Coming to the UK made me realise how deep my mother language, Turkish, really is. I always thought my English was good enough, but there are moments when I can’t fully express my feelings because that feeling only exists in Turkish, or the phrase I’m trying to translate only makes sense in Turkish.
Now don’t get me wrong, English is a beautiful language, but it isn’t as poetic. I think language plays a big role in shaping a community. Imagine how bonded a nation would be if, instead of simply saying “thank you” to your mum for the food she cooked, you said “health to your hands.” Instead of just walking past a worker, you said “may it come easy.” And when celebrating your friend’s birthday, instead of just saying “happy birthday,” you said “I’m glad you exist. To many more years.” The daily language itself sends a message: I see you. I see your effort. I value you. Maybe we don’t often say “I love you,” but maybe we don’t have to because it’s already embedded in the language.
This beauty also shows itself in art. Have you ever listened to Turkish songs before? I genuinely don’t recommend it if you’re already sad. As if the language itself isn’t poetic enough, our artists somehow make it even more intense. They connect their poetic pain to beautiful music and make you suffer. No, seriously, some of these artists must be desperate for money to write songs this heartbreakingly beautiful.
Of course, I can’t talk about every Turkish song I love in one article because it would take pages. So I tried to choose a few of the best ones. I believe poetry can never be fully translated, and it should be experienced in its original language, but I will try my best to translate the feelings, emotions, and sentences without losing their meaning.
So let’s begin.
The first song I’d like to introduce is Mayın Tarlası by Şebnem Ferah. The title means “minefield.” As you can understand from the name, she compares love to a minefield, which is already a powerful metaphor. She talks about how her trust was betrayed and how everyone around her tried to warn her, but she was blinded by love. She was fearless because she believed she wasn’t alone.
But the real beauty of this song is that it is written in the reported past tense — the “-miş/-muş” tense. This tense doesn’t exist in English, and it adds something that is very difficult to translate. It carries distance, realisation, and a kind of late understanding. To make this clearer, let me give a simple example.
Imagine you are on the subway and you fall asleep. When you open your eyes, you realise you are at the last stop. In Turkish, this is when you would use the reported past tense. You weren’t aware you were going to the last station. You didn’t do it intentionally. You simply realised it afterwards.
That’s what the “-miş” tense shows: you weren’t aware of it at the time. The awareness comes later.
And that’s exactly what happens in Mayın Tarlası.
When she says:
“Mayın tarlasında dolaşıp durmuşum, aşk sanıp da.”
It’s not just “I wandered in a minefield thinking it was love.” It’s closer to: she realises now that what she once thought was love was actually a minefield. She is discovering it as she tells the story. The pain isn’t only in what happened; it’s in the late realisation of what it really was.
Now that we understand the reported past tense, let’s look at the lyrics.
Mayın tarlasında dolaşıp durmuşum, aşk sanıp da
I wandered around in a minefield, thinking it’s love.
Herkes arkamdan bağırmış, kimseyi duymamışım
Everybody was shouting behind me; I didn’t hear them at all.
Savaş filmlerinde olur ya, yaralı yaralı devam etmişim
Like it happens in war movies, I kept walking wounded.
Sonuna kadar aşk ya, yanımdasın sanmışım
I thought you were right next to me, as if this were an “endless love.”
Mayın tarlasında yürüyüp durmuşum, aşk sanıp da
I kept walking in a minefield, thinking it’s love.
Tel örgülerde durmamış, bi’ delikten geçmişim
I didn’t stop at barbed wires; I slipped through a gap.
Her şey bana “Dur” demiş, kulağım darbe almış, duymamışım
Everything told me “Stop,” but my ears had taken the blow; I couldn’t hear.
Sonuna kadar aşk ya, sadece inanmışım
All the way through, I simply believed.
Koşmuşum, düşmüşüm, kalkmışım
I ran, I fell, I got up.
Sevişmek, sevmekten gelir, inanmışım
I believed that making love comes from loving.
Elimden tuttuğunda öyle bi’ güvenmişim ki
I trusted you so much when you held my hand.
Bize bi’ şey olmaz sanmışım
I thought we would be alright.
Mayın tarlasında bir adam sevmişim, aşk sanıp da
I loved a man in a minefield, thinking it’s love.
Soyunup korkusuzca, çırılçıplak kalmışım
I stripped fearlessly and stood naked.
Aşk filmlerinde olur ya, işte öyle sevmişim sonunda
I loved as if it were a love movie.
Bedenim sağlam bulunmuş, yüreğim paramparça
My body was found intact, but my heart was shattered.
If we analyse the first verse, she calls their love a minefield. In my opinion, this suggests she knew that one wrong step could ruin everything. She knew she was on dangerous ground, but she believed that was simply how love was supposed to be.
Everyone was shouting behind her, trying to warn her, but she couldn’t hear them. She was blinded by love. She was so convinced that what she had was real that she kept moving forward.
She even compares it to war movies; she keeps going while wounded. Even though it hurts her, she doesn’t give up. And maybe part of the reason she keeps going is that once you are in a minefield, turning back doesn’t make it safe again.
But the real reason she didn’t give up is that she believed he was right beside her.
She thought they were fighting together, not against each other. She believed the pain was mutual, that this love was hurting both of them.
In the second verse, when she says she didn’t stop at the barbed wires and slipped through a gap, it suggests that she saw the warning signs but found excuses to ignore them. Again, she was blinded by love.
When she says she stripped fearlessly and stood naked, it symbolises how she opened her heart and soul to him. She was completely honest with him, standing there with her most vulnerable and authentic self because she trusted him.
She thought she was living in a romance movie, but it turns out she was actually the brave soldier in a war movie.
