Tello (song)

Tello or Aman Tello is a folk song and dance from the South Caucasian and Anatolian regions. The earliest known recording of the song was a 1912 Azerbaijani mugham composition. There are also Turkish versions of the song. It was popular from the 20th century onwards in the Azerbaijani and Turkish communities.

Tello is a diminutive form of the female name Telli, found in both Azerbaijani and Turkish cultures. The name Telli derives from the word tel, meaning "strand (of hair)", and the Turkic suffix -li, which means "with", together metaphorically meaning "the one with long hair". Aman, on the other hand, is an interjection burrowed from Arabic, commonly used to express urgency, sorrow or a heartfelt plea - typical of emotional expression in the Caucasian and Anatolian folk music. Therefore, the phrase "Aman Tello" essentially means "Oh Tello", centering around a girl who is admired or longed for.

The folk song has origins in the Southern Caucasus (most prominently present-day Azerbaijan) and in the Eastern Anatolia region of present-day Turkey. While the original composer is unknown, there is evidence that the song was known to Azerbaijani and Turkish musicians and composers by the 20th century.

The earliest known recording of the song was made in 1912 by an Azerbaijani khananda ensemble that included renowned folk singers such as Jabbar Garyaghdioglu, Kechachioghlu Muhammed, Mashadi Mammad Farzaliyev, and others, when their performances of mugham, tasnif, and folk songs, including Aman Tello, were recorded on the gramophone record by the "Sport-Record" during their visit to Warsaw.^[1]

In Turkey, versions of the song appear under different names, most notably "Tello Gider Yan Gider". The earliest documented Turkish version was collected in the 1970s from a local source in the Aşkale district of Erzurum Province by Musa Atıcı, and was later transcribed by Muharrem Akkuş.^[2] The earliest known recording of this version is the 1977 song "Tello Gider" by Aşık Fadime and Aşık Hasan.