De Lorî
The lullaby of lullabies: sleep song and lament in one.
- Type
- Lullaby (lorî)
- ✦
- Traditional (folk repertoire)
De Lorî is the best-known face of the Kurdish lullaby tradition: the rocking call that mothers have sung over cradles for as long as anyone can trace, and that singers have carried onto the stage as one of the most affecting pieces in the repertoire. In the way of the lorî form, its tenderness carries weight: versions of De Lorî mourn as much as they soothe, and some of the great recorded performances are grief made bearable by melody. The full documentation of its versions belongs to the lorî tradition pages of this archive.
Lyrics and translations for this song are being prepared. We publish texts only after editorial verification and a copyright check: traditional and public-domain works in full, modern protected works as context and meaning only.