Kâtibim Explained

"Kâtibim" ("my clerk"), or "Üsküdar'a Gider İken" ("while going to Üsküdar") is a Turkish folk song about someone's clerk (kâtip) as they travel to Üsküdar. The tune is an Istanbul türkü,^[1] which is spread beyond Turkey in many countries, especially in the Balkans.

Recordings

The melody was imported to North America in the 1920s. The renowned klezmer clarinetist and self-proclaimed “King of Jewish music” Naftule Brandwein recorded a purely instrumental version with the title “Der Terk in America” in 1924.^[2] Brandwein was born in Peremyshliany (Polish Galicia, now Ukraine) and emigrated to the USA in 1909 where he had a very successful career in the early 1920s.^[3]

Recordings by Safiye Ayla and similar versions

A notable recording is that by Safiye Ayla from 1949.^[4] During the time of recording, Ayla was also a member of the assembly at the Istanbul City Conservatory.^[5] Classical composer Saygun included 'Variations on the Old Istanbul Folk Song Katibim (Varyasyonlar)' as the last part of his choral Op.22 Bir Tutam Kekik of 1943. Similar compositions of Ayla's "Kâtibim" have followed it, including:

• With lyrics, and incorporating an English adaptation by Stella Lee, in 1953 the song was recorded in the USA as "Uska Dara - A Turkish Tale / Two Lovers" by Eydie Gormé^[6] and Eartha Kitt.^[7] The interpretation of the internationally known vocal star Eartha Kitt, accompanied by an instrumental set, could be based on that of Safiye Ayla.
• Other modern composers such as Ali Darmar have also arranged the tune.
• A very early publication for the Central European region took place from around 1960 by the second volume of the series of the UNESCO Commission European Songs in the Origins, whose song notation for "Üsküdara gideriken" goes back to a written source from 1952. It shows striking similarities with the version sung by Ayla.

Movie adaptations

Alongside Ayla, Zeki Müren's recording of Kâtibim was also very popular. Müren appeared as an actor in the 1968 film "Kâtip (Üsküdar'a Giderken)" directed by Sadık Şendil, in which his recording played an important role and which became very popular in Turkey and the Turkish diaspora.

Adaptations from around the world

Many versions of the song can be found in countries neighboring Turkey and beyond, usually with entirely different lyrics. A documentary film entitled Whose is this song?^[8] and an international youth project called Everybody's Song documented many of these versions.^[9]

Europe

• Albania

The tune in Albanian is titled "Mu në bashtën tënde", which has some variations by different artists. In 1993, the song was said to be a part of the repertoire in Albania, for example, of the Roma musicians who tried to revive it in the traditional Turkish way.^[10]

• Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Bosnian adaptations of the song include a traditional Sevdalinka known as "Pogledaj me Anadolko budi moja ti", meaning "Oh Anatolian girl, be mine" and a Qasida called "Zašto suza u mom oku", meaning "Why are my eyes weeping?".^[11]

• Bulgaria

The melody comes in the form of a Bulgarian love song "Cerni oči imaš libe" (Bulgarian: "Черни очи имаш либе") and as a hymn of resistance to the Ottoman Empire in the Strandzha Mountains ("Ясен месец веч изгрява : "Jasen mesec več izgrjava").

• Greece

In Greece, the song is known under different names, including: "Μικρό τρεχαντηράκι" ("Little trehantiri"), "Ήχασα μαντήλι" ("I lost a handkerchief"), "Στου Πάπα το μπουγάζι" ("In the Pope's strait"), "Ανάμεσα Τσιρίγο" ("Between Kythira"), "Από ξένο τόπο" ("From a foreign place"), "Από την Αθήνα ως τον Πειραιά" ("From Athens to Pireas"), "Ο Βαγγέλης" ("Vangelis"), and "Εσκουτάρι" ("Eskoutari"). One of the best known Greek interpreters of the song is Glykeria.

