Sevgi Duvari [English translation]

Was it you or my solitude?

We used to open our rusty eyes in pitch black

A curse on our lips from last night

Galleries, promenades, arts

My purpose, my day, was to take you out among people

An ammonia flower on your collar (1)

My solitude, my sloppy countess

The more we are humiliated the better.

We frequented the kumkapi taverns (2)

Altinbas; golden chain and bean salad before us (3)

Officials/waiters and hizir pasas behind us (4)

They used to find my carcass offshore in the mornings

So warm were the hands of garbage men

I used to cuddle you with the hands of garbage men

My solitude, my shrubby-haired one

The worse we stink the better.

I looked up, a red in the sky, a plane

Plenty of steel, plenty of stars, plenty of people

One night we passed beyond over the wall of love (5)

So clean and distinct was where I fell

Next to me is only you and the universe

I don't count those whom I resurrected with my deaths

My solitude, my plural songs,

The more we live without lies the better.

1) Ammonia flower: This is describing the arum lily.

2) Kumkapı: a district in istanbul known for its taverns (meyhane in Turkish.)

3) Altınbaş: meaning golden head, a raki brand. i couldn't figure out golden chain. it might be a food or drink. i'll look for it when i go to kumkapı next time.

4) A remote allusion to hızır paşa who is said to have pir sultan abdal hanged, but I'm not sure. (until recently, the existence of this hızır paşa was also questionable due to anachronism.)

5) The wall of love: as far as i understand, this as an allusion to the term sound barrier, which we call ses duvarı. ses duvarını aşmak is to break the sound barrier, which supersonic planes usually do. i couldn't retain the allusion in the translation.

• Artist:Ahmet Kaya
• Album:Sevgi Duvari