Dere

River

This page contains the song lyrics to Dere, including both a transliteration of the Turkish into the Roman alphabet and a translation into English. Dere, which is the Turkish word for "River", is a very, very old traditional Turkish folk song which uses the karsilama rhythm. It is a bit slower than most songs that are based on this rhythm. Gunsu Temirer said that her great-grandmother used to sing this song, and it was already old then. According to Robyn Friend, another name for this same song is "Dere Geliyor".

Listen To A Clip Of This Song

If you like one of these sound clips, see information at the bottom of this page on how you can order the tape or CD.

Real Audio<==Click on this icon to hear a clip of this song from Best Of The Sultans in RealAudio format. (Downloads fast.)

Real Audio<==Click on this icon to hear a clip of this song from Brothers Of The Baladi in RealAudio format. (Downloads fast.)

Click here to hear a clip of this song from Brothers Of The Baladi in MP3 format.

Lyrics

The Turkish alphabet contains some characters that do not appear in the usual Roman alphabet that can be represented in the typical character set that Internet users have on their computers. In this transliteration, the following substitutions refer to these special Turkish characters:

"sh" is used for the Turkish "s" with a cedilla
"|" is used for the Turkish dotless "i"
"-g" is used for the "g" with a line above it

Turkish Lyrics

English Translation
Dere geliyor dere, yalelel yalelel The river is overflowing,
Kumunu seresere, yalelellim. Spreading sand,
Al beni götür dere, yalelel yalelel O river, take me with you
Yar|n oldugu yere, yalelellim. To where my beloved is.
   

Chorus:

Chorus:
Aman|n aman aman O mercy,
Zaman|n zaman zaman O time,
Bizim dügüne zaman yalelellim. When will our wedding be?
(Repeat above 3 lines) (Repeat above 3 lines)
   
Ben armudu dishledim, yalelel yalelel I bit into the pear,
Sap|n| gümüshledim, yalelellim. I turned its stem to silver.
Sevdi-gimin ismini, yalelel yalelel My beloved’s name
Mendilime ishledim, yalelellim I embroidered on my handkerchief.
   

Repeat Chorus

Repeat Chorus

According to Gunsu, the first verse and the chorus are effectively telling us that this person is frustrated—time is passing by, and s/he wants to get married. Gunsu doesn’t remember the region this song is from, but she suspects there is a river there that overflows periodically, and when the river overflows it indicates that still more time has passed. Gunsu also said that the word "Aman" itself doesn’t really mean anything—it’s an exclamation that is used when someone is frustrated.

Where To Get Recordings Of This Song

Sultans

One excellent recording of Dere appears on Best Of The Sultans. In the past, it also appeared on Sultans Volume I, which is now out of print. The version of Dere on Best Of The Sultans is a reprint of the song as it appeared on Sultans Volume I. It utilizes very traditional instruments and style.

  • U.S.<==Click here to order Best of the Sultans from Amazon.com in the U.S.

Real Audio<==Click on this icon to hear a clip in RealAudio format of what Dere sounds like on Best Of The Sultans. (Downloads fast.)

Cover

Another enjoyable recording of this song, which has more of a modern, New Age flavor, appears on the Eye On The World CD by the Brothers Of The Baladi, copyright 1994. On this CD, the song is called Dere Dere. The label says, "When the rains come, the rivers rise," but this is not actually meant to be a translation of what the song is about. This arrangement is a little slower than that of the Sultans, and it would be quite suitable as practice music for a dancer who is just starting to become acquainted with the karsilama rhythm.

  • U.S.<==Click here to order Eye On The World by Brothers of the Baladi from Amazon.com in the U.S.
  • U.K.<==Click here to order Eye On The World by Brothers of the Baladi from Amazon.co.uk in the U.K.

Real Audio<==Click on this icon to hear a clip in RealAudio format of what Dere sounds like on Eye On The World by Brothers Of The Baladi. (Downloads fast.)


The same verses appear on both the Sultans recording and the Brothers Of The Baladi recording. Gunsu said the song has had additional lyrics beyond those appearing on these recordings, but she doesn’t remember any more what those lyrics are.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to Robyn Friend and Ergun Tamer, who provided both the Turkish lyrics and the translation for this song. Robyn sings Turkish folk and classical music, and is based in the Los Angeles, California area. She says Ergun is her "source for all things Turkish".

Also, many thanks to Gunsu Temirer, who provided additional information about this song and gave additional insights into how to translate certain passages.

I'd also like to thank Omar Faruk Tekbilek for permission to use the sound clip from Best Of The Sultans that appears on this page. Click here to visit Omar Faruk Tekbilik's web page.

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