• Hungary

Tamás Daróci Bárdos adapted the song with the title "Üszküdárá"^[12]

• North Macedonia

A performance of the Macedonian version of the song ("Ој Девојче, Девојче") comes from the musician Toše Proeski (Тоше Проески), who was described by the BBC as "Elvis Presley of the Balkans", and who also worked as a UNICEF ambassador.

• Romania

There is also a Romanian version of the song called "De ai ști, suflețelul meu" translated as "If you knew, my soul" collected and published by Anton Pann in the 1850s.

• Serbia (Formerly Yugoslavia): Kâtibim in the Serbian version is called "Ruse kose curo imaš" (Serbian:"Ај, русе косе цуро имаш") meaning "Red hair you have, girl", traditionally sung in southeastern Serbian dialect. During the 1950s, the song has also been featured in the popular Yugoslav film "Ciganka" (Serbian: "Циганка") meaning "Gypsy". There is another version in Serbian titled "Poletela dva bijela goluba" meaning "Two white doves are flying" (recording from 1910)

• A multilingual version called "Fel Shara" exists, with lyrics in Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish and English. It was popularized by Gloria Levy, where it appeared as a track on her album "Sephardic Folk Songs".^[13]
• A traditional folk song in the Arab world with the same melody is known as "Ya Banat Iskandaria" (Arabic: "يا بنات اسكندريّة") meaning "Oh Girls of Alexandria". The song was later recorded by Lebanese Mohammed El-Bakkar around 1957 in his album named "Port Said".
• Another Arabic version of the Levantine folklore, mostly sung as part of the Aleppine genre, is "Ghazali Ghazali" (Arabic:"غزالي غزالي") meaning "My Gazelle".
• The melody is shared by "Talama Ashku Gharami" (Arabic: "طالما أشكو غرامي"),^[14] a traditional Arabic poem or Qasida for Muhammad and is similar to the Hebrew piyut Yigdal. It is considered highly devotional to Muhammad.
• There is also another Arabic adaptation by Al Mulla Othman Al Mosuli named Ya Athouli la taloumni (يا عذولي لا تلمني).

• Afghanistan

Another version of the melody is known from Afghanistan, which was sung by Uzbek singer Taaj Mohammad.^[15]

• Bangladesh: The Bengali adaptations of this tune known as "Tri-vuboner priyo Muhammad" (Bengali: "ত্রিভুবনের প্রিয় মোহাম্মদ")^[16] and "Shukno patar nupur paye" (Bengali: "শুকনো পাতার নূপুর পায়ে")^{[17] [18] [19]} in 1935s were composed by the national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. It is thought that he learned the melody while he was fighting in the Middle East during World War I. As implied by its name, "Tri-vuboner priyo Muhammad'^[20] '" is also an Islamic Song about Muhammad.
• In the song "শুকনো পাতার নূপুর পায়ে", the poet Nazrul took the melody from the "Katibim" song and incorporated an inspirational theme of celebrating spontaneity which the young have and the old lack.^[21]
• In the song he appreciates how a young girl moves like a whirlwind and smiles like the shimmering ripples of water.
• Pakistan

A Turkish-Urdu mash-up version titled "Ishq Kinara - Üsküdar'a Gider Iken" was performed on the Pakistani television program Coke Studio by Sumru Ağıryürüyen and Zoe Vicajji in 2013.^[22]

• India

In the 1956 Indian film Taj, there is a Hindi-language song titled "Jhoom Jhoom Kar Chali Akeli" by Hemanta Mukherjee, which has similarity with Katibim. In the 2012 Indian film Agent Vinod there is a Hindi-language song titled "I'll Do the Talking"; the song is a partial interpolation of "Rasputin".^[23] Kâtibim's original tune is easily guessed in this song.

• Indonesia

The melody of this song is used for Banser march, with modified lyrics.

• Malaysia and Singapore: Alangkah Indah di Waktu Pagi (A Beautiful Morning) in Ali Baba Bujang Lapok is a song originally tuned from "Kâtibim".

