Mike's Oud Forums

Lyrics for "Akh Anoush"

ArmoOudist - 8-14-2021 at 04:44 PM

To my fellow Kef enthusiasts, I'm wondering if anyone has the lyrics for the song, Akh Anoush.
Here is a live recording of Harry Minassian singing it in the seventies:
https://soundcloud.com/user-167617985/ars-dance-holy-cross-1975-4?in...

The quality of the recording, as well as Minassian's very old timey pronunciation, makes this hard to decipher. I asked Harry Kezelian, who is usually very good with this stuff, but even he said that figuring out the lyrics is very difficult.

Here is another version from the mid 1920s by Karekin Proodian. The oud playing here is *very* traditional, and is a nice time capsule to how Armenians played the oud back in the Ottoman Empire. Very stripped down compared to how later Armenian-Americans (like John Berberian) would play.

https://canary-records.bandcamp.com/track/akh-anoush

The lyrics to this are different.

John Erlich - 8-16-2021 at 08:42 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ArmoOudist  
To my fellow Kef enthusiasts, I'm wondering if anyone has the lyrics for the song, Akh Anoush.
Here is a live recording of Harry Minassian singing it in the seventies:
https://soundcloud.com/user-167617985/ars-dance-holy-cross-1975-4?in...

The quality of the recording, as well as Minassian's very old timey pronunciation, makes this hard to decipher. I asked Harry Kezelian, who is usually very good with this stuff, but even he said that figuring out the lyrics is very difficult.

Here is another version from the mid 1920s by Karekin Proodian. The oud playing here is *very* traditional, and is a nice time capsule to how Armenians played the oud back in the Ottoman Empire. Very stripped down compared to how later Armenian-Americans (like John Berberian) would play.

https://canary-records.bandcamp.com/track/akh-anoush

The lyrics to this are different.


Sorry...tried all of my tricks to see if I could find the lyrics on-line. I even tried searching the name is Armenian, "Ô±Õ­ Ô±Õ¶Õ¸Ö‚Õ·" (right?). Is this the same piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oj89c_UUYI (It is played as a ballad.)

maraoud108 - 8-17-2021 at 08:18 AM

Have you tried searching for the song as "Agh Anoush?"

I found several other versions where the words might be easier to decipher.

Here's a version by Mike Sarkissian:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zzSF7S2vsg

ArmoOudist - 8-17-2021 at 10:57 AM

Quote: Originally posted by John Erlich  


Sorry...tried all of my tricks to see if I could find the lyrics on-line. I even tried searching the name is Armenian, "Ô±Õ­ Ô±Õ¶Õ¸Ö‚Õ·" (right?). Is this the same piece: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oj89c_UUYI (It is played as a ballad.)


You're right that that's the same piece.

There's a high probability you won't find lyrics to this piece in Armenian. The rhythm is unmistakably Western Armenian, so Armenians in modern Armenia probably have little to no knowledge of this song. This seems to be one of those folk songs that was preserved almost exclusively in Armenian-American communities, so finding lyrics in the Armenian language will be slim.

ArmoOudist - 8-17-2021 at 11:14 AM

Quote: Originally posted by maraoud108  
Have you tried searching for the song as "Agh Anoush?"

I found several other versions where the words might be easier to decipher.

Here's a version by Mike Sarkissian:

[url]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zzSF7S2vsg
[/url]

I have a hard time understanding Mike Sarkissian on a good day...lol...

What I can get from this are follows.

Akh Anoush Anoush Anoush

....Sheker...mi noush.... (2x)

Sheker anoon e....aysoo sheker shad anoush....

bardez es toon eh... toon al...

...eem meedkees mech eench antszav.

From what I can piece together, the whole song is a play on words. "Anoush" is an Armenian girl's name meaning "Sweet." We have an Armenian candy associated with love and marriage called "Noush," essentially candied almonds. The singer is talking about how the girl he loves is named Anoush and how she's sweeter than candy.

The thing that throws me off is the way people pronounce the words. For example, in Armenian, "Shakar" is sugar, but every version of this song pronounces it as "Sheker," which I believe is Turkish. The way they pronounce the vowels is weird. That's how you can tell it's an old song. It probably came from a village where the Turkish mixed very heavily with the Armenian.

maraoud108 - 8-17-2021 at 08:06 PM

Is the song mostly in Western Armenian?

It might be interesting to have an Eastern Armenian speaker translate it to see if there's anything they're able to pick up, or not....

ArmoOudist - 8-18-2021 at 03:50 AM

Quote: Originally posted by maraoud108  
Is the song mostly in Western Armenian?

It might be interesting to have an Eastern Armenian speaker translate it to see if there's anything they're able to pick up, or not....


It's definitely in Western Armenian.

"Akh Anoush" Lyrics

Nathan.kefeyan - 2-15-2024 at 10:43 PM

Quote: Originally posted by ArmoOudist  
To my fellow Kef enthusiasts, I'm wondering if anyone has the lyrics for the song, Akh Anoush.
Here is a live recording of Harry Minassian singing it in the seventies:
https://soundcloud.com/user-167617985/ars-dance-holy-cross-1975-4?in...

The quality of the recording, as well as Minassian's very old timey pronunciation, makes this hard to decipher. I asked Harry Kezelian, who is usually very good with this stuff, but even he said that figuring out the lyrics is very difficult.

Here is another version from the mid 1920s by Karekin Proodian. The oud playing here is *very* traditional, and is a nice time capsule to how Armenians played the oud back in the Ottoman Empire. Very stripped down compared to how later Armenian-Americans (like John Berberian) would play.

https://canary-records.bandcamp.com/track/akh-anoush

The lyrics to this are different.


Everyone who posted here is more or less correct. The lyrics to the song "Akh Anoush" or "Agh Anoush" (both spellings are used), originally recorded by Karekin Proodian with completely different lyrics than what we hear today, seems to have had its lyrics lost over the years. It was most commonly sung by Harry Minassian who also didn't seem to know the words, at least to the first verse. Roger Krikorian and other singers performed the song frequently but still seemed to mumble the lyrics in some parts. Therefore it has been passed down with this inconsistency. The lyrics as I hear them in many recordings are the following (with ellipses as unknown words):

--Chorus (the ellipses in the chorus are where the singer tends to trail off or mumble; ?eker is a turkish word):
Akh anoush, anoush anoush
.....?eker..... minoush
?eker ............

--Verses
Bardezis turnen antzav
Hangardz yedeven toon tartzar
Anbadchar toon al kitzar
Midkit mech inch al antzav

Achgerut sev oo siroon
Ayderit garmir ....
Toon al sirdis hangarz kotzar
Sirdit mech toon ..... tartzar

Tzouytzerovet khapetzir
Sirdis dzaghig zees latzoutzir
Yegadz jampan ov toon katzir
Yes minag al zis toon .......

--

The Vosbikian Band also recorded it on their Armenian Dance Favorites, Volume 6. They made up completely different lyrics, as they did with many songs.

Hope this helps.