Lyrics by แอ๊ด คาราบาว Add Carabao
Melody is “Four Strong Winds” by Ian Tyson
From the album: วันวานไม่มีเขาฯ Wan Waan Mai Me Kow (If It Weren’t for Her …)
According to a Facebook post, Warner Music Thailand got permission to do a cover of “Four Strong Winds” from the copyright administrator for Ian Tyson for a royalty fee of only 3,000 baht (85 dollars). And Add Carabao promised that 10 percent of the proceeds from the album วันวานไม่มีเขาฯ (Wan Waan Mai Me Kow) would go to protecting the environment.
โลกใบนี้นั้นมีวิญญาณ This world, it has a soul
ในสายธารเกี่ยวโยงยิ่งใหญ่ In a great connected stream
ประกอบกันเป็น ดินน้ำลมไฟให้ชีวิต Combined are land, water, air, fire contributing to life
นับล้านๆ ปีที่กำเนิด Counting millions of years of existence
ผ่านยุคสมัยไดโนเสาร์ Jurassic Passing the age of Jurassic dinosaurs
จนถึงยุคสิ่งมีชีวิตร่างคล้ายลิงคือคน Until arriving at the age where the thing that has life resembles monkeys. It’s people.
มันถึงเวลาเยียวยาหรือยัง Is it [finally] time for some remedial treatment, or not yet?
หากไม่หยุดยั้งไม่นานก็สาย If we don’t halt this, it won’t be long until it is too late
โลกใบนี้จะไม่เหลืออะไร This world will have nothing left
กระทั่งคน Up to and including people
หยุดเข่นฆ่าหยุดโค่นป่าหยุดทุกอย่าง It’s an age of killing, an age of cutting down the forest, an era of everything
ที่ทำให้โลกเปราะบางจนเหลือทน that makes the world fragile till it can’t tolerate any more
ถึงเวลาร่วมมือกันทุกคน เพื่อเผ่าชน It’s time for every person to join hands for the human race [for the tribe of people].
เรามีสมองอันชาญฉลาด We have brains that are clever
หรือธรรมชาติให้มามากล้น Hasn’t nature given us in overflowing amounts
ทั้งด้านที่ดีด้านร้ายปะปน จนเห็นชัด both good and bad mixed together, until it’s clear for us to see?
เมื่อคนมีขวานก็ไปตัดไม้ When people have an axes, they go cut down trees
เมื่อคนมีปืนก็ไปล่าสัตว์ When people have a gun, they go hunt animals
โลกวันนี้พบภัยสารพัด This world faces all variety of dangers
ก็เพราะน้ำมือคน At the hands of people.
มันถึงเวลาเยียวยาหรือยัง Is it [finally] time for some remedial treatment, or not yet?
หากไม่หยุดยั้งไม่นานก็สาย If we don’t halt this, in not too long it will be too late
โลกใบนี้จะไม่เหลืออะไร This world will have nothing left
กระทั่งคน Up to and including people
หยุดเข่นฆ่าหยุดโค่นป่าหยุดทุกอย่าง It’s an age of killing, an age of cutting down the forest, an era of every sort of thing
ที่ทำให้โลกเปราะบางจนเหลือทน that makes the world fragile till it can’t endure anymore
ถึงเวลาร่วมมือกันทุกคน เพื่อเผ่าชน It’s time for every person to join hands for the human race [for the tribe of people].
เมื่อคนมีขวานก็ไปตัดไม้ When people have an axes, they go cut down trees
เมื่อคนมีปืนก็ไปล่าสัตว์ When people have a gun, they go hunt animals
โลกวันนี้พบภัยธรรมชาติ The world today faces natural disasters
ก็เพราะน้ำมือคน And it’s because of what people do
ถึงเวลาเยียวยาหรือยัง Is it [finally] time for some remedial treatment, or not yet?
