Dere Geliyor
(River)

This page contains the song lyrics to "Dere Geliyor", including both a transliteration of the Turkish into the Roman alphabet and a translation into English. "Dere", which is the Turkish word for "River", is a very, very old traditional Turkish folk song which uses the 9/8 rhythm. It is a bit slower than most songs that are based on this rhythm. Gunsu Temirer said that her great-grandmother used to sing this song, and it was already old then.

Song lyrics are provided for educational purposes. If you like the song, please purchase either the album or a download from an authorized source.

Listen to MP3 Clips of This Song

	Sung by Brothers of the Baladi
	Sung by The Sultans

Lyrics

According to Gunsu, the first verse and the chorus are effectively telling us that this person is frustrated—time is passing by, and s/he wants to get married. Gunsu doesn’t remember the region this song is from, but she suspects there is a river there that overflows periodically, and when the river overflows it indicates that still more time has passed. Gunsu also said that the word "Aman" itself doesn’t really mean anything—it’s an exclamation that is used when someone is frustrated.

Where to Get Recordings of this Song

	Listen to Clip	Artist: Brothers of the Baladi CD Title: Eye On the World
	Listen to Clip	Artist: The Sultans CD Title: The Best of the Sultans

About the Translator

Many thanks to Robyn Friend and Ergun Tamer, who provided both the Turkish lyrics and the translation for verses 1 and 2 of this song. Robyn sings Turkish folk and classical music, and is based in the Los Angeles, California area. She says Ergun is her "source for all things Turkish".

Also, many thanks to Gunsu Temirer, who provided additional information about this song and gave additional insights into how to translate certain passages.

And many thanks to Ferda Bayazit, who provided the translations for verses 3 through 7. I appreciate the added completeness that having these additional verses offers! Ferda is an Oriental dance artist who was born in Turkey, raised in Canada, and now lives in Turkey again. She has a particular passion for Turkish Roman music and dance.

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