หัวก้อย Hua Goy (Heads, Tails)

Lyrics by ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul, aka Add Carabao; Composer is Carabao (the band); Producer is ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul, aka Add Carabao

เหรียญยังมีสองด้าน
A coin even has two sides
สะพานก็มีสองฟาก
A bridge has [ends on] two banks
คนเราเกิดจำนวนมาก ร้อยพ่อพันแม่
Us people are born in large numbers; hundreds of fathers, thousands of mothers*
ชอบคิดว่าต้องเหมือนตน
[And we] like to think they [all] must be like us
ไม่เหมือนก็เลยตั้งแง่
If they aren’t like us we look at it negatively/have a bias:
คนนั้นคนนี้ก็แย่ แย่ไปหมด
“This person and that person are terrible. Everyone is terrible!”

ตั้งกฏเกณฑ์ขึ้นมาเอง
[One] makes up their own rules
ข้าเก่งข้าเหนือกว่าใคร
“I’m great! I’m better than anybody!”
ไม่ยอมรับฟังผู้ใด ที่ปรารถนาดี
[One] is unwilling to listen to anyone at all who wishes us well
มีอวิชาเป็นเจ้าเรือน
Ignorance owns the home
จึงรายล้อมด้วยเพื่อนพ้องน้องพี่
Therefore [you are] surrounded by a group of friends
เพื่อนตายเจ้าไม่เคยมี
But you’ve never had a friend-till-death,
มีแต่เพื่อนหลอกแดก
only friends who cheat

หัวก้อยยังไม่เหมือนกัน
Heads and tails still aren’t the same
คนเราทำไมต้องเหมือนกัน
Why do us people need to be the same?

สวรรค์ไม่ต้องปั่นแปะ
Heaven doesn’t need to spin and slap [the coins to see if they come up heads or tails]
นรกไม่ต้องเสียงทาย
Hell doesn’t need to play a gambling game
หัวก้อยนั้นมีนัยยะ
Heads and Tails have meaning
เคารพในความแตกต่าง
Respect differences
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันนะ
Our heads and tails exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันได้
Our heads and tails CAN exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันนะ
Our heads and tails exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันได้
Our heads and tails CAN exist together

ดีเลวบ้างก็ช่างเขา
Good or bad, some people dismiss [other people]
ตัวเราเลวอย่างเขาไหม
Are we/I as bad as them?
เที่ยวโทษคนอื่นทำไม
Why blame others,
ไม่รีบแก้ไขตัวเอง
[And] not hurry to fix it oneself?
ธรรมะนั้นคือหน้าที่
Dharma is our duty
ทำดีไม่ต้องอวดเก่ง
If you do good, you don’t need to show off like you are great
สักวันโลกจะเห็นเอง ใครเจ๋งใครจบ
One day the world will see for itself who is cool and who is finished

หัวก้อยยังไม่เหมือนกัน
Yet heads and tails are not the same
คนเราทำไมต้องเหมือนกัน
Why do we people need to be the same?

สวรรค์ไม่ต้องปั่นแปะ
Heaven doesn’t need to spin and slap [the coins to see if they come up heads or tails]
นรกไม่ต้องเสียงทาย
Hell doesn’t need to play a gambling game
หัวก้อยนั้นมีนัยยะ
Heads and tails have meaning
เคารพในความแตกต่าง
Respect differences
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันนะ
Our head and tails exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันได้
Our heads and tails are able to exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันนะ
Our head and tails exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันได้
Our heads and tails are able exist together

หัวก้อยยังไม่เหมือนกัน
Heads and tails aren’t the same.
คนเราทำไมต้องเหมือนกัน
Why do we people need to be the same?

สวรรค์ไม่ต้องปั่นแปะ
Heaven doesn’t need to spin and slap [the coins to see if they come up heads or tails]
นรกไม่ต้องเสียงทาย
Hell doesn’t need to play gambling games
หัวก้อยนั้นมีนัยยะ
Heads and tails have meaning
เคารพในความแตกต่าง
Respect differences
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันนะ
Our heads and tails exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันได้
Our heads and tails can exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันนะ
Our heads and tails exist together
หัวก้อยเราอยู่ด้วยกันได้
Our heads and tails can exist together

* Exactly it says “hundreds of fathers, thousands of mothers” but it is probably a case of splitting a word in two, so hundreds and thousands of fathers and mothers.

UFO

Music and lyrics by ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul aka แอ๊ด คาราบาว
From the album UFO by แอ๊ด คาราบาว & ตามมาเรา Add Carabao & Tamaraw (Tamaraw is the name of Add’s backup band for this album, whose members are a subset of Carabao)

Note: The punchline of this song fails for the English speaker because of the bad English. I have translated the bad English into good English, as best I can, while trying to preserve the word play so you can get the concept of the song, which is interesting.

*เราไม่ได้อยู่โดดเดี่ยว เพียงผู้เดียวในเวิ้งจักรวาล
We aren’t all alone, the only people in the universe
เพราะคนเห็นสิ่งต่างๆ ลอยมาช่างน่าอัศจรรย์
Because people see something different floating over here in these amazing times
วัตถุเหล่านั้นมันบินได้ วัตถุเหล่านั้นมันเหนือชั้น
Those objects can fly. Those objects are superior [to ours].
ทั้งหลากหลายรูปพรรณเขาเรียกกัน UFO
All those variously described [objects] we call “UFOs”

เราไม่ฉลาดสุดๆ โลกมนุษย์กำลังเข้าสู่สงคราม
We are totally not smart. The human world is heading into war
สงครามโลกครั้งที่ 3 สงครามระเบิดปรมาณู
A World War III, a war with atomic bombs,
ที่อาจเผาโลกลุกเป็นไฟ ที่อาจทำลายโลกเป็นจุล
Which will burn the world, lighting it in flames, which will break the world to pieces
เหมือนคราวโลกเสียสมดุล สูญสิ้นยุคไดโนเสาร์
Like the time the world lost its equilibrium at the end of Age of Dinosaurs.
ทุกเผ่าพันธุ์ล้มตาย
All species die.

**UFO (UFO) เขาบินมาหาเราทำไม (ทำไม ทำไม)
UFO (UFO), why to you fly over to visit us? (Why? Why?)
UFO (UFO) เขาบินมาดี มาร้าย (มาดี มาร้าย)
UFO (UFO), are you flying over for good or for evil? (Coming for good? Coming for evil?)
UFO (UFO) เขาอาจมาเตือนถึงอันตราย (อันตราย)
UFO (UFO). They might be coming to warn us of danger (Danger).

***ว่าฆ่าตัวตายชัดๆ
That [we are] clearly going to kill ourselves
มันไม่ใช่ประทัด มันเป็นระเบิดปรมาณู
They’re not a firecrackers. They’re atomic bombs
เด็กเล่นประทัด ผู้ใหญ่เล่นปรมาณู
Children play with firecrakers. Adults play with atomic bombs
มันไม่ใช่ประทัด มันเป็นระเบิดปรมาณู
They’re not a firecrackers. They’re atomic bombs
เด็กเล่นประทัด ผู้ใหญ่เล่นปรมาณู
Children play with firecrakers. Adults play with atomic bombs

(*, **, ***)

มันไม่ใช่ประทัด มันเป็นระเบิดปรมาณู
They’re not a firecrackers. They’re atomic bombs
เด็กเล่นประทัด ผู้ใหญ่เล่นปรมาณู
Children play with firecrakers. Adults play with atomic bombs
You F*** Yourself สร้างระเบิดปรมาณู
You Fuck Yourself creating atomic bombs
You F*** Ourself… UFO
You (all) Fuck Ourselves . . . UFO*

*UFO is an acronym for “You Fuck Ourself.” The English is bad so I adjusted as best I can while keeping the acronym.

Translation of Add Carabao post offering moral support to Move Forward Party after ban by Constitutional Court

Translation of Add Carabao’s post (under the name Add Bao) on Meta, August 7, 2024 (the day that the Move Forward party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court):

“I’d like to express my condolences to the Move Forward Party with regards to the injustice of our politics in this era.

I wish that all of you remain committed to fighting within the ideals/ideology that you all believe in. I will be yet one more moral support to you all, ‘the new generation, people who are the hope for a system of democracy that is truly real.’

Don’t be discouraged. May you endure … endure until the day that heaven and earth empathize/sympathize.” *

*Note that the last line of the Add Bao post is is almost exactly the last line of the song ลูกลุงขี้เมา Luuk Lung Kee Mow (Child of the Drunken Uncle), from the 25th Anniversary album, a song which is a sequel to the ลุงขี้เมา Lung Kee Mao (The Drunken Uncle), the first song on the first album. And so that line packs the punch of the story told in those two famous songs. Taking into account the meaning of the song, “endure until until the day that heaven and earth empathize” seems to mean “keep going until the day that heaven and earth are merciful and the downtrodden people finally get a break.”

