Vartér

The song Vartér, which appears on the CD titled Saroyan Sings "An Oriental Bouquet", was originally written with Hebrew lyrics and became popular throughout the Middle East and worldwide Jewish community under the name Erev Shel Shoshanim. It has been immensely popular among belly dancers for many years as a beautiful song to use for doing veil work.

In the 1950's, Robert Tashjian wrote his own lyrics in Armenian, using the melody line of Erev Shel Shoshanim. When Harry Saroyan decided to include Vartér on his Oriental Bouquet album, he decided to include not only one of the verses by Tashjian, but also one of his own. Here is a translation of the two verses as they appear on Oriental Bouquet, courtesy of Harry Saroyan.

Would you like to hear what this song sounds like? This audio clip comes from the recording Saroyan Sings "An Oriental Bouquet", which is sold by Saroyan Mastercrafts. See "Acknowledgements" below to find out how you can order this CD.

<==Click on this icon if you want to hear a RealAudio file of this song.

First Verse:

Every morning at dawn
Ah ... I say to my love,
Where are you going ?
Your eyebrows
Are arched and
You have beautiful eyes,
You stand tall
And you are my love !

Second Verse:

She's the golden chain
Of my memories,
She's the pathway to
The story of my life.
I love to embrace her soul
And smell her aroma,
which reminds me always of
The roses of the evening.

Many thanks to Harry Saroyan for giving me this translation to include on my web site! Harry Saroyan, owner of Saroyan Mastercrafts, Inc., is a master craftsman who makes finger cymbals and costume coins as well as a popular recording artist. With his popularity and expertise in the belly dance communities, he is continually invited to perform at and be the Master of Ceremonies for events as well as judge belly dance competitions. Harry's love, devotion and contributions to Middle Eastern Arts have made him very popular with belly dancers throughout the Los Angeles area who have the good fortune to work with him locally as well as with dancers worldwide who have enjoyed his finger cymbals, coins, and music.

If you would like to order Harry's cassette tape or CD, Saroyan Sings "An Oriental Bouquet", which includes this song, visit his web site at www.saroyanzils.com. Alternatively, you can contact Harry as follows:

Saroyan Mastercrafts
P.O. Box 2056
Riverside, CA 92516

Phone: (+1) (909) 276-9925 or (+1) (909) 783-2050
Fax (+1) (909) 276-8510
E-Mail: zilsusa@aol.com