Yorum was established in Istanbul by university students in 1985 with an objective to react to the military coup that took place in 1980 and the depolitization and suppression policies that were subsequently imposed. The band, which was initially influenced by Ruhi Su, Mahzuni Şerif, Inti Illimani, Victor Jara, Quilapayun and Theodorakis, was formed to make the voice of the land and the people of Anatolia, where the band was born, heard with an infusion of revolutionary and socialist music. In a short period of time, Yorum has become a crucial name for dissident sensitivity and the struggle for rights and liberties.

As well as releasing an album and presenting multiple shows in Turkey and Europe every year since 1987, the band has participated in hundreds of mass protests, street demonstrations, strikes, and factory and university occupations. Band members have faced numerous custody cases, arrests and prohibitions due to the organized-revolutionary-activist nature of the band and the dissenting direction in the content and presentation of their music. Several members of the band were tortured on many occasions and were sentenced to decades of prison time; even the band's CD's and cassettes were fired at by security forces. However, all those obstacles could not impede the band's progress. As well as singing in Turkish, Yorum sings songs in other languages such as Kurdish, Arabic and Circassian , that are spoken in Anatolia. The band participates in the struggle for the right to speak these languages.

Subjects such as anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggles, prison massacres, destruction caused by natural disasters, imperialist wars, deaths, love, virtue and longing for a free world form the band's lyrical content. While increasing the complexity and depth of its musical structure through both its inner dynamics and its awareness of the local and global agenda, the band has not deviated from its main direction; in fact it has influenced many new musicians and bands with the "Yorum style". Yorum has incorporated local instruments such as mey ( a diatonic stringed instrument), baglama ( folk instrument with three double strings), kaval (shepherd's pipe) as well as many other instruments such as the violin, oboe and guitar. The band grounds its solid rhythm compositions and fluent melodies in the dominant solo and choral vocals. This music, which can be defined as folk-rock, contains timbres reminiscent of local folk songs, Mediterranean melodies, Latin American anthems and rock music.

The band, which has been a pioneer not only with its music but also with its vision, has succeeded in pleasing large audiences every year despite all prohibitions. Its albums are sold in the millions ; articles and books are published about the band; they are called "Prison Singers" and the "Snowplow" by the media. Yorum continues to sing hopeful songs in the name of all the world's revolutionary music.