กลับมารู้สึกตัว Glap Ma Roosuek Dtua (Return to Consciousness)

By แอ๊ด คาราบาว & ตามมาเรา Add Carabao & Tamaraw (Tamaraw is the name of Add’s backup band for this album, whose members are a subset of Carabao)
From the bootleg album UFO (2023)

Translation note about the title: The words “กลับมา” mean “come back. The words “รู้สึก” and “ตัว” separately mean “know” and “yourself,” so “know yourself,” but together they usually mean to “realize [something].’ That is, you were distracted, but oh, now I realize [what is happening, what I am doing, where I am]. Here, there may be a double meaning of “to realize [what is happening, what I am doing, where I am]” and “to know yourself.” Google translates the phrase as “returning to consciousness.” I’m going to use the phrase “Come back to yourself and be in the moment.”

Add’s notes to this song say [in translation]: “Returning to consciousness is like summing up all the Buddha’s Dhamma. In returning to consciousness, live in the present, don’t dwell on the future or live in the past. Because we humans have a body and a mind. Wherever the body is, I want my heart to be right there. Buddhism puts the body and mind together. Don’t let your mind drift away. Always be returning to consciousness.” See also Telay Jai.

คิดเท่าไหร่ก็คิดไม่ออก บอกไว้เลยอย่าไปคิด
However much [one] thinks, [one] can’t think it out. I already told you, don’t go off thinking
เรื่องของเราถึงเรามีสิทธิ์ หลงคิดไปก็เท่านั้น
It’s one’s own matter, even though one has the right, it’s only getting lost in thought
ฝันกลางวันหรือฝันกลางคืน มันก็เป็นแค่ความฝัน
Dreaming in the middle of the day or dreaming at night, its [still] only a dream.
หลงคิดเมื่อไหร่ให้รู้เท่าทัน รีบกลับมารู้สึกตัว
[If you] get lost in thought, I’d like you to be aware of it, and hurry back to yourself and be in the moment.

น้ำพึ่งเรือเสือพึ่งป่า ปัญญาพึ่งพาตั้งใจคิด
The water depends on the boat, the tiger depends on the forest.* Knowledge depends on our intentional thinking
เราไม่ใช่ปัญญาประดิษฐ์ อยากหยุดคิดต้องฝึกฝน
We aren’t AI. [If] we want to stop thinking, we have to train [ourselves]
คนมีขันธ์มีกายมีจิต แต่คงอยู่กับเราไม่ทน
We have khanda[s]**, have a body, have a mind. But maybe we can’t endure being with our selves.***
เรียนรู้จากมันเป็นคนเหนือคน ตามคนใต้โคนต้นโพธิ์
Learn from it [and you] will be a superior person, following the person under the Bodhi tree.****

หยุดคิดเมื่อไหร่ ใจเราก็เป็นสุข
Whenever you stop thinking, your heart is happy.
หลงคิดเรื่อยไป ใจเราก็เป็นทุกข์
If you are continuously lost in thought, your heart will be suffering.
ร้อยแปดพันประการเรื่องราว
One hundred and eight thousand things, [that’s] our matters/problems
ชอกช้ำเวทนาผิดถูก
Traumatized by feelings of guilt
ตัวเราล้วนเป็นคนปลูกความทุกข์ระทม
All of us are people who cultivate/stir up our own suffering

หยุดคิดเมื่อไหร่ ใจเราก็เป็นสุข
Whenever you stop thinking, your heart is happy.
หลงคิดเรื่อยไป ใจเราก็เป็นทุกข์
If you are continuously lost in thought, your heart will be suffering.
ร้อยแปดพันประการเรื่องราว
One hundred and eight thousand things, [that’s] our matters/problems
ชอกช้ำเวทนาผิดถูก
Traumatized by feelings of guilt
ตัวเราล้วนเป็นคนปลูกความทุกข์ระทม
All of us are people who cultivate/stir up our own suffering

อย่าจ่อมจมอยู่กับทุกข์
Don’t be sinking with suffering
รับรู้สุขแล้วปล่อยไป
Realize happiness and let go [of the thoughts]
ชีวิตนี้ไม่มีอะไร
Life has nothing
แค่ใจกายอนัตตา
but heart, body, and non-self

กลับมารู้สึกตัว
Come back to oneself and be in the moment
กลับมารู้สึกตัว
Come back to oneself and be in the moment
กลับมารู้สึกตัว
Come back to oneself and be in the moment

*This saying is used to emphasize that two different things might be coexisting in a mutual relationship. The idea is that the boat obviously depends on the water, but the water[way] depends on the boat in that if it were not for the boats using it, the waterway would not be maintained. [Imagine a canal.] The tiger obviously depends on the forest, but the forest also depends on the tiger in that the tiger fulfills its role in a flourishing forest ecosystem. Check out the Add Carabao song with this title: น้ำพึ่งเรือเสือพึ่งป่า Nam Peung Reua Seua Peung Bpa (Waters Depend on the Boat; The Tiger Depends on the Forest)
**The five khandas are body, feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness. From the article “What is Khandha?” by Ajahn Punnadhammo, at the website “Lion’s Roar: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Time”
***An expert translator tells me that Add probably wanted to say ไม่นาน (not long) instead of ไม่นาน (can’t endure) but used ไม่นาน to make the rhyme (with คน). If so, this changes the meaning to “We have khanda[s], have a body, have a mind. But our body will not last very long.”
https://www.lionsroar.com/dharma-dictionary-khandha/
****The Buddha.

หรี่ตา Ree Dtaa (Narrow an Eye)

By แอ๊ด คาราบาว & ตามมาเรา Add Carabao and Tamaraw (Tamaraw is the name of Add’s backup band, whose members are a subset of Carabao).
From the the demo for the bootleg album UFO (2023)

Note: In Add Carabao’s notes to this song, he describes how he won 3 shooting competitions (IPSC, Bangkok Champion and Top Guns Champion) in one year by “กลับมารู้สึกตัว” (“glap ma roosuek dtua”) which is like “returning to oneself and being in the moment.” กลับมารู้สึกตัว Glap Ma Roosuek Dtua (Return to Consciousness) is the title of a another song on the same album.

An expert translator suggests that in learning how to use a firearm, you are told to “close the non dominant eye and aim at the target with the dominant eye. This is to avoid confusion from binocular vision. And it would help you more focus and see the target better. Overall, Add is using this instruction as a metaphor for life. Closing (narrowing) the (non dominant) eye refers to ignoring something that keeps bothering you. Don’t let it distract you. Stay focused on your goal in life.”

หรี่ตาลงสักข้างหนึ่ง คุณจะเห็นภาพชัดขึ้น
Narrow one eye and you will see the scene clearer
วันเวลาไม่หวนคืน ปล่อยมันไป
Time won’t come back. Let it go.
ผ่านมาแล้วแม้ไม่ดี ยังมีโอกาสเริ่มใหม่
Even if what has passed wasn’t good, there is still an opportunity to start anew.
ตราบที่เรายังหายใจ อย่ายอมแพ้
As long as we have breath, don’t give up.
ก้าวออกไปให้โลกจำ ว่าคุณยังคงแน่วแน่
Step on out [on a journey] so the world will remember that you remained resolute
ที่แน่แท้ที่มั่นคง ขึ้นอยู่กับเรา
That [we] are certain and steady, is up to us.

*หรี่ตาข้างหนึ่ง เพื่อให้อีกข้างชัดขึ้น
Squint one eye so the other eye sees clearer.
เพื่อให้ข้างที่ถนัด นำทางข้ามทะเลภูเขา
So that your good eye leads [you] on a way across seas and mountains
ข้ามโลกข้ามฟ้า ข้ามศรัทธาพระผู้เป็นเจ้า
Cross [beyond] the world, the sky, and faith in god
ตั้งสติให้อยู่กับเรา เล็งให้ตรงเป้า… แล้วเหนี่ยวไก
Gather yourself,** aim straight for the target . . .then pull the trigger.

**โอ้ชีวิตคิดให้เป็น ให้เย็นให้เป็นประโยชน์
Oh life, think wisely, coolheadedly, usefully.
เกิดมาแล้วอย่ามัวโทษ โชคชะตา
Having been born into [this world], don’t go blaming fate
อยู่ที่เรารู้เท่าทัน อะไรมันคือปัญหา
It’s up to being wise to the [potential] problems
หรี่ตาลง เล็งให้ตรง แล้วเหนี่ยวไก
Narrow an eye, aim straight, then pull the trigger.

(ซ้ำ */**)

อยู่ที่เรารู้เท่าทัน อะไรมันคือปัญหา
It’s up to what we know so far. What’s the problem?
หรี่ตาลง เล็งให้ตรง แล้วเหนี่ยวไก
Narrow an eye, aim straight, then pull the trigger.

