Tres clavinas en un tiesto, cada y una, una color la del medio es colorada empesijo del amor. Turnam, turnam, turnam. Ben buralarda durnam. A la mesa m´asenti el pirrón ya m’ arreprontí, de mi sposa me acordí, de comer me arrepenti. Turnam... Akko ya pàrese adá a la lishka ein avoda. de verlos a los mancebicos Ya parecen cercericos Turnam... Tus cabellos blondos son arrapada a la garsón cuando sales del coiffer me achilea el corazón Turnam... Sabes hablar en vuzvuz, merkas frigider con buz, te haces un grande mebuz y en baldes vas en otobús.. Turnam...
Three little carnations in a pot
one white and one pink
the one in the middle red,
the beginning of love. Turnam, turnam, turnam
Come, I will not stay here. At the table I sat myself,
the fork already tempted me,
I remembered my wife,
I regretted eating. Turnam... Akko already looks like an island,
in the office there is no work.
Seeing the young men,
They already look like little deer.
Turnam... Your hair is blond,
cut short like a boy;
when you come out of the hairdresser,
you make my heart tremble.
Turnam... You know how to speak in Yiddish
you buy a refrigerator on credit,
you make yourself a great fool,
and for nothing you go on the bus.
Turnam...
From Morenika Izmirlia - Judeo-Spanish songs from Smyrna, 2020
Typical of cancionero, this song has stanzas of various unconnected themes: one stanza presents the three carnations (the red one, for the beginning of love), another, about not eating because the loss of the beloved (despite having food and a fork - the pirron - already prepared). The third stanza was created in the early stages of the State of Israel, about the immigrant in Acre going to the Labor Office (lishká) which has no employment to offer the poor boys. In the last two stanzas is a flirtatious reference to the new fashion of the short blonde hairstyle, and the sharp criticism of someone who thinks he is important because he knows how to speak Yiddish (vuzvuz was the nickname for this language). He boasts of having a fridge with ice, but rides the bus without paying. The chorus in Turkish (which means "I'm not staying here") testifies that it comes from an adopted Turkish song.
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