It has been said that you cannot translate Anatolian music, you can only feel it. This collection of traditional songs from Turkey features previously unreleased recordings from the Purple Sheep Records archive. The term Anatolia comes from Greek and has both a geographic and cultural meaning. These 3 beautiful songs are thought to have been written by some of the most famous bards of Anatolian history and have been sung for hundreds of years .They reflect the harsh political and natural realities of life for the peoples of Anatolia , and the intimate relationship with nature that develops when your life depends on it. About the songs: Urfa Turkusu : From Urfa in Turkey. A deer wanders in the mountains, looking for her lost child and in her head she pleads with her child not to wander too far as there is danger from hunters. For hundreds and maybe thousands of years, rebels have seen the harsh mountains of Anatolia as their protection from enemies, so the song can also be seen as a metaphor for a mother whose child has gone to the mountains to join the rebel fighters. Uyur idik : from the Sivas region of Turkey. This song is attributed to the Alevi folk poet and rebel Pir Sultan Abdal who lived c1600. The Alevis practice a moderate form of Islam in which music is very important and many of the great folk songs of Anatolia come from the Alevi tradition. Pir Sultan lived in an era when the Ottoman elite were trying to establish their power in the villages of Anatolia and he led many people’s rebellions against them. Eventually he was caught and hung but his songs have lived on and are still popular today. Daglara gel: This song is attributed to the poet Gevheri who lived c1700. The title of the song means ‘come to the mountains’ and the words tell the listener to escape to the violet covered peaks as they will be safe there, protected by the mountains. In modern history, a member of the famous Turkish band, Grup Yorum was imprisoned for singing the song because of its connotations of rebellion.