ฟูจิยามะ Fujiyama

Composed and posted straight to Meta by Add Carabao (to his Add Bao fan page) on April 28, 2024.
Photographer: Linjong Opakul

Note: The context is that he was on vacation glamping with his wife near Mount Fujiyama in Japan and he wrote this song and she did the filming/photography. Add Carabao posted it to his Add Bao page with the note “ตายครั้งที่หนึ่งไม่ฝังก็เผา ตายครั้งที่สองให้ผู้คนถวิลหา อิเอยาสึ โตกูกะว่า จิตร ภูมิศักดิ์ เชกูวารา……” which translates: “[You] die the first time, if you aren’t buried you are cremated. [As for] the second death], have people miss/long for Leyasu Tokugawa, Jit Phumisak, Che Guevara …” which makes sense once you listen to the song.

The beauty of the fresh/live* world is beyond dreams, beyond imagination.
I’ve only seen this scene before in my dreams.
It’s so amazing that I can come view it.
Fujiyama this time I am seeing it all in person.
The mountain is spectacular, outstanding
Snow covers the top of the volcano.

In Yamanashi Prefecture where it stands there are many interesting things
There is a lake around the volcano, and coffins buried here that are the best in Japan. [SPOKEN: This I really, really like!]
Famous old temples, and hot springs so we can keep warm
That I can come connect with it is a blessing.** [One] is happy being a person in the middle of nature.

We people are born in order to pass away. There is nothing left bigger/greater than Fujiyama volcano
If you don’t get sick and die, you will be killed. Life is impermanence, suffering, and the state of no-self
The first time you die, if you are not buried, you are cremated. The second death is that people will miss you.
Tokugawa Ieyasu said, people’s beliefs/faith can be compared to Fuji Volcano.

We people are born in order to pass away. There is nothing left bigger/greater than Fujiyama volcano
If you don’t get sick and die, you will be killed. Life is impermanence, suffering, and the state of no-self
The first time you die, if you are not buried, you are cremated. The second death is that people will miss you.
Jit Phumisak,*** Che Guevarra**** [are] people whose faith compares with Fiji Volcano.

Fujiyama, Fujiyama, Fujiyam, Fujiyama

*There are words that I can’t hear clearly that I am guessing are สดๆ (sod sod), which means “fresh,” “live,” or “green.”
**The translation “blessing” for บุญ (boon) is not totally accurate, but rather a word an American might use in a similar situation. A บุญ is a favor, benefit, piece of good luck that comes to you because of karma.
***Jit Phumisak (จิตร ภูมิศักดิ์ often spelled Chit Phumisak) was (according to Wikipedia) “A Thai Marxist historian, activist, author, philologist, poet, songwriter, and communist revolutionary” and “has been described as ‘The Che Guevara of Thailand'” His amazing song “แสงดาวแห่งศรัทธา” (“Starlight of Faith”) has been an anthem of the Thai prodemocracy movement from 1976 until the present. A rhyming English translation of “Starlight of Faith” is available off-site at Music of Thai Freedom. I have argued in an on-site article about important metaphors in Thai songs that metaphors from “Starlight of Faith” add context to several Add Carabao songs. Finally, the song กลิ่นรวงทอง (The Scent of Golden Ears of Rice) from the 4th Carabao album is a cover of a Jit Phumisak song.
**** Add Carabao has written at least two songs about Che Guevara. The most recent is translated HERE (at this site).

เพื่อนชีวิต Peuan Chewit (Life Friends)

Sung by: เขียว คาราบาว Keo Carabao (real name: Kirati Promsaka Na Sakon Nakhon)
From the Keo Carabao solo album เพื่อนชีวิต Peuan Chewit (Life Friends) (2024)
Lyrics and Melody ธนภัทร พุทธกะ , ทนง แซ่เฮ็ง Thanapat Puttaka, Thanong Saeheng

Note: The video is touching for all the pictures of Keo Carabaos’s musician friends who appear in the video. These are other Peu Chewit or “For Life” artists who are Peuan Chewit, or Life Friends (a little bit of word play). I’ve listed some of the non-Carabao and former Carabao friends of Keo Carabao appearing in the music video for whom there is further information at this site, available at the hyperlinks. (Some people appear several times in the video but I only note their best cameo):
Minute 1:47: Eed Opakul (Add Carabao’s identical twin) and Nga Caravan (Songs for Life artist who came before and inspired Carabao).
Minute 1:59 Pao Carabao (former Carabao drummer who passed away in 2017)
Minute 2:06 Maleehuana (another Songs for Life artist);
Minute 3:13 Phongthaep “Mu” Kradonchamnan Former member of the band Caravan, who left Caravan and toured with Carabao in their early years (around the time of Made in Thailand and then went on to have a successful solo career.)
Minute 3:18: Asanee Chotikul (another Songs for Life artist).

This music video came out before Duk Carabao passed away, but the theme of the song broadly applies to him as well. Note that Keo is a founding member of Carabao and he left the band Carabao before Duk joined, which explains his absence from Keo’s old pictures of Carabao.

เพื่อนบางคนมันก็ ขี้เมาเหลือเกิน
Some friends are drunks, very much so.
บางคนเงียบๆบางคนใจร้อนบางคนใจเย็น
Some are very quiet. Some are hot headed and some are chill.
และทุกคนต่างก็มีหน้าที่ของตน
And each individual has their own personality
มีคนที่อยู่มีคนที่หายที่จาก ไปชั่วกาลเวลา
There are people living, and people who have left us over time.

ก่อนที่เรื่องราวจะเป็นความหลัง
Before the stories are all behind [us]
เรื่องเล่ามากมายของเอ็งกับฉัน
So many stories of you and me to tell
ยังคิดถึงวันที่เราตั้งวงคุยกัน นั่งร่ำสุรายันเช้า
I still think back to the days that we would sit in a circle, talk, and drink till morning.
หายไปดิ้นรนก็เพื่อชีวิต มีเพียงแค่มึงเป็นเพื่อนชีวิต
All gone, the struggle that was For Life. I have only you guys who are Life Friends
จากนี้จนวันสุดท้ายไปจนถึงวันตาย
From today until the last day, until the day we die.
เป็นเพื่อนกันมันไม่ง่าย ก็เป็นแล้วมันเลิกไม่ได้
It’s not easy all being friends, but that’s what we already are, and it can’t be undone.
เพื่อนชั่วชีวิตก็มีแค่มึง
[As for] whole-life friends, there’s just you all

ไม่ว่าจะตีกันมากเท่าไร
No matter how much we get into fights
เพื่อนก็ยังคือเพื่อนอย่างเดิม และยิ่งชัดเจน
Friends are still friends as before, and even more clearly
ไม่ต้องพูดเยอะพี่ลี้พิไร พยักหน้าเอาเป็นว่ารู้กัน
No need to say much, just hanging out and teasing. Nodding heads to acknowledge we know each other.
ก็เพียงแค่นั้น ก็มันรู้ทัน ก็เป็นเพื่อนกันนี่หว่า
Just that and they know immediately, we’re all friends here.

ก่อนที่เรื่องราวจะเป็นความหลัง
Before the stories are all behind us
เรื่องเล่ามากมายของเอ็งกับฉัน
So many stories of you and me
ยังคิดถึงวันที่เราตั้งวงคุยกัน นั่งร่ำสุรายันเช้า
I still think of the days that we would sit in a circle, talk, and drink till morning.

หายไปดิ้นรนก็เพื่อชีวิต มีเพียงแค่มึงเป็นเพื่อนชีวิต
All gone, the struggle that was For Life. I have only you guys who are Life Friends
จากนี้จนวันสุดท้ายไปจนถึงวันตาย
From today until the last day, until the day we die.
เป็นเพื่อนกันมันไม่ง่าย ก็เป็นแล้วมันเลิกไม่ได้
It’s not easy all being friends, but that’s what we already are, and it can’t be undone.
เพื่อนชั่วชีวิตก็มีแค่มึง
[As for] whole-life friends, there’s just you all

ก่อนที่เรื่องราวจะเป็นความหลัง
Before the stories are all behind us
เรื่องเล่ามากมายของเอ็งกับฉัน
So many stories of you and me to tell
ยังคิดถึงวันที่เราตั้งวงคุยกัน นั่งร่ำสุรายันเช้า
I still think back to the days that we would sit in a circle, talk, and drink till morning.
หายไปดิ้นรนก็เพื่อชีวิต มีเพียงแค่มึงเป็นเพื่อนชีวิต
All gone, the struggle that was For Life. I have only you guys who are Life Friends
จากนี้จนวันสุดท้ายไปจนถึงวันตาย
From today until the last day, until the day we die.
เป็นเพื่อนกันมันไม่ง่าย ก็เป็นแล้วมันเลิกไม่ได้
It’s not easy all being friends, but that’s what we already are, and it can’t be undone.
เพื่อนชั่วชีวิตก็มีแค่มึง
[As for] whole-life friends, there’s just you all

Add Carabao’s songwriting and the Buddhist concept of “yonisomanasikara” (proper attention)

Note: I recently wrote an article about “Humanism in the Add Carabao Songs,” however, I was well aware at the time that I was interpreting the subject through the lens of my own culture. To understand Add Carabao (Yuenyong Opakul)’s songwriting on it’s own terms, one must start from Add’s repeated statements that the songs are strongly influenced by Buddhism. And now I recognize that the Buddhist concept of yonisomanasikāra (proper attention), in particular, which he mentions in this interview, is key to understanding his body of work. I’m documenting this as a lead for any English-language musicologists studying the work of this singer/songwriter.

