Bedirik (The Wild Herb Bedirik)
Story
The song is sung with the word “Bedirik” repeated at the start of every line; according to Türkü Dostları, bedirik is an edible wild herb similar to madımak, the wild greens gathered in spring for a traditional Çorum dish. The first verse says that a young man who loves a beauty gives himself away “by his eyebrows.” Later verses voice the reproach of a youth taken for military service — “isn’t the waiting enough?” — and his wish to meet his beloved again once he returns. No traditional story behind the song was found in the sources.
About
It is a “kırık hava” (metered folk tune) from the village of Çelebibağı in the Alaca district of Çorum (TRT Music Department score sheet, Türkü Dostları), registered as TRT Repertoire No. 4127. The source singer is Musa Yenilmez; it was collected and set to notation by Sümer Ezgü (TRT score sheet, notaarsivleri.com, Türkü Dostları). The score sheet gives the collection date as 1989; Türkü Dostları gives the same year 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). The full Turkish title, “Bedirik (Soku Dibi Mill’olur),” adds the song’s first line.
Musa Yenilmez and Sümer Ezgü are also the source singer and collector of Kayayı Gırcı Tuttu (İlvanlım), another song from Çelebibağı featured on this site. For more on the district, see Alaca.
Lyrics
In short, the words tease about how a young man in love cannot hide it, then turn to a soldier’s separation from his sweetheart and his hope of being reunited with her. (The Turkish opening lines are quoted on the Turkish page; line variants differ between sources.)