Şu Uzun Gecenin Gecesi Olsam (If Only I Were the Night of This Long Night)
Story
The song opens with a wish to be the night of a long night, or the chimney of a house back home; it then turns to someone who has heard that the beloved is gravely ill and longs to be the “hoca” (a man who recites prayers) at her bedside. Later verses reproach a beloved who has erased the singer from the “ledger of the heart” and describe the burning grief of one parted from a partner. No traditional story behind the song was found in the sources; the words voice the longing and helplessness of someone far from the one they love.
About
It is a “kırık hava” (metered folk tune) from Çorum, registered as TRT Repertoire No. 1240. The source singer is Niyazi Biçerel; it was collected and set to notation by Muzaffer Sarısözen (turkuler.com, Repertükül). The TRT Music Department’s score sheet gives the collection date as 28 November 1952, as does Türkü Dostları. According to Repertükül, it uses the hüzzam scale (makamsal dizi) in 4/4 time.
Türkü Dostları notes that some of the verses sung today are not part of the TRT archive recording. According to the same site, the song also appears in Levent Sezgin’s Çorum Halk Türküleri ve Oyun Havaları (Folk Songs and Dance Tunes of Çorum, 2004) and Nurer Uğurlu’s Aşk Türkülerimiz (Our Love Songs, 2009). A performance is also included in the “Çorum Türküleri” list of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s WebTV.
Niyazi Biçerel is also named among the source singers of Karşıda Kavun Yerler, another song collected by Sarısözen.
Lyrics
In short, the singer wishes to become the night, or a chimney in the home village, so as to be near a beloved who has fallen ill, and laments the pain of being forgotten and kept apart. (The Turkish opening lines are quoted on the Turkish page; line variants differ between sources.)
Sources
- Türkü Dostları — Şu Uzun Gecenin Gecesi Olsam (lyrics and record)
- turkuler.com — Folk songs by region: Çorum (page 2, TRT repertoire records)
- Repertükül — Şu Uzun Gecenin Gecesi Olsam (Rep. No. 1240)
- TRT Music Department score sheet — Şu Uzun Gecenin Gecesi Olsam (notaarsivleri.com, PDF)
- Ministry of Culture and Tourism WebTV — Çorum Türküleri