Dost Kıyılardan Mercandan (Friend, by the Shores and the Coral)
Story
The song’s refrain, “Dost kıyılardan mercandan” (friend, by the shores and the coral), speaks of giving up one’s life for love. The verses address a girl standing on a flat village rooftop, dressed up for the holiday; recalling that the Feast of the Sacrifice (Kurban Bayramı) comes only once a year, the singer declares his own life a sacrifice for her. A mirror, henna and the chains borne for the sake of a “coy beloved” also appear in the words. No traditional story behind the song was found in the sources.
About
It is a “kırık hava” (metered folk tune) from Çorum, registered as TRT Repertoire No. 760. The source singer is İfakat Yaykar; it was collected and set to notation by Muzaffer Sarısözen (turkuler.com, notaarsivleri.com). On the TRT Music Department’s score sheet the song carries the shorter title “Dost Kıyılardan” and the collection date is given as 18 October 1954. Türkü Dostları gives the same date and notes that the song also appears in Levent Sezgin’s Çorum Halk Türküleri ve Oyun Havaları (Folk Songs and Dance Tunes of Çorum, 2004).
İfakat Yaykar is also a source singer for Cevahir Taşına Kıymet Biçilmez, Aba da Bir Kebe de Bir Giyene and Türkmen Kızı Yaktı Bizi, all featured on this site.
Lyrics
In short, the refrain says the singer has given up his life for love, while the verses praise a girl dressed for the feast and offer the singer’s life to her. (The Turkish refrain is quoted on the Turkish page; line variants differ between sources.)