Rough translation:

Add Carabao: People who don’t have suffering, maybe they don’t understand about Dharmic Truth. But whenever suffering arises, you have to entrust yourself [to someone/something] to help you. As for the help, some people go to the temple and make merit and think that will have good results for them….[I] didn’t entrust myself to god, I entrusted myself to myself. I must practice myself.*

Bom Sincharoen: That’s probably a good way to think about it.

Add: You have to rely on your own practice.

Bom: Does it get good results?

Add: In the beginning when I started to meditate, it was boring. But after that I found the branch of Luang Pa Tian (a monk). I thought, this makes sense/seems right. I did it all the time, every day.

Bom: Does your study help you compose songs?

Add: When I was studying Dharma it helped me add another branch of substance to my songs. When I was composing songs, for many, many songs, knowledge of this subject came and helped me throughout all my songs. In the period after that there were matters that arose where Dharma was relevant, to some extent. And that was a benefit. For songwriters, the thing you can’t skip is to read, search, find new information. Write it down and try to practice and see. Because there is no fixed formula when it comes to songwriting. And after you have the information, you must use yonisomanasikāra [proper attention].*

Bom: Yyonisomanasikāra [proper attention].*

Add: People generally know it well. The act of thinking cleverly, what would be good to go on and do? What would be best to do? And put your hand to doing it for real.

*”To do good things (and relieve oneself from suffering) depends on oneself and not “God” who does not necessarily even exist in the Buddhist way of thinking. Buddha is not a God but a teacher. That you must find the way yourself, is a main principle of Buddhism.
**See the article “The Concept of Yonisomanasikāra ‘Proper Attention’ as a Buddhist Way to Social Peace” as I believe this Bhuddist concept yonisomanasikāra is key to Add’s thought process in many, many songs.

ปาน ธนพร Parn Thanaporn

In 2005, Carabao joined up with famous female singer Parn Tanaporn, widely recognized as one of the best voices in Thailand, to make fresh music aimed at a younger generation. The iconic song (and iconic performance) from that collaboration is หนุ่มบาว-สาวปาน Num Bao Sao Parn (Carabao Boy and Parn Girl) in the first video below. The song, which is the title song of the first Carabao and Parn Tanaporn album, is about a young man who loves Carabao music falling in love with a young woman who loves Parn music. The lyrics, are basically an inside joke for fans of Carabao and/or Parn. That song with it’s many Easter eggs is translated and explained HERE to the best of my abilities. But anyone can immediately appreciate the eclectic sound—and that the song is a total earworm:

Who is Parn Thanaporn? Parn (pronounced “Bpan”), real name Thanaporn Wakprayoon, has an amazing voice that is both strong and emotional. She is twenty-some years younger than most of the Carabao band members. One of her biggest hits, เบอร์นี้ไม่มีคนของเธอ (This Number Doesn’t Have Your Person [at it]), is a great intro to her solo music. It’s the first song on this Parn Tanapporn song compilation YouTube video below.

“This Number Doesn’t Have Your Person [at it]” is about a woman, who gets sick of her boyfriend constantly contacting someone right in front of her and finally grabs his phone and tells the woman on the other end, “Your person isn’t here!,” finishing with, “Unless someone has died, don’t call!”

Parn has been singing since childhood, went to high school at the College of Dramatic Arts, began back-up singing while in high school, majored in music at Chulalongkorn University, and sang the original soundtracks for many dramas and movies before becoming a solo artist in 2000 under RS Promotion. Over the next two years she won a pile of awards, such as Best Song, Best Music Video (several times), Best Female Artist for the Youth, Best Solo Vocalist, and Best Thai Pop Singer. The collaboration with Carabao was in 2005, and in 2012, she was invited to play Effie White in the Bangkok version of the musical “Dreamgirls” [For comparison, Jennifer Hudson played Effie in the American film by the same name.] In addition to working on her own projects, Parn is a voice trainer for many big artists. In 2014, she got a master’s degree in music at Silpakorn University.

The origin of the Carabao – Parn collaboration is a friendship between Parn and Thierry Mekwattana of Carabao. They had previously made a solo album with RS. Also Parn had previously sung backup for Carabao while still in high school.

The 2005 collaboration between Parn and the band Carabao produced many duets that are completely addictive and ideal for karaoke. The project had Add Carabao writing some straight-up love songs–not his typical thing–and he knocked it out of the ballpark with 3 beautiful heartbreakers: สุ่มไฟรัก Sum Fai Rak (Build the Fire of Love), ดอกไผ่บาน Dok Pai Baan (The Bamboo Flower Blooms), and มนต์รักผีเสื้อ Mon Rak Pee Seua (Butterfly Love Spell).

To find additional great songs from this album go to Translations by Album at this site. (You are looking for “Num Bao Sao Parn (Special Carabao Album with Parn, 2005)”) None of the rest of that albums’ songs are written by Add Carabao, but one is written by Theirry Mekwattana and one by Lek Carabao (Preecha Chanapai). The other songs are presumably written by Parn’s people, and at least one is an adaptation of a Parn solo song. Specifically, เหงา…ไม่เข้าใจ Ngow…Mai Kowjai (It’s Lonely … I Don’t Understand) is a silly twist on a famous Parn song, “เหงา..เข้าใจ” Ngow Kowjai (It’s Lonely … I Understand).

Google her name in Thai to find more songs by ปาน ธนพร (Parn Thanaporn). You’ll find the lyrics to her best solo work translated into English by Tamnong at the website Deungdutjai.com (among translations of thousands of other great Thai songs). Here is the List of Translated Songs [sung] by Parn Thanaporn at Deungdutjai: http://deungdutjai.com/2000/04/06/translated-songs-by-parn-thanaporn/

เบอร์นี้ไม่มีคนของเธอ (“This Number Doesn’t Have Your Person [at it]”), mentioned above, is the second song in that list at Deungdutjai.

References:
Thai Wikipedia entry “ธนพร แวกประยูร” [Thanaporn Wakprayoon], as of 3/3/2004.
Thai Wikipedia entry “หนุ่มบาว-สาวปาน’ [Num Bao – Sao Parn, meaning “Carabao Boy – Parn Girl”], as of 3/3/2004
“Parn biography” at https://www.last.fm/music/Parn/+wiki. As of 3/3/2004

คนไม่มีสิทธิ์ Kon Mai Mee Sit (Someone with No Right)

From the OST of the drama ลูกผู้ชายหัวใจเพชร [Man with a Diamond Heart] that ran on Channel 7 in mid 2002.
Lyrics and Music by Sutee Saengsareechon
Sung by Hugo (Lek) Chackrabongse Levy.

Note: In mid 2002, Add (Yuenyong Opakul) and younger musician Hugo were in a nightime television drama together ลูกผู้ชายหัวใจเพชร [Man with a Diamond Heart]. Hugo starred in the drama as Phet (the name means Diamond) and Add played his father Nop. Thierry Mekwattana was also in the drama. This is a song from the OST (original soundtrack) of that drama sung by Hugo. This official music video includes scenes with Add. For more information about Hugo, his music, and his connections to Carabao check out this article in the Backstage section of this website..