หากไม่หยุดยั้งไม่นานก็สาย If we don’t halt this, in not too long it will be too late
โลกใบนี้จะไม่เหลืออะไร This world will have nothing left
กระทั่งคน Up to and including people
หยุดเข่นฆ่าหยุดโค่นป่าหยุดทุกอย่าง It’s an age of killing, an age of cutting down the forest, an era of every sort of thing
ที่ทำให้โลกเปราะบางจนเหลือทน that makes the world fragile till it can’t take any more
ถึงเวลาร่วมมือกันทุกคน เพื่อเผ่าชน It’s time for every person to join hands for the human race [for the tribe of people].
ถึงเวลาร่วมมือกันทุกคน ทุกชาติชน It’s time to join hands with every person, of every nation.
This video has an excerpt from the whole statement. It turns out I can’t share the video that was recorded live and sent straight to Facebook.
At the Bom Sincharoen Fan meetup No. 4, October 11, 2023, after playing เวร Wayn (Fate/Misfortune) and then ฝ่าลมฝน Faa Lom Fon (Braving Wind and Rain), Add Carabao (Yeunyong Opakul) dropped a bombshell. (You can hear someone in the audience exclaim, “ไม่น่าเชื่อ” or “unbelievable”). In the lead-up to the announcement (which does not seem preplanned), Add is talking about the marketing of the early albums and what kind of deals they had over time and then he says he won’t be a slave of anyone. Then he says that he kept the band going for the sake of the band members so they would have work but . . . [Approximate translation:]
“ . . . when you get a band of old people, let it go. Because right now all of us are really old. Also four people in the band have illnesses. And we will break up next year after a last concert on April 1, 2024. And we will just quit. I’m telling you, brothers and sisters, this is the truth! It’s that we just can’t do it anymore. Every last one of us is old now. [It’s like] three days, good, 4 days sick [with fever]. These days, there two people sitting with me playing and another two people lying in beds in the hospital. And they just recover and come back to play. Which means, OK, it’s gotten to the time that we must let it go and accept the truth that we are old. But we are still cool!
Whoever wants to go play with someone, whoever wants to go do something, they should do what makes them happy.
I’m not taking the younger brothers, the kids, in the band along further. Incidentally, meet my nephews right there, these ones, who just turned 18. I’m asking them to come help me. They are also guitarists and can do many things. They make it so my heart is still happy living with songs/music. My life . . . I’m not a musician, I’m not a guitar player, rather my life is to be a songwriter. And it makes me happy to walk in here playing songs. One day I compose a song and can record it, and then see the song go out to society, and I sleep with pleasant dreams. I’m happy. It’s not a matter of money . . .” [Then he talks about the charities that he supports]
This was a very small intimate gathering, with like 80 people watching live on Facebook (I watched live but after the announcement), and if the video becomes available as a YouTube, I will post, because the music was AWESOME!!!
The tune and words by เล็ก คาราบาว Lek Carabao (Oct 12, 2023)
NOTE: This farewell song was posted to straight to Facebook by Lek Carabao after the announcement of the break-up of the band Carabao. P’Lek’s song riffs off the 40th Anniversary song: 40 ปี ฅนคาราบาว See Sip Bpee Kon Carabao (Ye Olde Carabao Band: 40 Years).
ANNOUNCEMENT: REPORTERS LOOKING FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FAN COMMENTARY ON CARABAO AFTER THE ANNOUNCED BREAK-UP OF THE BAND CAN CONTACT ME AT THE EMAIL ADDRESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WEBSITE.
กี่หมื่นกี่แสนกี่ล้านกิโลก็ไม่ย่อท้อ However many ten thousands, hundred thousands, or millions of kilos [we travel on tour], we weren’t disheartened.
ตราบที่มีแรงไปต่อจะขอโลดแล่น And long as we have strength, we rush ahead
สติยังดีสองขาสองแขน Our minds are still good, and we have two legs and two arms
พวกเรามีแผนเลิกเล่นปีนี้แน่นอน We all plan to retire from playing this year for sure
งานเลี้ยงย่อมมีวันเลิกรา There is naturally a day when the party ends
คาราบาวก็ ไม่อยู่เหนือกฎเกณฑ์นั้น Carabao is not above that law
มันเป็นเรื่องราวธรรมดา It’s an ordinary story
มีมาก็ต้องมีไป There is coming and there must be going
ขอให้เพื่อนผ่องน้องพี่ I ask all you friends, brothers and sisters
ได้ดีดีมีสุขทุกคน Be well and happy everyone.
