Türkmen Kızı Yaktı Bizi (A Turkmen Girl Has Set Us Aflame)
Story
As its title says, the song is a love song burning for a Turkmen girl who has set the singer’s heart alight. Çorum and its surroundings are historically a land settled by Turkmen / Oghuz tribes, and the phrase “Turkmen girl” is a warm way of speaking of the beloved in this regional culture. The verses dwell on the beloved’s beauty and the passion felt for her, carried along by a lively air and refrain syllables such as “leyli leyli.”
It is a bright, affectionate song well suited to weddings and celebrations.
About
It is a “kırık hava” (metered folk tune), listed among love-themed songs in the sources. Muzaffer Sarısözen is named as the collector, with İfakat Yaykar and Sabite Taşkaya as the source singers. Its TRT repertoire number is given as 769. Its region is Çorum. Collected by Sarısözen, it is one of the region’s early recorded pieces.
Lyrics
A representative excerpt of the song’s traditional (anonymous) words, given in English summary:
A Turkmen girl has set us aflame (leyli leyli);
gather the flowers, Ayşo (leyli leyli);
come, sit beside my knee,
and open the roses, Ayşo (leyli leyli).
(Refrain and verse variants differ from source to source.)