Music video sung by Hugo with clips from the movie, including scenes with Add:

อยากรู้ ใจเธอมีฉันหรือเปล่า
I want to know if your heart has mine [in it] or not
อยากรู้ ว่าเธอได้ยินบ้างไหม
I want to know if you have heard something
ก็เสียงใจมันบอก ว่ารักเธอมากมาย ร่ำร้องเรียกภายในใจเท่านั้น
Because my heart has been saying I love you so much, [but] only calling out within the heart
ก็รู้ว่าคงเป็นไปไม่ได้ ก็ไม่ต้องการให้เธอเสียใจ
And it knows it’s probably not possible, so you don’t need to feel regret
แค่คนๆ เดียว ไม่มีค่าเท่าไร กลัวฉันไปทำลายหัวใจเธอ
It’s just one person only, who isn’t worth that much [who’s] afraid I’m going to go wreck your heart.
ฉันมันคนไม่มีสิทธิ์ ถ้าคิดรักเธอจะผิดไหม
I’m someone with no right. If I think of loving you, is that wrong?
ขอช่วยทำให้ฉันมั่นใจ ว่าเธอคือคนนั้น ที่ฉันรอ
Please help me to be sure that you are the one I’ve been waiting for

ไม่รู้ต้องทนอีกนานเท่าไร ไม่รู้ต้องรออีกนานแค่ไหน
I don’t know how much longer I will have to endure it. I don’t know just how much longer I’m going to have to wait
ไม่รู้เลยจริงๆ ว่าควรทำเช่นไร ให้เธอรู้ความในใจว่ารักเธอ
I really don’t know what I should do to let you know what is in my heart––that I love you
ฉันมันคนไม่มีสิทธิ์ ถ้าคิดรักเธอจะผิดไหม
I’m someone with no right. If I think of loving you, is that wrong?
ขอช่วยทำให้ฉันมั่นใจ ว่าเธอคือคนนั้น ที่ฉันรอ
Please help me to be sure that you are the one I’ve been waiting for

ไม่รู้ต้องทนอีกนานเท่าไร ไม่รู้ต้องรออีกนานแค่ไหน
I don’t know how much longer I will have to endure it. I don’t know just how much longer I’m going to have to wait
ไม่รู้เลยจริงๆ ว่าควรทำเช่นไร ให้เธอรู้ความในใจว่ารักเธอ
I really don’t know what I should do to let you know what is in my heart––that I love you
ไม่รู้เลยจริงๆ ว่าควรทำเช่นไร ให้เธอรู้ว่าในใจ… ฉันรักเธอ
I really don’t know what I should do to let you know what is in my heart . . . I love you

รักคุณเท่าฟ้า Rak Kun Tao Fah (Love You to the Sky!) in SINGABLE ENGLISH

Lyrics by แอ๊ด คาราบาว Aed Carabao (ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul);
Melody by Aed Carabao and เทียรี่ เมฆวัฒนา Thierry Mekwattana

Album: รวมเพลง Ruam Playng (A Collection of Songs)

According to Thai Wikipedia, Khun Aed wrote this song for Thai Airways to use in their advertising, and he came up with it while flying back and forth on Thai Airways touring for concerts.  It perfectly captures the feeling of looking out the window of an airplane. This is the singable English translation. Below is the voice clip, which is purely for demo purposes, or try to sing along with the video in Thai. The direct translation is HERE.

If I could fly away like a bird
I would soar way up in the sky
If I could float and ride on the wind
I’d look back around on the ground

Our big, wide world below is quite a sight
The more you look, the more delight

The expanse of sea’s colored blue
The expanse of land’s colored green
Perhaps you’ve heard some people complain
Where can this world’s beauty be seen?

The world spreads out below so vast and wide
The more you look, the more surprise

Beauty and love they both from nature start
People then paint in colors from their heart
The sky, the sea, the dirt, rocks, sand, and we
Through good and bad, building our country

If you fly away like a bird
When you soar way up in the sky
When you ride and float on the wind
Look back down around on the ground
Our big, wide world below is quite a sight
The more you look, the more delight

This song is from the sky … so far up high
Sending my thoughts to people far and near
A message true from viewing way up here:
The sky goes on and on; people don’t live there.

Three Add Carabao songs based on the Hindu legend of Arjuna consider issues of War and Peace

Interestingly, Add Carabao, despite being Buddhist like most Thais, has written three songs (that I know of) about the mythical archer Arjuna from the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita. I have filed translations of all three songs at this website under my “War/Peace/Terrorism” category in “Lyrics by Theme.” Seventeen of the 300 Carabao and Add Carabao songs I have translated fall into this category. If we add to that the 3 songs about “Ancient Kings and Legendary Battles,” we have 20 of 300 Carabao and Add Carabao songs (6.6 percent) offering various perspectives on War, Peace, and Terrorism. The three Arjuna songs shed light on this whole category of Add Carabao’s work.

The three Arjuna songs are:

ภควัทคีตา Pukawatketa (Bhagavad Gita) (1990) (On the Add Carabao solo album No Problem, also included on the Add Carabao 2019 compilation album Poem)

ศรอรชุน Son Arachun (The Arrow(s) of Arjuna) (1991) (On the Add Carabao solo album World Folk Zen)

น้ำตาอรชุน Nam Dtaa Arachun (The Tears of Arjuna) (2022) (From the 40th Anniversary Album)

The Bhagavad Gita (which can be translated “Song of God”) is a key Hindu religious text. From what I have gathered from Wikipedia and a skimming of the Bhagavad Gita, Hinduism shares a lot in common with Buddhism except that Hinduism, and emphatically NOT Buddhism, includes the idea of a soul or substantial self and a Supreme Being creator god in whom one must have faith.

The set-up of The Bhagavad Gita story is a very particular and grounded dilemma that is supposed to represent the Human Dilemma (and does a great job of representing that dilemma). The great archer Arjuna comes to the battlefield to fight (in a just war whose background is not described in The Bhagavad Gita but can be found in introductions to the text.) Surveying the battlefield, Arjuna becomes distressed and starts to cry, and at first refuses to fight when he sees that the people on the two sides, who will be soon be killed in the battle, are friends and close relatives of each other. They are the armies of two brothers. Krishna, who is an avatar of the god Vishnu, then sings the verses that contain the Hindu wisdom that explain to Arjuna how and why he should do his duty nevertheless. In the story, Arjuna is convinced to fight. But the “wisdom” in the verses Krishna sings is meant to apply more generally to all of life.

The three songs written by Add Carabao seem to span all sides of the question of whether Arjuna should fight. The first, “Bhagavad Gita,” focuses on Krishna’s arguments, drawn from The Bhagavad Gita, and Arjuna’s inner turmoil. Arjuna is not yet convinced by the arguments. Meanwhile, the driving beat of the song leaves the impression that one probably should “fight” (for or against something not spelled out in the song itself). The fact that the song is featured on the compilation album “Poem” might be an indication that Add considers it especially poetic–which it is in the sense that it vividly captures Arjuna’s dilemma.

“The Arrow(s) of Arjuna,” which came out a year later on the album World Folk Zen, is by far my favorite of the three Arjuna songs. The message of the song is unequivocally “Go fight injustice!!!” This message can be clearly understood without knowing anything about the story of Arjuna, and almost from the music alone. The song is addictive and, as I have said elsewhere, will inspire you go fight injustice, or at the very least, get up and clean the house! (lol). With regard to Arjuna’s actual dilemma, though, the song hedges a bit by specifying that “We fight with our hearts/minds, not with a sword.” That is, the story of Arjuna is treated as a compelling myth from which we can selectively draw some inspiration. The question of whether people today, you and me, should go to actual war to fight injustice is sidestepped. It is odd that this excellent song is hard, but not impossible, to find online. Is it problematic or controversial in some way of which I am unaware?

Finally, we have the song “The Tears of Arjuna,” which is the most pacifist of the three songs. It explicitly says, “Who is right and who is wrong has no meaning at all . . . in war.” The lyrics and tone of the song present Krishna/Vishnu (who is supposed to be divine) as driving Arjuna, against his better judgement, into a bad decision. But before progressives automatically cheer the antiwar opinion in the song, note the last line: “October 14.” It seems this cautionary message is meant to apply as well to the popular uprising of October 14, 1973, where students managed to drive out the dictators leading to 3 years of democracy at the cost of at least 77 official deaths and many more injuries when the government tried unsuccessfully to suppress the uprising.

Going back to the first verse of the song, it does seem Add Carabao is addressing his “be careful” message firstly to the protesters:

สงครามที่ฉันเคยพบพานในอดีต
The wars that I experienced in the past
มีพลพรรคคอมมิวนิสต์เป็นมิตรสหาย
There are communist partisans who are friends/comrades
เยาวชนหนุ่มสาวลุกขึ้นทวงสิทธิ์
Young people rise up to demand their rights
ใครถูกใครผิดมันไม่มีความหมายใดๆ
Who is right and who is wrong has no meaning at all
ในสงคราม… สงคราม
In war . . . war. In war . . . war.

At some point, I will put together my own analysis of Add’s changing political positions over the years, but to me they are not that surprising given that was once an active communist sympathizer, and has had many formative experiences since. He has devoted songs and even albums to some of the wars, conflicts, and massacres happening in the Southeast Asian region. I believe that some portion of Add Carabao’s relative conservatism in later years derives from a sincere fear of a civil war breaking out in Thailand, as explicitly stated in some of the songs.*

Many of Add Carabao’s songs about war and peace, even though they are grounded in a particular conflict in Thailand or Southeast Asia–and even if you dislike the advice in that particular context!–can be plucked from that context and applied to a conflict across the globe because of their universal elements.* Which is analogous to Add Carabao’s using The Bhagavad Gita to consider the dilemmas around him in Thailand.

*For instance, เพื่อประเทศไทย (Peua Prathet Thai) For Thailand with Sek Loso, Khan Thaitanium and other artists.
** (I am thinking of อยากได้ยิน Yaak Daiyin (Want to Hear), which might as well be addressed to Democrats and Republicans in the United States, and วางดาบ Wang Dap (Set Down the Sword), about being prepared to strategically back down from a fight.)