40 ปีที่เราเวียนวน For 40 years we have made the rounds
อยู่บนเวทีเดียวกัน On stages together
ขอบพระคุณแฟนเพลงทุกท่าน Thank you to our fans, each one
เรามีวันนี้พระท่านทั้งหลาย We’ve had a chance to have all you honored fans
หญิงชายมากมายทั่วร่าง Male and female, everyone
คาราบาวขอกราบคารวะ Carabao pays their respects
ชนะภัยชนะทุกข์สุขทัวร์กัน Conquering danger, conquering suffering on every tour together
คืนวันแม้ผ่านไปใจตราตรึง Even though the days and nights have past, the heart is left impressed
ซาบซึ้งในน้ำใจทุกๆท่าน I am grateful for everyone’s kindness.
คิดถึงกันถึงกันตลอดไป We’ll always miss each other/think of each other.
คืนวันแม้ผ่านไปใจตราตรึง Even though the days and nights have passed, the heart is leftimpressed
คิดถึงกันถึงกันตลอดไป We’ll miss each other/think of each other always
จะคิดถึงคิดถึงกันตลอดไป We’ll miss each other/think of each other always
คืนวันแม้ผ่านไปใจตราตรึง Even though the days and nights have past the heart is left impressed
จะคิดถึงคิดถึงกันตลอดไป We’ll miss each other/think of each other always
Carabao: 40 years of Legendary Songs for Life
Interview by The People Co. Premiered Sep 18, 2023
ANNOUNCEMENT: REPORTERS LOOKING FOR ENGLISH-LANGUAGE FAN COMMENTARY ON CARABAO AFTER THE ANNOUNCED BREAK-UP OF THE BAND CAN CONTACT ME AT THE EMAIL ADDRESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WEBSITE.
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.
Lyrics and Melody by สุรชัย จันทิมาธร Surachai Chantimatorn aka หงา คาราวาน Nga Carawan
On the album ดวงดาว ดวงตา ดวงใจ (Stars, Eyes, Heart) (1987)
After translating this famous and beautiful Nga Carawan song by special request, I realized there is probably a related Carabao song, which is not so beautiful (and this is by design as it is a humorous song): A Pot of Flowers for You” which came out in the same year as Nga Caravan’s “Flowers for You.” Check it out.
ขอมอบดอกไม้ในสวนนี้ เพื่อมวลประชา จะอยู่แห่งไหน จะใกล้จะไกลจนสุดขอบฟ้า May I give the flowers in this garden for the masses of people wherever they may be, whether near or far, all the way to the horizons.
…มอบความหวังดังดอกไม้ผลิ สดไสวงอาณา เป็นกำลังใจให้คุณ เป็นกำลังใจให้เธอ เป็นสิ่งเสนอให้มา…. Bestowing hope like spring flowers, a bright circle of territory, to be encouragement for you, encouragement for you dear. [That]’s something I propose to bring [to you].
ดวงตะวันทอแสง มิถอยแรงอัปรา เป็นเปลวไฟที่ไหม้นาน เป็นสายธารที่ชุ่มป่า เป็นแผ่นฟ้าทานทน The sun shining bright, not holding back it’s awesome strength. It’s a long-burning flame. It’s a stream that waters the forest. It’s the enduring expanse of sky.
ขอมอบดอกไม้ในสวน ให้หอมอบอวลสู่ชน จงสบสิ่งหวังให้สมตั้งใจ ให้คลายหมองหม่น May I bestow the flowers in the garden so their sweet smell is conveyed to the people. May you find the things you hope for so that your aims are fulfilled, so there is relief from gloom.