Miscellaneous

• Camille Saint-saens quotes the melody in the second section of his "Souvenir d'Ismaïlia" Op. 100

Modern adaptations

• Loreena McKennitt's studio album An Ancient Muse (2006) has a track named "Sacred Shabbat", which has the same tune as Kâtibim.^[24]
• Jamaican artist Ken Boothe recorded the song as "Artibella".
• Pink Martini's studio album Get Happy (2013) contains a version of this song.
• Sami Yusuf's album Barakah (2016) has a track called "I Only Knew Love ('Araftul Hawa)" is also based on a similar tune.
• The third movement of Fazil Say's violin concerto "1001 Nights in the Harem"^[25] heavily quotes the tune.
• The melody in Boney M's 1978 Euro disco hit single "Rasputin" has been compared to that of Kâtibim, but the band denied any similarity.^{[26] [27]}
• The video game Civilization VI's theme song for Arabia is based on Ya Banat Iskandaria.
• Iranian artist Farya Faraji's "Aπό ξένο τόπο & Üsküdara Giderik'en"^[28] (2023) is an arrangement of the song featuring both Greek and Turkish lyrics as well as Greco-Turkish instrumentation.

External links

• YouTube - Ishq Kinara - Üsküdar'a Gider Iken
• YouTube - Nazrul Song - Tri-vuboner prio Muhammad. Naat-e-rasul bangla
• YouTube - Nazrul Song - Shukno Patar Nupur paye
• YouTube - Jhoom Jhoom Kar Chali Akeli by Hemanta Mukherjee
• YouTube - Γλυκερία - Από ξένο τόπο | Glykeria - Apo kseno topo - Official Audio Release
• YouTube - Violeta Tomovska - Oj devojce (ti tetovsko jabolce)
• YouTube - Dön Bak Aynaya
• YouTube - Ο ΒΑΓΓΕΛΗΣ, 1928, ΑΓΓΕΛΙΚΗ ΚΑΡΑΓΙΑΝΝΗ
• YouTube - Gloria Levy - Fel Sharah Canet Betet Masha (Walking Down the Street)