คอนเสิร์ตเลิกไว Concert Lerk Wai (The Concert Ends Early)

Composed, arranged, and produced by แอ๊ด คาราบาว Add Carabao
Album: วันวานไม่มีเขาฯ Wan Waan Mai Me Kow … (If It Weren’t for Her …) (2012)

Note: The title means “The concert breaks up quickly” with the sense that “The concert ends early”

เริ่มที่รักกัน แล้วมาคุยกันจะได้ไหม
As a start to loving each other, can [you] come talk with each other?
ไม่มีเหลืองแดง ไม่มีขาวน้ำเงิน แบ่งสีแบ่งสัน
There’s no Yellow-Red, no White [or] Blue.* Share out the colors
มีแต่คนไทย ที่ควรห่วงใย ใช่ใครอื่นไกล ไทยทั้งนั้น
It’s just [us] Thai people who need to care [for each other]. Not anyone else far away. All of [us] Thais
เหนือจรดใต้ ออกตกอีสาน
From the North to the South, East [to] West, Isaan
ล้วนเหล่าลูกหลานเผ่าไทย
All are children of the Thai tribe.
ล้านวันพันปีที่เราผูกโยง เกลียวสายใย
Millions of days, a thousand years that we are tied together by interwoven threads [like a cable]
ไม่ว่ามาจากไหน ไป่เยว์หนานเจา เทือกเขาอัลไต
No matter where we come from — Bai-Yue [an ancient tribe living in south and southeast China], Nan Xiao [an ancient Kingdom in China’s current Yunnan Province], the Altai Mountains [of Mongolia]**–
มีแต่คนไทย ที่ควรห่วงใย ใช่ใครอื่นไกล ไทยทั้งนั้น
It’s just [us] Thai people who need to care [for each other]. Not anyone else far away. All of [us] Thai.
เหนือจรดใต้ออกตกอีสาน
From the North to the South, East [to] West, Isaan
ล้วนเป็นลูกหลานเผ่าไทย
All are children of the Thai tribe.

* ประเทศไทย รวมเลือดเนื้อชาติเชื้อไทย
Thailand. Gathering together the flesh and blood of the Thai nationality.
ประเทศไทย รวมเลือดเนื้อชาติเชื้อไทย
Thailand. Gathering together the flesh and blood of the Thai nationality.

** ถ้าเริ่มที่เรารักกัน สวรรค์ก็ไม่ไกล
If [we] begin to love each other, Heaven isn’t far off.
ถ้าเริ่มที่ทะเลาะกัน นรกก็ไม่ไกล
If [we] begin to quarrel with each other, Hell isn’t far off.

*** ถ้าเริ่มที่เรารักกันสวรรค์ก็ไม่ไกล
If [we] begin to love each other, Heaven isn’t far off.
ถ้าตั้งหน้าทะเลาะกัน คอนเสริ์ตก็เลิกไว
If [we] insist on squabbling, the concert will be over quickly [the concert will end early]***
มีแต่คนไทย ที่ควรห่วงใย ใช่คนอื่นไกล ไทยทั้งนั้น
It’s just [us] Thai people who need to care [for each other]. Not anyone else far away. All of us Thai.
เหนือจรดต้ออกตกอีสาน
From the North to the South, East [to] West, Isaan
ล้วนเป็นลูกหลานเผ่าไทย
All are children of the Thai tribe.
เหนือจรดใต้ออกตกอีสาน ล้วนเป็นลูกหลานเผ่าไทย
From the North to the South, East [to] West, Isaan, all are children of the Thai tribe.
( * / ** / *** )

*The colors worn by opposing political groups at the time.
**He is referring to the Tai ethnolinguistic group and their possible origins thousands of years ago outside of Thailand or Laos. It seems the first possibility listed is most widely accepted while the third has been totally discredited.
***Carabao concerts have had a persistent problem of brawls breaking out between gangs from rival schools, especially during the song Bua Loy. I’m sure this line has something to do with that.

Translated 40th Anniversary interview with Lek, Add, and Thierry

Carabao: 40 years of Legendary Songs for Life
Interview by The People Co. Premiered Sep 18, 2023

The translated intro from The People Co., begins, “The People” interviews the core members of the band, including Add – Yeunyong Opakul, Lek – Preecha Chanapai, and Thierry Mekwattana, who are members who created legendary ‘Songs for Life’ ever since the album Made in Thailand, which is packed with timeless songs.”

I’ve translated the interview in full. The video begins with highlights from the full interview. These comments are out of context, and will come up again in context, so I didn’t translate them. So my transcript begins at minute 1:32. I’ve added some of my own headings in green, in addition to translations of the text headings provided in the video.

DISCLAIMER: This translation has not been checked by a second translator. Consider it an aid to further research. That is before you depend on it, check the translation yourself.

[The words on the black screen: “40 years Carabao. From the start of the fight/struggle until today they are a legend.” Bua Loy plays in background]
Add’s early musical influences
Add: My life of music began from home because my father was a musician and the leader of a provincial band: Ch. S. P. Band, or Band of the People of Suphan. I came up seeing only musical instruments filling the whole house. So I came into Bangkok and sang folk songs. I graduated from Uthen [Uthenthawai Vocational School] here, then went on to further studies in the Philippines. I intended to study and graduate as an architect, but as soon as I got to the Phillipines, I encountered a song that had just come out in 1976. It was the song Freddie Aguilar’s song “Anak.” I liked this song a lot, and it was the inspiration for the first song I wrote, the song “Lung Kee Mao” (“Drunken Uncle”). As soon as I heard this song, I thought, I need to be a songwriter. I wanted to be a songwriter. That was the minute that changed my life. When I got back to Thailand, I worked in the Housing Department. But still continued to play music. I didn’t give it up. At that time, I lived with Kai [Sanit Simsala]. At that house, Kai had a turntable, but there was no speaker. We only had headphones. I got Led Zeppelin. I had the Eagles. I had Rod Stewart, I had many, many people. It was something that added to my spirit in the way of music so my knowledge greatly increased. I was born into the local culture, but as soon as went and got the Western influence, there was a blending.

[The heading says: “Num Suphan” (“Young Man from Suphan”)* Album “Kee Mao”(“The Drunkard’)]
Add meets Lek and Theirry
Add: I met Lek [Preecha Chanapai] in school when I was at Utaen. I saw him exchanging punches with a friend of mine. [They all laugh at Lek] Oh! I was watching [thinking], “This guy can’t fight at all.” [Everyone laughs] And that guy was bigger than him too.
Lek: I can’t remember anymore
Someone off camera: How did it end, Pi Lek?
Add: But P’Lek was totally the musician of the school, and when there was a school event, P’Lek would get up and play. Back then I was like, “Whoa! This playing is beyond the ordinary!” Back then, Lek played bass. Did you play with Mook? Mook played guitar and violin. Lek played bass back then. Whao! So cool! A friend of ours.
Theirry: At that time, I also played folk songs with P’Lek, you know! Three of us.
Lek: Nana
Theirry: And P’Add came to Nana school. When I first knew P’Add, I’d only say “Hello” [and wai]. He would come sit and watch, we were like whatever, and didn’t chat, and only said “Hello, Brother” [and wai.] P’Add invited us to be in a band with him. I told him I couldn’t do it because now I was going to a foreign country.**

Add gets fired from his gig for for playing a Thai song (Lung Kee Mao) at the urging of Lek/ Lek joins Add’s band.
Add: I didn’t have a band. It was me trying to find a band. I didn’t have a band. When I made the first album “Lung Kee Mao,” it was like P’Lek has said, [like] a solo album. But I used the band Hope, a band of P’Suthep as backup. In those days, I played at Dicken’s Pub. I played with Suthep of Hope. And P’Lek came in with … was it … or not. Three of them.
Lek: At that time, I was drunk.
Add: Drunk. At that time, he had just stopped. And he asked for the song “Lung Kee Mao” (“Drunken Uncle.”) I told him, “Oh, they don’t let us sing Thai songs,” [and he was like] “No, I’ll listen. I’ll listen. Just play!”
[“Lung Kee Mao” plays]
Add: As soon as I played, the manager comes out and says, “You! Get out! I already told you not to play Thai songs, and what song are you playing? This is a restaurant selling alcohol. And what are you singing? A song where a drunkard drinks, lies down, and dies!” So I lost my job as of that day. And P’Suthep kicked me out of the band as well. So I told Keo [Kirati Promsaka Na Sakolnakorn]. And Keo had to decide, would he go with P’Suthep or would he come with me? Keo said he would come with me. So Lek said, “I caused you to lose your job, I’ll come with you. I’d better come help you out.” And so we came and made Bpae Kaai Kuat (The Bottle Collector) together. It was recorded at Flat … 2, of Lek’s. We sat and made it together.