…ก้าวต่อไปตราบชีวิตสุด ดุจกระแสชล เป็นกำลังใจให้คุณ เป็นกำลังใจให้เธอ เป็นสิ่งเสนอให้คน Keep moving forward until life ends, like a stream of water. To be encouragement for you. To be encouragement for you dear. It’s something I propose for you.
เป็นกำลังใจให้คุณ เป็นกำลังใจให้เธอ เป็นสิ่งเสนอให้คน …… To be encouragement for you. To be encouragement for you dear. It’s something I propose for you.
Lyrics and Melody by ทิวา สาระจูฑะ Teewa Sarachuta
Album: อัลบั้ม ซึม เศร้า เหงา แฮงค์ Suem Sao Ngao Haeng (Soaked Sad Lonely Hungover) (2005)
ชีวิตมีความหมายอยู่ที่มีชีวิต ความคิดมีความหมายที่ได้ทำ Life has meaning that is up to [those] having life. Thoughts have meaning in carrying them out.
ขาวสว่างมีความหมายในมืดดำ ถ้อยคำมีความหมายในหมายความ Bright white has meaning in the dark. Words have meaning in what you intend to say
คำถามมีความหมายอยู่ในคำตอบ คำตอบมีความหมายที่ไถ่ถาม Questions have meaning in the answers. Answers have meaning in the query
นาทีมีความหมายในโมงยาม ครู่ยามมีความหมายเมื่อใช้เป็น Minutes have meaning in the hours. Seconds have meaning when they are used.
* ทุกอย่างมีความหมาย อยู่ที่ใครมองเห็น Everything has meaning depending on how someone looks at it.
ระหว่างไฟร้อนปนเย็น เร้นความหมายให้ค้นหา As hot fire mixes with cold, [there is] hidden meaning for people to ferret out
ระหว่างรอยยิ้มและน้ำตา มีความหมายที่เข่นฆ่าความเปราะบาง Between smiles and tears there is meaning that slays [one’s] fragility/weakness
** ฟ้ามีความหมายที่มีดวงดาว คืนหนาวมีความหมายให้คนแกร่ง The sky has meaning in having stars. Cold nights have meaning for the strong [who can face it]
อ่อนโยนมีความหมายในรุนแรง เข้มแข็งมีความหมายด้านพ่ายแพ้ Gentleness has meaning in severity. Competition has meaning resisting loss
(Solo)
(** , *)
ชีวิตมีความหมายอยู่ที่มีชีวิต Life has meaning, as determined by [those] having life.
Artist: Twopee Southside Featuring แอ๊ด คาราบาว (Add Carabao), IG, and Djtob
YouTube released: Nov 7, 2019
This rap song riffs off the early Carabao song “Ganja,” an anti-marijuana song that served as a pro-marijuana song in thin disguise. The original song “Ganja” is very evocative of the atmosphere as people sit together outside smoking under the stars, and among Carabao’s most popular songs. In more recent years, band members wrote songs apologizing for the original song “Ganja” and the band joined a successful fight to decriminalize marijuana in Thailand and legalize medical marijuana. Now there is a whole Carabao special album “Miracles of Cannabis” (2019) gathering songs from that pro-marijuana campaign (Use the “Lyrics by Album” tab to find these songs, some of which are quite good!). This song “Ganja” by rapper Twopee Southside is very tuned in to the feel of the original song “Ganja,” and also may be referencing lines and themes from famous Carabao songs in a backhanded way–an appropriate homage to the band that did an anti-marijuana song while smoking ganja themselves.
ADD: *ค่ำคืนนี้ยังมีดวงดาวเจิดจ้า Tonight the stars looks so bright
คราบท้องฟ้ายังดูสดใส the sky looks clear
สุดส่วนของขอบฟ้ากว้างไกล to the end of the wide horizon
ไม่มีวันใดมืดมิดสนิทนาน……………………… There’s never a night the darkness is close for long*
Kid uh ดวงดาวยังส่องแสงแหงนหน้ามีดวงจันทร์พวกกูมารวมตัวก็ถึงเวลาที่รวมควัน Kid uh. The stars are shining. Look up and there’s the moon. All of us get together and its time to smoke together
กู with my clique on tour มึงดูเข็มทิศละกัน Me with my clique on tour. How about you look at a compass?
