Halo!
Today, I’m going to share about a children song from Indonesia. It is titled Paman Datang, which literally translates as ‘Uncle Came’.
This song is made by Mr. A.T. Mahmud and was popularized by the child idol Tasya in the early 2000s. I chose this song because it’s one the most popular children song when I was little, and even until now I can play the piano chord of this song easily, as it has a very simple tune and finger movements.
Told from the perspective of a young child who lives in the city, the story is about their uncle who lives in the village and has come to visit them in the city. In this song, the richness and fertility of Indonesia’s soil is highlighted, along with the ambience in a village; how peaceful and fun the life in a village can be!
For Indonesians ourselves, this song is also a reminder of how blessed our land is, where it is said that a tree will be able to sprout wherever you plant your stick. I myself was born and raised in the city, but I have had the pleasure of spending a few days at a time in a village, usually as part of my schools’ service-learning programme. And they do differ vastly.
In cities, particularly nowadays, the stress and rush makes a lot of people can no longer enjoy their lives. We forgot what’s it like to be at ease and able to enjoy what we have as they are. In the village, however, we can leave all those behind, as things like internet or even electricity is still rare in some places. It is very peaceful.
Of course, if we live and work there, we might not survive on our own. The living condition is very different from cities or even from villages in developed countries. This means both good and not-so-good news, especially for those who have more inclination towards the city. But if you love nature, villages are a great way to ease up your accumulated stress.
Right, enough of that, let’s see the complete lyric of Paman Datang.
Paman Datang
Kemarin pa~man datang
Pamanku da~ri desa.
Dibawakannya rambutan, pisang
Dan sayur mayur segala rupa
Bercrita paman tentang ternaknya
Berkembang biak semua
Padaku, paman berjanji
Mengajak libur di desa
Hatiku girang tidak terperi
Terbayang sudah aku di sana
Mandi di sungai, turun ke sawah
Menggiring kerbau ke kandang
*Note: the ~ symbol means the previous syllable is lengthen when sung
Short, easy, and to the point. This is a good children song for me.
Now, I’ll try to translate it line per line, though I won’t recommend singing my translated version, as it is more of a direct translation and not one made to be sung.
Uncle Came!
Yesterday, uncle came
My uncle who came from the village
He brought with him rambutan, banana
And various types of vegetables
Uncle tell a story of his cattle
All of them flourishing
To me, uncle promised
Inviting to a vacation in the village
My heart happily swell
I imagined I was already there
Bathing in the river, going down to the rice field
Herding buffaloes to their byre
That’s the translation^^
When I was writing this, the word processor highlighted the word rambutan but doesn’t have any suggestion, though google told me it is still called rambutan in English. I think it is a type of fruit common in south-east Asia. Just think of a lychee that has red outer skin and strands of hair-like things (I don’t really know myself what those are). The flesh itself is white and sweet. If you want to know further, just ask Sir Google about it.
For the one-hand piano chord, it goes more or less like this:
Do Re Mi Fa Mi Fa Re Do
Mi Fa Sol Fa Mi Fa La Sol
La Sol Fa La La Sol Fa Mi Sol Sol
Fa Mi Re Fa Fa Mi Re Mi Fa Sol
La Sol Fa La La Sol Fa Mi Sol Sol
Fa Mi Re Fa Fa Mi Re Do
And repeat for the second verse.
It’s very easy right? Even beginners in piano will be able to complete it no problem. Every chord also represents a syllable in the lyric. And the best thing is when playing it is that the fingers don’t need to cross each other or get lifted too many times (¬‿¬)
Alright, that’s it for this post. If you want to listen to the song, just search Paman Datang or Paman Datang Tasya in Youtube.
Thank you for reading ~(`▿´)~
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