Bağdat Ellerinden Gelen Durnalar (Cranes Coming from the Lands of Baghdad)
Story
The song carries a device common in Anatolian folk poetry: addressing migratory birds to ask for news of a beloved. Here, cranes imagined as passing through the lands of Baghdad are asked, “durnalar ne haber yârdan ne haber” (cranes, what news, what news of my love). Invoking a distant land such as Baghdad is a way of magnifying the depth of longing and separation, while the beloved is remembered through a small, tender detail — kohl-lined eyes.
About
It is a “kırık hava” (metered folk tune) from the Mecitözü district of Çorum. Its TRT Repertoire No. is 478. The source singer is Âşık Veli Erdem; it was collected by Muzaffer Sarısözen, who also set it to notation according to Çorum Municipality’s song-collection records. For more on the Mecitözü district: /en/district/mecitozu/
Lyrics
A representative excerpt of the song’s traditional (anonymous) words:
Cranes coming from the lands of Baghdad,
Cranes, what news, what news of my love?
(Line variants differ from source to source.)