And finally, my favourite line:
“My body was found intact, but my heart was shattered.”
Even though she explains everything through physical metaphors, this love never hurt her physically; it hurt her emotionally. It could also mean that from the outside she looked fine, but inside she was completely broken.
If you liked this song, I would also recommend listening to Sigara or İki Yabancı (Two Strangers) ft. Teoman by her.
Let’s move on to the next song.
Hata by Sezen Aksu. The title means “mistake,” and in this song she talks about falling in love with the wrong person and how the regret still haunts her. She blames herself for falling in love with the wrong person and she resents love. She doesn’t want to fall in love again.
Kalınca sebepsiz bir başıma, hatıralar beynimde dans ediyor
Whenever I’m alone with myself, memories begin to dance inside my mind.
Günahlarım dizilip bir bir karşıma, sanki birer birer intikam alıyor
My sins line up before me, taking their revenge one by one.
Yüreğimden zincire vurulmuşum, anılar her bir halkayı bağlıyor
It’s like my heart has been bound by chains, each memory fastening another link.
Ben duygularımın esiri olmuşum, hatalar yalan duygularla başlıyor
I’ve become a hostage to my own emotions — mistakes begin with false feelings.
İstemem seni, ne sevgini ne kendini
I don’t want you, not even your love.
İstemem ben bu hayatın sözüm ona pembe rengini
I don’t want this so-called pink life.
Sen de benim hatalarımdan birisin
You, too, are one of my mistakes.
Sen en büyük günahların bedelisin
You are the price of my greatest sins.
Senin için harcanan zamana yazık
What a shame for the time that was spent on you.
Sen en güzel duyguların katilisin
You are the murderer of my most beautiful feelings.
She hates that she loved him so much. She calls their memories sins, and since she can’t stop thinking about these memories, she thinks they are punishing her — “taking revenge.” The only problem is not recalling those memories, but that they also hurt her. Even though he was the wrong person to love, she loved him. Now her heart is bound by chains and she can’t let it go yet.
“I’ve become a hostage to my own emotions — mistakes begin with false feelings.” She knows he is not the right person to love, and I personally think she is ashamed of her feelings. But she is a hostage to her emotions, which means she can’t control them — her emotions are controlling her. She knows deep down that what she is feeling is wrong, but her heart is bound by chains and her brain is a dance hall for those memories.
We can also understand that he disappointed her through the lines “You are the murderer of my most beautiful feelings” and “What a shame for the time that was spent on you.” These lyrics show that the relationship left her with huge disappointment. Someone she once loved and trusted ended up destroying the feelings she had for him.
In my interpretation, the song is about loving someone so much that it eventually turns into resentment. Maybe he wasn’t always this way, or maybe she just didn’t see who he really was. But once she sees his real face, she regrets ever loving him and calls that love a mistake.
If you think this song is great, then you should listen to Sezen Aksu’s other songs. I could recommend Geri Dön and Biliyorsun.
I have so many more songs I would like to talk about, but like I said, it would take pages, so now I’m going to choose my favourite lyrics from a couple of songs and share them with you, and leave the interpretation to you…
Her Şey Sensin – Yalın
Koydum sevinçlerimi önüme
I laid all my joys out in front of me.
Baktım hepsi sensin
And realised they were all you.
Yazdığım şiirlerin her hecesi
Every syllable of the poems I wrote.
Üzüldüğüm tüm filmler
Every film that ever made me cry.
Yıpranmamış hayatlar
Unworn lives
Büyük hüzünler bekler
Are waiting for great sorrows.
Her işte bir hayır
They say there is good in everything.
Bu işte hepsi sensin
But in this story, it’s all you.
Aşk Kırıntıları – Teoman
Aşk kırıntısıyla doymaktansa
Rather than feeding on crumbs of love
Tek başıma aç kalırım bu hayatta
I’d rather stay hungry on my own in this life.
Paylaşacak bir şey artık yoksa
If there is nothing left to share
Bir erkekle bir kadın arasında
Between a man and a woman.
Nilüfer – Müslüm Gürses
Her şeyi al, bana beni geri ver, bir şansım olsun
Take everything, just give me myself back — let me have another chance.
Başka yer, başka zaman, sensiz ömrüm olsun
Somewhere else, some other time — let me have a life without you.
Sigara – Şebnem Ferah
Ben sigara dumanının altında
Yana yana en sonunda kül oldum
Beneath cigarette smoke,
I burned and burned until I finally turned to ash.
Sen kibritin hiç yanmayan ucunda
Birinin hayatından geçmiş oldun
And you, on the unlit end of the match,
just passed through someone’s life.
Yalnız Kuş – Göksel
Senin gökyüzünde benim yerim yoktu
There was no place for me in your sky.
Kuru dallarında kanatlarım kırılıp koptu
On your dry branches, my wings broke and fell apart.
Senin toprağında benim evim yoktu
There was no home for me in your land.
Kader aynı sondu, yazdığı son hikâye buydu
Fate had already written the ending — this was the final story.
Yanlış yerde geziyor bu kuş
This bird is wandering in the wrong place.
Bu yüzden yalnız uçuyor bu kuş
That’s why this bird is flying alone.
Hoşçakal – Emre Aydın
Sen hiç görmedin
You never saw it.
Su vermeye benzedik plastik çiçeklere
We were like watering plastic flowers.
Hiç görmedin
You never saw it.
Sen hiç görmedin
You never saw it.
Dans ettik durmadan kırık camlar üstünde
We kept dancing endlessly on broken glass.
If you ever give these Turkish songs a chance, you’ll realise they are so much more than the lyrics. When you listen to them, you won’t even need to understand the meaning to feel them in your soul. And if there is one thing better than Turkish lyricism, it is the music itself.