Hani Bu Kızın Anası (Where Is This Girl's Mother?)
Story
The song begins at a henna night (kına gecesi, the women’s gathering before a wedding) with a call for the girl’s mother, candles in hand, and a blessing on the henna. Carried by a refrain wishing joy and long life to the father’s and the maternal uncle’s households, the verses let us hear a bride leaving her father’s house as she bids farewell to the white stones where she washed clothes, the trees that gave her shade, the siblings with whom she shared bread and salt, and the spoon left behind at the family table. Repertükül classes the song’s theme as henna night and wedding. No traditional story behind the song was found in the sources.
About
It is a “kırık hava” (metered folk tune) from Çorum; Repertükül and Türkü Dostları attribute it to the village of Çıkrık. It is registered as TRT Repertoire No. 4625. The source singer is Ayşe Öz and the collector Hüseyin Gültepe (Repertükül, Türkü Dostları); according to Repertükül, it was set to notation by Altan Demirel and uses the hüseyni scale (makamsal dizi) in 9/8 time.
For Çorum’s engagement, henna and wedding customs, see Birth and Marriage Traditions in Çorum.
Lyrics
In short, the words follow a bride on her henna night as she says goodbye to her family home and to the everyday places and people of her girlhood. (The Turkish opening lines are quoted on the Turkish page; line variants differ between sources.)