Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Kamancheh by Amirhossein Eskandari, oud by Ido Romano, vocals by Kelareh Kabiri, saz & drums by Farya Faraji.
This is a folk song from the city of Dyarbekir, called Dikranagerd, where Armenians, Kurds and Turks, along with other ethnic groups, lived and produced music characterised by the areal features of Anatolia. Whilst most renditions nowadays within Armenian music introduce modern instrumentation and tonal harmony and chords, I wanted this rendition to be a little closer to how thes song would have sounded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, therefore using only a static drone, as well as the instruments of the area: oud, saz, and the gourd shaped kemenche played in eastern Anatolia which is largely identical to the one found in Iran and Azerbaijan.
The lyrics are in the Dyarbekir dialect of Armenian, and the pronunciation of some words will therefore sound heavily accented and different from those most Armenians are used to today.
Lyrics:
Zhamoon tore ganire
Achkov oonkov guh ganche
Baghn inche, baghchan inche?
Aghchig koo sevdan inche?
Pantsuhr dzar, kaghtsuhr buhdoogh
Chim hasni, faydan inche?
Kuhnoog en artuhntsootsir
Anosh koonuhs tuhrtsootsir
Toon ki yesi chuhm n’arnir
Inchoo halkin imtsootsir?
Aghchig anoonit Anna
Kezi shuhbaken desa
Ogo uhnzi bak mi door
Eghnam babooti pesa
English
She was standing by the church door
She’s calling me with her eyes and brow
What is a farm, what is a garden?
Girl, what is your desire?
Tall plant, sweet fruit
I can’t reach, so what’s the use?
I was asleep, you woke me up
You made me jump from my sweet slumber
You, that were not going to take me
Why did you tell everyone?
Girl with the name Anna
I saw you from the window
Come give me a kiss
Let me be your father’s son-in-law
Kamancheh by Amirhossein Eskandari, oud by Ido Romano, vocals by Kelareh Kabiri, saz & drums by Farya Faraji.
This is a folk song from the city of Dyarbekir, called Dikranagerd, where Armenians, Kurds and Turks, along with other ethnic groups, lived and produced music characterised by the areal features of Anatolia. Whilst most renditions nowadays within Armenian music introduce modern instrumentation and tonal harmony and chords, I wanted this rendition to be a little closer to how thes song would have sounded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, therefore using only a static drone, as well as the instruments of the area: oud, saz, and the gourd shaped kemenche played in eastern Anatolia which is largely identical to the one found in Iran and Azerbaijan.
The lyrics are in the Dyarbekir dialect of Armenian, and the pronunciation of some words will therefore sound heavily accented and different from those most Armenians are used to today.
Lyrics:
Zhamoon tore ganire
Achkov oonkov guh ganche
Baghn inche, baghchan inche?
Aghchig koo sevdan inche?
Pantsuhr dzar, kaghtsuhr buhdoogh
Chim hasni, faydan inche?
Kuhnoog en artuhntsootsir
Anosh koonuhs tuhrtsootsir
Toon ki yesi chuhm n’arnir
Inchoo halkin imtsootsir?
Aghchig anoonit Anna
Kezi shuhbaken desa
Ogo uhnzi bak mi door
Eghnam babooti pesa
English
She was standing by the church door
She’s calling me with her eyes and brow
What is a farm, what is a garden?
Girl, what is your desire?
Tall plant, sweet fruit
I can’t reach, so what’s the use?
I was asleep, you woke me up
You made me jump from my sweet slumber
You, that were not going to take me
Why did you tell everyone?
Girl with the name Anna
I saw you from the window
Come give me a kiss
Let me be your father’s son-in-law
