Sari Galin chords by Hossein Alizadeh & Djivan Gasparyan

Sari Gelin, Azerbaijani for either “Fair-haired Maiden” or “Blonde Bride”, is a folk song popular in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Armenia, Kurdistan, Iran and Iraq. Whether the name “Sarı Gelin” refers to the blondness of the bride or the colour of her wedding garments, is unexplained. The source of the song is uncertain, though it is believed to have an Armenian origin.The song is known in Turkey to be based on a story similar to Romeo & Juliet, where a Muslim Turkish man falls in love with a Christian Armenian girl.The history and precise origin of many folk songs such as Sarı Gelin are difficult to determine as they originally belonged to oral folk traditions. Sarı Gelin has many different lyrical interpretations, in many languages, but the melody remains unchanged. Here is a portion translated from the Azerbaijani version: You don’t braid the end of your hair, They will not let me marry you. I wish I had the chance to see The face of my beloved Oh, what can I do? Oh, what can I do? Golden Bride A controversial documentary with the same title as the song (due to it being linked to Armenians in Turkey) was distributed in Turkish schools which shows the official Turkish version of the Armenian Genocide. Etymology: Sarı is an adjective and is often simply translated as “yellow”. However, it can also mean “fair-skinned” and/or “blonde”. Gelin is a noun with the meaning of “bride” or “maiden” which is still used in modern Turkish. The word is derived from the Turkish verb “gel” meaning “to come” in English. So “bride”/”gelin” is someone who comes to the family. Alternatively, local words were often adopted in the Turkish language during the Ottoman Empire, and sarı may also refer to the Armenian word for “mountain” (սար, “sar”) since Armenians were typically known as the mountain people of the east along with Kurds. It should be noted that gelin (pronounced “gyalin” or like in Azerbaijani, “gəlin”) is a common loan word from Turkish in the Armenian language, especially during Ottoman times. In short, Sarı Gelin could translate to “blonde bride/maiden” or “fair-skinned young girl”, but also to “mountain bride,” which would complement the folklore of the Turkish man falling in love with an Armenian maiden [of the mountains]. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.