Tengir-Too ensemble Gül (Flower) (KY)

Текст песни "Tengir-Too ensemble — Gül (Flower) (KY)"

Language(s) Kyrgyz
Instrument(s) Jew's Harp; Komuz
Music and text: Atai Ogombaev
Performer: Zainidin Imanaliev

Atai Ogombaev was a well-known singer and komuz player from Talas, in western Kyrgyzstan. In this song from the early 1930s, he expresses the optimism of those times. Zainidin Imanaliev imitates the style of Atai’s singing, which often employed falsetto, and emphasized sweetness more than power. The nightingale is a central image of Sufi-inspired poetry, and its spiritual symbolism resonates in Atai’s verse.
The hollyhock that appears in the spring
Grows like a flame day after day.
When the nightingale sings in the spring,
The flower is still more beautiful.
The time comes for the flower to bloom,
Spring is the time of flowers.
You blossom like spring flowers.
Spring is truly the time of the young.
The nightingales cling to the flowers;
They turned heads to exchange glances.
The nightingale is like a dew on the flower.
Truly we’re worthy of this [happy] life.
If a nightingale sings at dawn,
It’s like the aroma of a fine flower.
Our spirits rise, and we open up
In this new time.