Social Media Users Clash Over Folk Song 'Ai, Byl Bylom'
Not long ago, the Bashkir ethno-group Ay Yola and singer Alsou topped the charts with their version of the famous folk song «Ai, Byl Bylom» («Ai, my nightingale»). This sparked heated debates. Crimean Tatars have claimed rights to the song, saying it was borrowed, and the original is theirs.
The song «Ai, Byl Bylom» has firmly entered the repertoire of singers from Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, and it would seem that both peoples have equal rights to it. But suddenly a curious story happened — Crimean Tatars claim that the song was borrowed from them, specifically from the humorous song «On Eki de Ordak,» popular among Crimean Tatars of Dobruja (a historical region in Romania and Bulgaria). Listen for yourself:
«It»s a Bashkir folk song. The Agidel River flows through Bashkortostan. Show me where the Agidel flows in Crimea, or in Turkey?« writes one of the subscribers.
«For me, this song has always been and is Tatar, always, since the 70s it was always played on the radio in Tatar.»
«This is a Bashkir folk song with a mention of the Bashkir Agidel River, your songs have roots in Bashkir ones. How could it be twisted like that?»
«The song shouldn»t be divided, we should just listen and enjoy that the song brings joy to people.«
And you, readers, what do you think? Are the song«s motifs similar to the Crimean Tatar one from the video?
By the way, in the music video for the song «Ai, Byl Bylom,» there are shots of a herd of 1.5 thousand purebred Bashkir horses. Users argued whether they were drawn by a neural network, but the band«s lead singer gave a clear answer.
