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Balık Kavağa Çıkmış
A contemporary adaptation of a poem attributed to Yûnus Emre
Interpretation: Sûfî Ayna
A fish climbs a poplar; a stork gives birth to a donkey. Yûnus’s startling images meet a psychedelic funk and electronic pop interpretation.
The single is on Spotify; the animated music video is on YouTube.
Lyrics & the poem’s story
The words in this recording
The original Turkish lyrics follow their recorded order, including repeated refrains.
Show the remaining lyricsHide the remaining lyrics
A SHORT READING
Behind the startling words
“Çıktım Erik Dalına”, attributed to Yûnus Emre, turns everyday logic upside down. Grapes on a plum branch, a fish in a poplar, a fly throwing an eagle to the ground: its startling images invite a search for meaning beyond appearances.
In this adaptation, the fish-and-stork stanza returns three times as the chorus. In the final stanza, Yunus says his words resemble no others; meaning conceals its face, leaving the poem’s question with the listener.
The notes offer an interpretation of the poem, rather than a line-by-line translation.
Where the words begin
The source poem is “Çıktım Erik Dalına”, attributed to Yûnus Emre. This recording uses a contemporary adaptation of ten selected stanzas, rather than a verbatim transcription of a single source text.
Research article about the poem ↗
Attribution & text notes
The selected words and approved wording changes are preserved. Two additional returns of the fish-and-stork stanza belong to the musical arrangement. The source link leads to a research article about the poem; this adaptation is not presented as a transcription of a critical edition.
Words within the verse
- Şathiyye.
- A mode of Sufi poetry built around startling and paradoxical language.
- Kavak.
- A poplar tree; the unexpected place climbed by the fish.
- Kafdağı.
- A legendary mountain beyond the familiar world in tales and folklore.
- Tosbağa.
- A tortoise.
- Riyâkâr.
- Someone whose behaviour is insincere or for show.
- Ma‘nâ.
- Meaning; the inner sense of the words beyond their surface.