry to the death of the poet. The poet’s reaction is to call the crying voice to hush. He remarks his youth, with desires flowing in his blood like a waterfall. The waterfall’s sound is {şırıl şırıl} (sound of flowing water in Turkish).
The final verse reveals the source, as perceived by the poet, of the state of delirium. This might very well be perceived as the solution, too. In the final verse, the author expresses his wish for a woman, with her hands in his hands, telling him about the joy of life, with a musical sound of {mırıl mırıl}.