[The song “Bpae Kaai Kuat” plays] Heading says “Formation, ‘Bpae Kaai Kuat’(The Bottle Collector]-‘Wanipok’(The Busker)”]
Add works at the Housing Department while building a musical career
Add: At that time, I worked in the Housing Department. I was lucky that I had a boss that was P’Ganak Buddhinan, who was the older brother of P’Der- Rewat Buddhinan [a founder of Grammy Entertainment], and it so happened that a relative of P’Der was married to my older sister. And so we were all related. We were “pickeled” together. And so it was comfortable. Back then I still didn’t know we were going to be successful in — whether we could make a living from it or not. So first we had to hold onto [our] careers, even though the monthly salary wasn’t that high. I started at 3,030 [baht] ($84) [per month]. But to pay for one room, it was OK, because that room Flat 17, was the product of my work — “Wanipok” and all the various other [songs] — those products. I did it for 5 years, and then I did, “Made in Thailand” and experienced success. I didn’t have any time to come sit and work [at the office]. At that point, I needed to work with music.

[“Wanipok” plays. Heading says “WanipoK, the album Wanipok”]
Add: Honestly, the songs on the album Wanipok are what allowed us to announce our birth before Made In Thailand [came along] as well. But Made in Thailand was then our peak period. P’Der said it was 5 million cassettes tapes. Because we didn’t … we had Grammy be the ones to sell it. It was the best-selling album. But we already had money in the millions [of baht] [tens of thousands of dollars] after Wanipok. When I first invited Lek and Keo to come [join me], I told them, in 3 years, we are going to have money in the millions. But it was in just one year, one year only, that we had money in the millions.

[Made in Thailand plays. Header says, “’Made in Thailand,’ An Immortal Album”]
Made in Thailand, “Nang Ngam Dtu Grajok” (“Glass Cabinet Beauty Queen”), and the issue of prostitution in Thailand
Add: Whoa! It came from each individual band member, whether it was rock, as with the songs Luuk Gaew, Luuk Hin, and whatever like these. It came from Thierry with regards to cords and whatever. If you name it like Americans [would], you could say it’s style is “Americana.” Or call it whatever you want. There was country, blues, folk; it had all sorts of things mixed together. But our style was “Americana, Thai-style.”
Add: I determined that P’Lek would sing songs about children and their families. Thierry would do love songs. I would sing songs about society. I assigned it like this.
Person off camera: There was only one song that P’Thierry sang on the album “Made in Thailand,” and that was the song “Nang Ngam Dtu Grajok.” [“Glass Cabinet Beauty Queen”]. Why was it Thierry who sang it?
Thierry: Yeah, exactly. [Meaning, “good question!”]
Add: It was appropriate that he do it [laughs].
Thierry: There are two people together. Two people. When he [wrote] “Glass Cabinet Beauty Queen” I thought that, wow, [the line] “Ten, a hundred, a thousand until the prime minister” [using the services of a prostitute] would get this song banned for sure. But it didn’t happen. They went and banned หำเทียม “Ham Tiam” (Dildo)! So I thought, that was lucky!***

At minute 8:50: [Visual excerpt from music video for “Glass Cabinet Beauty Queen”]
Add: Thailand is a country of lies. There are so many people gambling, but it seems there are no casinos. And Thailand is a country famous for having lots and lots of brothels, but there has never been a single person in Thai government who wants to say “let’s make them legal.” Until Move Forward wants to make them legal. I agree 100 percent. Make it so they are legal, no matter whether they are casinos or brothels. Make them legal and keep the taxes for the state. They’re all adults now!

Can Add repeat the magic of Made in Thailand?
Add: I think that I am [like] one bottle of liquor. One brand new bottle of liquor. You open it up and have abilities equal to the kick of the liquor in the bottle. But as you use it up, you won’t have it. The albums to come therefore won’t have it. There won’t be any further albums that will gleam like Made in Thailand because now I’m like this good bottle of liquor here that we’ve opened and drunk together. And after that, there’s no more. Because I’ve used all my strength in wanting to do this album, all of it has gone into it. After that, there’s no more. Because the source that I have in myself, it’s like the liquor that’s in that bottle. Now the liquor in that bottle had been totally used up. Unless we go find a new bottle.

[Header says: Times change after Made in Thailand]
Temporary Breakup of the Band’s Big Three and Reunion
Add: I can’t really remember, but I know that that day, we all wanted to do something following our own hearts. So Lek went his own way. Ree [Thierry] also went his own way. I went my own way. We each went to do our own thing. And in the end we knew that, if we join together, we are great. If we separate, it guarantees we are finished.
Lek: I’ll tell you this: The incidents back then, makes it so we have today. I’m thinking right. I believe I’m thinking correctly. P’Add thinks correctly that every person left because of every person. Me and P’Add here stand together with regard to work. We always argue about work; we have never argued about money. Because being in our youth, we were hot-blooded. How can we know who was right and who was wrong? Can [anyone] figure it out? Our work, I believe is ours. That’s the best way to think about it. As soon as we’ve matured, our egos are so big, both of us, all of us, that we go off and so some special solo work. Not long after we were on our own, we came back together and have worked together ever since. And it’s been smooth ever since. And we never argue anymore about work … We don’t have this in the band Carabao….

[Three of them playing Mai Pai]
Origin of the term “Songs for Life”; Add’s involvement with communism
Add: The words, “song for life” arose and are particular to Thailand. Because before that, there was the band Caravan. And there was a writer, and one of his books was called “Artists for Life, for the People,” and that writer was Jit Phumisak. Because of that, once the band Caravan came about, one writer wrote [the words] “songs for life.” But that came from this book here: “Artists for Life, for the People.” And so it gave birth to the words “songs for life.” I went and searched this world. Is there “song for life” or “protest song”? No, there’s nothing. There is no person who named them that.

Add’s relation to the October 14 (1973) and October 6 (1976) events and communism
Add: Maybe I wasn’t an October person; maybe I wasn’t a real October person, but I worked for the communists for 6 years without these guys knowing it [points to Lek and Thierry].****
Lek: Me, I was a professional musician. Like a true musician. When I came to know P’Add, it was like I knew a communist. Also, it was P’Add, who introduced us to the band Caravan, to know things like this. You have to understand that in the life of a professional musician like me, you have to drink soda pop. But the communists in past times, they didn’t even drink soda pop. Think about it. And it surprised me. Because just a moment before [Add told me that], I’d drunk some.
Add: And you also couldn’t wear high heals.
Lek: And I’d just drunk some and I was like, “Whaaa ???” And he said, “So this guy drinks soda pop!?” [Lek clutches his throat.]  And I’d just drunk some. Something like this. So I guess it’s going to be like this? Back then, P’Add’s life was intense. He led us to meet the communists. I was confused like, “Whao! What’s this?
Add: [We] couldn’t even look at women.
Lek: Uh . . Look! He told me “Lek, as soon as you grow up to be an adult why do you only look at woman in this way?” [I?] said, “’How come the adults look?’ Why do children look at girls?
Theirry: Would you have us look at men?
Lek: The way that P’Thierry looks at men is OK.
Add: I was kind of strict with the band, with the band members in that era. In the era of Made in Thailand, I’d check names. At 10 o’clock, no one has arrived. There is a board to check names.

Are the Songs for Life supposed to fight injustice?
Person off camera: P’Add, you have written in a book/magazine that Song for Life are things that fight injustice. Do you still look at the songs for life from this perspective?
Add: As for myself, throughout my life, I’ve written songs like that. For my whole life. I’m unable to write any other type of song. Actually there are some songs that are only about love, which I’ve written for Thierry to sing.
Lek: It’s that I look at the world like, in reality, us humans, you must admit you have a dream. Every person needs to eat and live happily and comfortably. About this, humans must … we must not first lie to ourselves. I hear people talk so much about ideals/ideology, but I ask you honestly, if you can’t provide for yourself, how are you going to help anyone in society? You will let your kids and wife have nothing to eat and you will help society? I don’t believe it. As for that, we must save ourselves first. We have to clean our own houses first. Then we can extend the cleanliness to the surrounding next to the house. If we have something to eat, if we have strength, we are able to make it so the world is nice to live in, to the extent that we have energy. I don’t believe that one person alone can change anything very much.

Where Add gets his ideas for songs
Thierry: Have happiness. And I got an idea also. P’Lek has your own melody. P’Add has a melody. I have a melody of my own. That’s like how I say, “Three buffalos.” P’Add has tons of stories in his head, which wherever he goes, he brings a notebook to jot them down. [pantomimes his writing in a notebook] Something like that. Bring anything to him, instantly it just comes. In a minute, it comes. The lyrics have already come [to him].
Lek: He reads so much, P’Add does.

