ACROSS THE BALKANS

I traveled many times in the Balkans both by bus and motorcycle. The Balkans are usually characterized as comprising Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzagovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece and Turkey – with all or part of each of those countries located within the penninsula. The Balkans  remained as lands of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. Everywhere you go, you encounter signs of the common life of Turcs with Bulgarians, Bosnians, Greeks, Serbs, Macedonians, Albanians, etc.: Mustafa Kemal, mosques, baths, inns, bazaars, raki, Turkish coffee, börek, halay, horon, etc.

Here are some explanations regarding the non-English words used in the song:

• BAŞÇARŞI: A Turkish word meaning Grand Bazaar. It is still used in some Balkan countries.
• HORO: A Bulgarian word that designates a group dance performed by holding hands and forming big circles and rows. It is called “horon” in Turkish.
• RAKIJA: The Serbian word for Rakı, the national Turkish drink.
• KAFANA: This is a Serbo-Croation word for a district type of local bistro usually with live music performance.
• BUREK: The Serbian word for Börek in Turkish. Börek is a family of baked filled pasteries made of a thin flaky dough such as phyllo or yufka.
• BITOLA: Bitola is the name of the town located in North Macedonia where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk had his military high school education.
• HAYDİ BRE: Turkish words (exclamation) meaning “Come on, Go ahead, Go on”. They are used in most Balkan countries.

While designing the song, I thought of putting an excerpt from Yahya Kemal Beyatlı’s poem, “Akıncılar” (The Raiders), about The Balkans and reading it as a poem in Turkish:

“Bin atlı, akınlarda çocuklar gibi şendik;

Bin atlı, o gün dev gibi bir orduyu yendik.

Ak tolgalı beylerbeyi haykırdı: İlerle! 

Bir yaz günü geçtik Tuna’dan kafilelerle.”

I made the first recording of the song by switching to the first stanza after reading the poem. The link was good, but I did not like the way I read poetry; my voice didn’t fit well for reading a heroic poem. I thought a more bass sound would suit such a poem. As a result, a Balkan mood was introduced into the song’s introduction and repeated in the finale.

It would not be possible to complete the song without a quote from the “Gafil Ne Bilir”of the Mehter Team, the Ottoman military band (Gafil Ne Bilir: Music by: İsmail Hakkı Bey, Lyrics by Ahmet Muhtar Paşa).

“Across the Balkans” reflects various travel memories from different Balkan cities. It was originally  composed as six stanzas. One day, my music director, Volkan Başaran phoned me up and said, “I am now working on Across the Balkans. The song gives met he impressipon that it is not finished. It would be beter if you wrote a concluding verse.” Half an hour later, Volkan found in his e-mail box the verse that starts with the line, “The Balkans make me feel at home…” That verse is the conclusion of my trips to the Balkans.

Travelling to Balkan countries shows what the Ottomans did over the centuries and what an enormous empire they created and ruled with mosques and lodges, inns and baths, mausoleums and cemeteries, high schools and madrasas, ballads and laments, palaces and houses, swords and arrows, battles and wars won and lost.

The following instruments were played during the recording sessions:

• Tenor Saxophone
• Trombone
• Bass Trombone
• Trumpet
• Electric Guitar
• Bass Guitar
• Drum Set
• Percussion Instruments

The Lyrics:

ACROSS THE BALKANS

I KEPT STARING AT THE PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN,

SELLING FLOWERS AT A STAND IN SARAJEVO.

WE WERE TOURING THE “BAŞÇARŞI” MARKET PLACE,

ON OUR WAY TO THE FAMOUS LATIN BRIDGE.

THE COASTAL TOWNS OF DUBROVNIK AND KOTOR

SUPRISED ME WITH THEIR MEDIEVAL CHARM.

THE TOWN OF TIRANA MADE ME WONDER A LOT,

‘CAUSE EVERYBODY DROVE MERCEDES CARS.

PEOPLE WERE DANCING THE “HORO”

AT A BIG WEDDING PARTY IN VARNA.

A GYPSY GIRL ASKED ME TO DANCE WITH HER

AT A STREET SHOW IN CRAIOVA.

I HAD A SHOT OF “RAKIJA” IN NIS

AND “BUREK” IN A CUTE OLD “KAFANA”,

LADIES OF PODGORICA WERE SO BEAUTIFUL,

I EXTENDED MY STAY FOR A WHILE.

MUSTAFA KEMAL OF THESSALONIKI

WAS THE STAR OF HIS SCHOOL IN BITOLA.

HIS GIRLFRIEND HELENI LIVED NOT TOO FAR AWAY,

WITH A LOVE THAT LASTED FOREVER.

THE BATTLEFIELD OF KOSOVO WAS GRAND;

IT TOOK ME BACK TO THIRTEEN-EIGHTYNINE.

THE TUNE OF THE OTTOMAN ARMY BAND

SOUNDED LIVELY IN MY EARS.

THE BALKANS MAKE ME FEEL AT HOME;

COMMON MANNERS AND ATTITUDES,

A COMMON FOLKLORE AND A LONG COMMON PAST,

DESERVING A COMMON FUTURE…

Haydi Bre Hasan…!