The Great Debate

Herakrin Telin Vra (Click me)

The link above is a song entitled Herakrin Telin Vra (On The Telegraph Wires) of which the first line is,"will a bird sit on telegraph wires?" The song is sung in the Armenian language by Vartan Margosian, prolific Armenian-American recording artist of the 1920s. Vartan Margosian was born in Kharpert, and lived in the New York area, which meant he belonged to the largest group of Armenians having the same regional origin living the US in his time. Indeed, the "Kharpertsies" were the dominant group in the Armenian-American community at least up until the mid 1970s. The song goes on to sing of love and telegrams, and we could leave it at that. But we can't, because this particular song was originally sung in the Turkish language. Indeed, "Herakrin Telin Vra" never seems to have caught on while the popularity of the original song "Telegrafin Telleri" (the first verse of which is the same, but in the Turkish language), continues in the Armenian community to this day. Here is Telegrafin Telleri as performed by the Kef Time Band (Richard Hagopian on oud and vocals, Hachig Kazarian on clarinet):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dwTY-EYQSU

This recording comes from the LP Kef Time Fresno, released in 1969, and marketed among the Armenians.

That's right, Turkish language songs have a popularity among the Armenians, even though the Turkish government tried to annihilate the Armenian people in the Genocide of 1915. The reason for this is pretty simple. When the first Armenians immigrated to North America about 100 years ago, they brought their music with them, as explained in my first post. But what I didn't explain in my first post was that this music included songs sung in the Turkish language. Some of the songs were supposedly composed by Armenians. Another reason for the popularity of Turkish songs was that some groups of Armenians, such as those from Adana and Marash, Gesaria and Yozghat, spoke Turkish as their native tongue and didn't understand Armenian. Even in Armenian-speaking areas, the Turkish songs were popular because everyone understood Turkish (the language of the Ottoman Empire) as well as their native Armenian. In the big cities of the old country, such as Istanbul and Izmir, Armenians, Greeks, and Sephardic Jews played in bands together at clubs (called gazinos) with a polyethnic clientele. In such settings, the language of song was always Turkish because that was the one language everyone understood. An Armenian would not understand Greek, and vice versa.

These Turkish-language songs were brought over to America, and the Armenians continued playing them, because it was a part of the music they knew. In places like New York, even the collaboration between Armenians, Greeks, Jews, and Bulgarians continued. While some Armenians were opposed to singing in Turkish, the majority won out and Turkish continued to be sung at Armenian-American events such as dances, weddings, and picnics.

However, since the 1970s, there has been a lot of debate over this music and whether it is appropriate to play at Armenian events. The Armenians from Beirut, who began immigrating to the US in mass numbers in the late 70s due to the Lebanese Civil War which started in 1975, were much more nationalistic than the American Armenians. Not only that, but they had their own style of dance music, Armenian Pop (called "Continental" at the time) which was heavily influenced by 60s French pop music, and later, disco, and which was created in part to "wipe out Turkish music" in the Armenian community of Lebanon. The Beirutsi Armenians brought their new viewpoint with them and really made life difficult for the old-time Armenian-American musicians. Some of them did enjoy the music that was played here, but the anti-Turkish-music group, whether they were a majority or not, made their voice loudly known. The minority of American-bred Armenians who had been opposed to the Turkish music all along immediately joined them.

It had already been a faux pas to sing in Turkish at certain select community events and venues, but now Turkish music was under an outright ban. The only place Turkish music could be heard was at nightclubs, independently organized events such as Kef Time Hartford and Kef Time Cape Cod, and weddings where the family might have requested it. There was even an incident in Watertown, Mass., where a gun was pulled in protest against Turkish music. In addition, it got to the point where not just Turkish-language songs were considered Turkish and banned, but the "kef time" genre of music itself was deemed to be too "Turkish-influenced" and it was proposed to be banned and replaced by "Continental music". Fortunately, this only seems to have happened in L.A. and Canada, as Armenian communities in the East Coast and Midwest continue to hire "kef" bands for their events on a regular basis.

But the debate continues to rage today, with Martin Haroutunian's article "Pulling the Plug on Turkish Music" http://www.myspace.com/arevarmenianfolkensemble/blog/128062480. Turkish music is still considered banned at most Armenian community events. And Haroutunian's article addresses kef music in general, showing us that some are still concerned with the "kef time" style per se, and not just the Turkish lyrics.

My own opinion should be obvious by now. Although I don't advocate or practice following the latest Turkish hit parade of pop music, I believe that the traditional Turkish-language folk songs (as sung by Armenians!!!) are a part of our heritage and deserve to be carried on. This opinion was formed in me at an early age, when I was at a wedding. During a certain song, a lady got up and complained about the Turkish music. My grandmother, God rest her soul, was sitting next to me, and made the comment, "what a bunch of nonsense. We've been playing this music for a hundred years." Indeed we have.