[Heading says: Arriving at 40 years of Carabao]
Promoting the 40 Years, 40 Songs concert
Add: 40 years, 40 songs played till sick [of them] for you [honored you]. The words “played till sick of them,” mean that all of us have played together until we are bored. We play those songs until we are sick of them in order that we can play them for you [honored you]. Not that we play them so that YOU are sick of them. Those are two different things [laughs]. Decode that correctly. [We]’ll hear the songs that are familiar; doing it this way is better. But if we play the songs that aren’t familiar, like in previous eras, when we arranged a concert, other people are going to be like “you need to play that song and this song.” And they’re not familiar and we will be able to endure playing. Some of the playing will be wrong and some right. Because it’s not familiar. But for this time, 40 songs will all be familiar.
Lek: This will be special, which we have never done. We’ve never done it.
Add: We’ve never done it. For the most part, there are people who come force us: do it like this! Do it like that! But this time we do it in a friendly informal way.
Thierry: This time must be more special than all the other times because we will play following our hearts [or as we like]. Yes, let’s use these words.
Add: P’Thierry has [something] special. He will have คลื่น waves/rhythm. [Add and Thierry start making wave motions together]
Thierry: Right now I have many postures. I’m a dancer.
Add: Marine department [I think it’s a pun].
Lek: Entertain.
Thierry: I’m a clown for anything like this. I want everyone to be happy.
Thierry: I got to this age, where if I want to do something, I do it.
Add: You’re close to death at this point.
Thierry: Close.

[Header: Remembered Concerts]
Fighting at Carabao concerts
Add: That, it seems like it was a set up. It’s a Pluak Daeng garbage disposal pit, and it appears there are people saying, I oppose the creation of the garbage disposal pit at Pluak Daeng, which I didn’t know anything about. On that day, I remember that many Thairath reporters got up all over on stage. On on that day my pictures was on page 1 [of the newspaper]. [I] jumped down and kicked [them]. Do you know why? After the first song that they got up on stage, I’m playing, they come, [he mouths a word that they whispered at him]. And they are sitting along the fence. [He mouths the word again.] It was a set-up! They set me up! Because the movement of the reporters was really strange. As soon as the third BLEEPED EXPLITIVE, I jumped off the stage and kicked him in the neck.

Add: There was one time someone threw a bottle onto the stage. He threw it towards the stage but didn’t quite make it. It hit against the stage. Bang! It smashed. Bang! This was at Surat Thani. I jumped down. Expletive, this expletive guy was huge. But, anyhow, I had already jumped down and put [it] on first.
Lek: Being on the stage [you] miscalculated, huh?
Add: As soon as I jumped down, woah! Expletive huge. So big.
Person off camera: P’Add, do you ever think about why the song Bua Loy would have fights [between gangs breaking out during it]? Why Bua Loy [particularly]?
Add: With the beat of Bua Loy, it’s very มัน (pleasing/enjoyable). The beat of Bua Loy is มัน. While [in] the lyrics of Bua Loy, he’s a fighter. So I don’t know. Maybe they will punch and hit each other, I guess. I really don’t know. You have to go ask them.

__________________________________________________________________________________

*”Young Man from Suphan” is a humorous Carabao song about a young man from Suphan coming into the big city. It is used here because Add himself was a young man from Suphan who came into the big city, Bangkok.

**Probably Laos, where young Thierry Mekwattana was an actor in a TV show, or Switzerland [Thierry is half Swiss]. The meeting of Add and Lek, and Thierry’s show in Loas is illustrated in the music video for the 4oth Anniversary song: 40 ปี ฅนคาราบาว See Sip Bpee Kon Carabao (40 Years of Carabao People) [Ye Olde Carabao Band: 40 Years]

***By “two people together,” maybe he means Add wrote that song and Thierry only sang it. And it was lucky from Thierry’s point of view that “Ham Tiam” was banned and not “Nang Ngam Dtu Grajok” because Add sings “Ham Tiam” and Thierry sings “Nang Ngam Dtu Grajok,” so the song Thierry famously sings wasn’t banned.

****To learn about the concept of an “October Person” see the Carabao song “Tears of the October Friends” and my introduction. To learn more about young Add’s involvement with communism (he wasn’t yet Add Carabao, which is a stage name), see “Che 2018” and the introduction. Some math: If Add’s 6 years helping the communists began around October 14, 1973 (including mass protests around Democracy Monument that Add says he attended as a young person who didn’t really understand what was going on) and lasted till the government amnesty for communists in 1980 (which Add has expressed his thanks for) that would be about be about 6 years, corresponding to ages 18 to 25, and he would have been 21 during the October 6 event (the massacre of protesting students at Thammasat University), which deeply affected him although I don’t he was directly there that day. The first Carabao album came out in 1981, one year after the amnesty.

ความหมาย (Kwam Mai) Meaning IN SINGABLE ENGLISH

Melody and lyrics in Thai by ทิวา สาระจูฑะ Teewa Sarachuta
Album: อัลบั้ม ซึม เศร้า เหงา แฮงค์ Suem Sao Ngao Haeng (Soaked Sad Lonely Hungover) (2005)

Very rough. For demonstration purposes only:

Try of sing along with the video in Thai:

Life’s meaning is up to those alive
Thoughts have meaning driving things you do
Bright white has meaning in dark gloom
Words’ mean something too from your intent

Questions have meaning in the answers,
Whose meanings advance from questions sent
Minutes have meaning in the hours
The seconds when used have meaning then

Everything has meaning based on your look around
While fire hits the cold, hidden meaning’s to be found
‘Tween smiles and the tears, meaning’s there to slay fragility

The sky has meaning in having stars
Cold nights have meaning for the brave
Gentleness has meaning in severity
Competition can mean you will not cave
(2X)

Everything has meaning based on your look around
While fire hits the cold, hidden meaning’s to be found
‘Tween smiles and the tears, the meaning there will slay fragility

Life’s meaning’s determined by those with life . . .

ทุ่งฝันตะวันรอน Tung Fun Dtawan Ron (The Meadow Dreams of the Sunset) IN SINGABLE ENGLISH

Translation of song by  ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul, aka แอ๊ด คาราบาว Add Carabao
Album: ทุ่งฝันตะวันรอน Tung Fun Dtawan Ron (The Meadow Dreams of the Sunset) (2006)

NOTE: The voice clip is for demonstration purposes only, so you can learn to sing along with the video (and the song is out of my range). The direct translation is HERE.

ถ้าหลับฝันเป็นความจริง คงตามเก็บไม่ได้หมด
If dreams are in fact real, it’s still nothing we keep
ถ้าหลับฝันนั้นเป็นฝัน จากผลผลิตของกาลนอน
If dreams are just dreams, they’re the product of sleep
แต่ฝันเมื่อยามตื่น ใครเคยเชยชมมาก่อน
But who, after they wake, their dreams still can caress
ทุ่งฝันตะวันรอน งดงาม ประทับใจ
A meadow dreams of sunset. Its colors impress

ชีวิตเป็นความจริง มีบางสิ่งที่ยิ่งใหญ่
Now life, it is real. It has some things that are great.
ความรักและเห็นใจ โลกทั้งใบยังต้องการ
Both empathy, love. The whole world needs to relate.
ฝันถึงโลกใบนี้ มีแต่ความรักเบ่งบาน
Dream of blossoming love. For the whole world, suppose
มีแต่ชีวิตแบ่งปัน…ครองฝันในใจตน
There’s only life that flows, ruling the dreams in one’s heart

จงเก็บทุ่งฝันไว้เถิด…ถนอมรักทั้งดอกผล
Store a harvest of love, a field of dreams set apart
ดอกฝันในใจตน…คือผลพวงแห่งรัก
Dream flowers in your heart, love’s consequence show
ความรักอันยิ่งใหญ่…ฉันอยากให้คนทุกคนรู้จัก
A love that is huge . . . I want each person to know
โลกที่มีแต่ดอกรัก…คนมีแต่ดอกฝัน
Earth’s love-flowers blow, people’s flower-dreams reel

ถ้าฝันเป็นความจริง สิ่งเดียวที่ฉัน มุ่งมั่น
If dreams could be true. One thing that appeals
จะ เปลี่ยน ทุ่ง ทานตะวัน เป็นทุ่งฝันแห่งผองชน
I’d make a sunflower field become a meadow of dreams
โลกไม่มีใบที่สอง คนก็เกิด แค่หนึ่งหน
There is no Earth number two. We’re born just once it seems
ขอความฝันในใจคน จงเป็นบานด้วยดอกฝัน
May all the world’s hearts’ dreams, bloom and flowers reveal
ขอดอกฝันในใจคนจงเป็นบานเต็มทุ่งฝัน
May dream sunflowers team, spread across a dream field
ทุ่งฝันตะวันรอน
Meadows dream of sunset
ทุ่งฝันตะวันร้อน
Meadows dream of sunset
ทุ่งฝันตะวันรอน
Meadows dream of the show
ทุ่งฝันตะวันรอน
As sun slowly goes

Lyrics Translations for the Band