Hemşerim Memleket Nire [English translation]

Ever since I can think, I have spent this huge long life on the road

From one end to another have I travelled this mortal world

Scholars, ignorants, the poor, the rich; there is no difference, they are all the same

Finally, I, too, have understood what makes the world go ’round1

As though humanity had gone out to the market, the bread in the lion’s mouth

No one saying “Would you like to drink a hot soup?”2

Whoever erects their four walls, closes his roof and locks the door

No one saying “Let’s get a set of blankets for you, too, come in.”3

Just one question: “My fellow, what’s yer homeland?”4

This world is my homeland

No, you misunderstand, my fellow, where’s yer actual hometown?

This world is my homeland

(Dear heavens, dear heavens, dear heavens)5

While giving long and drawn-out speeches on brotherhood and equity,

many still say: “Why is your skin darker than mine?”

While someone is being shot and runs towards their death because they have eyes under their eyebrows,

nobody stops to ask “What will the left-behind widow and the orphan eat or drink?”

The poor peace has not found the solution, sitting down after having said so many words

There is no one saying “Let us all come to an understanding”

Our world has already become shattered into pieces and uninhabitable, anyway

There is no need to cut it up and divide it any further

Just one question: “My fellow, what’s yer homeland?”

This world is my homeland

No, you misunderstand, my fellow, where’s yer actual hometown?

No, but I already said:

This world is my homeland

(Dear heavens, dear heavens, dear heavens)

My fellow, what’s yer homeland?

This world is my homeland

No, you misunderstand, my fellow, where’s yer actual hometown?

No, but I already said:

This world is my homeland

My fellow, what’s yer homeland?

Man, I already told you:

This world is my homeland

No, you misunderstand, my fellow, where’s yer actual hometown?

No, but I already said:

This world is my homeland

My fellow, what’s yer homeland?

This world is my homeland

No, you misunderstand, my fellow, where’s yer actual hometown?

No, I already said:

This world is my homeland

My fellow, what’s yer homeland?

Man, I already told you:

This world is my homeland

No, you misunderstand, my fellow, where’s yer actual hometown?

This world is my homeland

1. Literally, it speaks of understanding Hanya (a city on Crete) and Konya (a city in Turkey), i.e. a vast amount of territory. Note that some scholars believe that the original saying goes “Hanya’yı Kandiya’yı anlamak”, i.e. to understand Chania and Heraklion (another town on Crete).2. I.e., no one offering warmth, nor kindness.3. I.e., no one offering another shelter, or their hearth.4. This sentence is deliberately written and sung in a more rustic-sounding Turkish. Incidentally, the word “hemşe(h)ri” (literally: one from the same town) is a form of address for someone distant, unknown, with whom one tries to build mutual ties. Furthermore, “memleket” does not just refer to a homeland, but may also refer to a hometown, depending on context.5. “Tövbe, tövbe”, literally “Repentance, repentance” is something Turks say when they are exasperated, annoyed, or angry. The meaning stems from the fact that the speaker catches himself wanting to curse, or bad-mouth someone or something else, and begs for forgiveness and repentance towards god. The phrase is always muttered to oneself, and nowadays functions autonomously to signal one’s annoyance with a situation or a person.

• Artist:Barış Manço
• Album:Mega Manço (1992)