Qele Qele Translation from Armenian to English
Qele, Qele (Come, Come)
Armenian Folk Song
Translation by Mane Mehrabyan with assistance from Alicia Free
Easy-to-print Qele Qele lyric translation
Keh-leh keh-leh Come, come
kehl-kid mer nem That walk of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: I adore your walk
Koh goh vah kahn khel kid mer nem That admirable mind of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: Your admirable mind, I adore
Refrain:
See rah vohr loh rik Beloved little quail
Vee rah vohr loh rik Wounded little quail
Loh rik Quail
Seh vah vohr loh rik Little black quail
Loh rik jahn Little quail, dear
Keh-leh keh-leh koh ghid mer nem Come, come, that veil of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: I adore your veil (…that traditionally covered an Armenian woman’s hair)
Koh lu sy’n kah sho ghid mer nem Those moonbeams of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: Your moonbeams, I adore
Refrain: See rah vohr loh rik…
Keh-leh keh-leh ber nid mer nem Come, come, mouth of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: I adore your mouth
Koh si ru nik d’ (dz) e nid mer nem That lovely voice of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: Your lovely voice, I adore
Refrain: See rah vohr loh rik…
Keh-leh keh-leh d’ (dz) e nid mer nem Come, come, hand of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: I adore your hand
Koh hu – r – krak se rid mer nem That lightning-fire love of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: Your lightning-fire love, I adore
Refrain: See rah vohr loh rik…
Keh-leh keh-leh a cheed mer nem Come, come, eye of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: I adore your eyes
Koh a nu shik pa cheed mer nem That sweet kiss of yours, for which I would die
Meaning: Your sweet kiss, I adore
Refrain: See rah vohr loh rik…
Translation help from https://lyricstranslate.com/
And page 40 (35 in the book) from here: https://dokumen.tips/documents/songbook-all.html
Note: Armenians use the term “Mernem” or “I would die for” a lot in their conversations. They pick a part of the person, like the eye, heart, hands, and whenever appropriate they address lovingly the person with “Achid mernem”, literally meaning “I would die for that eye”.
So for example if I just made a beautiful drawing my grandma might say dzerkerid mernem (I would die for those hands of yours!).
So it becomes less of a statement of passionate truth and more of a loving call/name for the person.
For example, my grandma would often tell me to eat and then at the end of the sentence add, “Arevi telerit mernem”. Instead of saying, “Eat Mané,” she would say, “Eat, rays of sun for which I would die.” It sounds too much in English but in Armenian it’s a common thing to hear especially among family, with grandmas or aunts or moms adoring their children.
So looking at the lyrics, and seeing qele qele (let’s go, let’s go, or come come) and seeing achid mernem (I would die for your eye), I realized it’s not saying statements of passionate truth but rather encouraging a loved one to come by naming that person through their characteristics. So instead of Let’s go, Mané! It says, let’s go eye of yours for which I would die. And this isn’t weird for us because we use this construction a lot to show family love. Hopes this gives more context to these beautiful lyrics.
As for the veil, to put it in context, armenian women have traditionally worn a head covering and traditionally we don’t unveil brides during weddings, so veil in the English is not the same veil in armenian. For religious church services women have to put something over their head even now but outside church many women still wore a veil that covered some of the hair and not the face. My grandma from the village wore a head wrap all the time and most others in her generation did as well. I think there may be a number of reasons why, one being that armenian women in the Ottoman Empire in the villages were around Muslim women who wore veils. Since the veil then became a part of the women, just like the headcap Puritan women would wear, I would understand why the song would say I would die for your veil, because it was an integral distinguishing part of the armenian woman.
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