Notes and References

1. Nilüfer Göle, The forbidden modern: civilization and veiling, p.60, 1996 "It was even the case that, during the Crimean War, Sultan Abdulmecid asked all his clerks to wear frock coats, which was mentioned later in the well-known "Katibim" song."
2. Liner notes for Naftule Brandwein, King of the Klezmer Clarinet, Rounder Records CD 1127, 1997.
3. Web site: North America . March 26, 2020 . July 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110723124917/http://www.everybodys-song.net/north_america.php . bot: unknown ., in: Everybody’s Song – Music as a tool for the promotion of diversity and intercultural understanding, Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute, Nicosia, 2006-2008 (Project), Reinhard Eckert (Contact), Archived from original on December 10, 2015
4. Web site: Mediterranean region . March 27, 2020 . April 5, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120405120805/http://www.everybodys-song.net/mediterranean.php . bot: unknown ., in: Everybody’s Song – Music as a tool for the promotion of diversity and intercultural understanding, Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute, Nicosia, 2006-2008 (Project), Reinhard Eckert (Contact), archived from original on December 10, 2015.
5. Dorit Klebe (2004): The survival of an Ottoman-Turkish urban love song since an early documentary from 1902. Metamorphoses of a makam. Found in: Marianne Bröcker: The 20th century in the mirror of his songs. Writings of the Bamberg University Library, Volume 12, p85-116.
6. Thomas S. Hischak, The Tin Pan Alley Song Encyclopedia (2002), page 382: "'Uska Dara (A Turkish Tale)' (1953) is a spirited novelty number by Stella Lee that is adapted from a Turkish song sometimes titled 'Uskadara.' Although Eydie Gorme introduced the song with a successful record, the piece is most associated with Eartha Kitt, who sang it both in English and Turkish, had a bestselling disc, and kept it in her nightclub act for years. Kitt reprised the number in the movie New Faces (1954)."
7. Rough Guide to Turkey, p.1043, Rosie Ayliffe, Marc Dubin, John Gawthrop - 2003 " Safiye Ayla's rendition of the famous Istanbul türkü "Katibim" (covered bizarrely by Eartha Kitt)"
8. Directed by Adela Peeva, Bulgaria, 2003. http://adelamedia.net/movies/whose-is-this-song.php
9. Web site: Everybody’s Song – Music as a tool for the promotion of diversity and intercultural understanding . March 26, 2020 . April 5, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120405120811/http://www.everybodys-song.net/index.php . bot: unknown .
10. Web site: South Eastern Europe . March 26, 2020 . March 23, 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120323063340/http://www.everybodys-song.net/se_europe.php . bot: unknown ., in: Everybody’s Song – Music as a tool for the promotion of diversity and intercultural understanding, Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute, Nicosia, 2006-2008 (Project), Reinhard Eckert (Contact), archived from original on December 10, 2015.
11. Web site: Whose is this song?. Poemas del río Wang. 2020-03-26.
12. Web site: Studiolum . Kinek a dala? . 2022-04-09 . A Wang folyó versei.
13. Web site: Sephardic Folk Songs. Smithsonian. Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. December 14, 2022.
14. Web site: Talama Ashku Gharami. 2017-05-09. Muslim Hymns. en-GB. 2020-03-26.
15. Web site: Central Asia . March 26, 2020 . July 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110723124840/http://www.everybodys-song.net/central_asia.php . bot: unknown ., in: Everybody’s Song – Music as a tool for the promotion of diversity and intercultural understanding, Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute, Nicosia, 2006-2008 (Projekt), Reinhard Eckert (Contact), archived from the original on December 10, 2015.
16. Web site: ত্রিভুবনের প্রিয় মোহাম্মদ এলো রে দুনিয়ায়. Khan. Mamunur Rahman. nazrulgeeti.org. 2016-09-22.
17. Web site: শুকনো পাতার নূপুর পায়ে. Khan. Mamunur Rahman. nazrulgeeti.org. 2016-09-22.
18. Web site: Nazrul. শুক্‌নো পাতার নুপুর পায়ে - বাংলায় গানের কথা Bangla Song Lyrics. Nupur leaf nupur feet - song lyrics in Bengali Bangla Song Lyrics. 2016-09-22. banglasonglyric.com.
19. Web site: Nazrul Song - Shukno Patar Nupur. swe1281. 2008-11-14. 2016-09-22.
20. Web site: Tri Vuboner Priyo Muhammad . Priyo Muhammad . Tri Vuboner . August 24, 2022 . Sur Onuragi . SurOnuragi . August 24, 2022 . Tri-vuboner priyo Muhammad.
21. Web site: Influence of foreign music on Nazrul . 2023-12-12 . New Age The Most Popular Outspoken English Daily in Bangladesh . en.
22. Hyatt, Rohail. "Ishq Kinara - Üsküdar'a Gider Iken. Sumru Ağıryürüyen, Zoe Vicajji ", Published on 21 December 2013. Retrieved on 20 August 2015.
23. News: Pritam buys Boney M's Rasputin's rights . 3 February 2012 . . 6 February 2012.
24. The initial printing of the liner notes in 2006 erroneously attributed the song (instead of the arrangement) to Loreena McKennitt, but this was corrected subsequently: see Quinlan Road discussion forum .
25. Web site: 1001 Nights in the Harem - NaxosDirect. naxosdirect.se. 2020-03-25.
26. Book: Plastino, Goffredo. Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds. 2003. Psychology Press. 978-0-415-93656-9. 217. en.
27. Book: Plastino, Goffredo. Mediterranean Mosaic: Popular Music and Global Sounds. 2013-07-04. Routledge. From "About this book": "First published in 2003. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.". 978-1-136-70776-6. 164. en. “Rasputine” by Boney M was hotly debated in the 1970s due to its similarity to the “Katibim,” a traditional Istanbul tune, but this similarity was denied by the band..
28. Web site: Aπό ξένο τόπο & Üsküdara Giderik'en - Greek & Turkish Song. 2023-11-15.