บางครั้งก็ควรคิดที่จะกลัวทำในสิ่งที่ไม่ควรทำ Sometimes [we] should think to be afraid to do the things we shouldn’t do.
แต่แม่งเป็นประจำพอ on one แล้วมีชีวิตชีวา But it’s just an *expletive* a regular thing. On one, let’s live it up!
นั่งอยู่กับเพื่อนเรื่องความหลังไม่คิดถึงเรื่องเวลา Sitting and being with friends, matters behind us we don’t think of the time
Livin’ my dream ในความฝันเหมือนในหนังโฆษณา pass me the blunt the night still young มันก็คงไม่ใช่ปัญหาอะ I’m livin’ my dream! In a dream like in a commercial. Pass me the blunt. The night’s still young. It shouldn’t be a problem.
เกิดปี 90 แต่ปี 2000 มาเลี้ยงกู I was born in 1990, but the year 2000 came and raised me/threw me a party [it’s a pun]
ตี 3 นั่งอยู่ในสตูฯ กูยังคงใช้ตังต้องเลี้ยงดู At 3 am, still sitting in the studio I still use money. I must raise myself up [?]
แต่แม่ง every night เกือบทุกๆ คืนอะกู live my life เหมือนไม่ยอมให้คืนอะ still got the pride But every *expletive* night, almost every single night, I live my life, like I not willing to go back [“night” and “go back” are homonyms]
ยังมีจุดยืนอะมึงมาจากไหนมึงต้องไม่ลืมซิ so let’s smoke it I still have a standpoint. Where’d you come from? Make sure you don’t forget. So let’s smoke it.
ADD: *ค่ำคืนนี้ยังมีดวงดาวเจิดจ้า Tonight the stars looks so bright
คราบท้องฟ้ายังดูสดใส the sky looks clear
สุดส่วนของขอบฟ้ากว้างไกล to the end of the wide horizon
ไม่มีวันใดมืดมิดสนิทนาน……………………… There’s no chance darkness is very close for long*
ไฟกูมีพร้อมจุดในคืนเดือนดับ I have a light ready. A point in the dark moonless night
สาดแสงส่องสว่างให้มันเจิดจรัส A splash of light, lighting things lustrously
ไม่มีวันมืดมิด เงียบสงัด There’s no chance for it to be dark and silent
ยังคงขับเคลื่อน พลังพวกกูมันเครื่องจักร We’re still moving. The strength of our group it’s an engine
เหมือนประตูที่เปิดให้มึงเห็นแสงสว่าง Like a door that is open so you see the bright light
กริยา วาจา ทำให้มึงกระจ่าง Words and speech make you clear and distinct
ทั้งวรรณยุกต์ ทุกพยางค์ พวกกูแตกต่าง Tone marks, each syllable, we’re different from each other
Rap คือยาเสพติดที่ยังคงเสพไม่มีวันสร่าง Rap is a narcotic that remains addictive, with no chance of recovery
เลือนลาง ไม่เจือจาง พวกกูแน่น Fading away, [but] not diluted. We’re tightly crowded together
ลื่นไหลขอแค่ผ่านน้ำพวกกูแล่น Flowing. I only ask you pass the fuel that makes us run. Fuck the bullshit ขอทิ้งไว้ข้างทาง Fuck the bullshit. Throw it away by the side of the road.
อีกไม่นาน hope to see you again at Thugz mansion Not much longer and I hope to see you again at Thugz mansion
เมื่อพระอาทิตย์ลับขอบฟ้า When the sun drops below the horizon
เหมือนร่างกายที่อ่อนล้า Like our bodies which are weary
สิ่งรอบตัว มันหลอกตา Things around us fool the eyes
ความกลัว เค้าหลอกมา Fear comes in to deceive us
จิตใจที่เปราะบาง The heart that is fragile
สำลักควันจนปอดชา The smoke smothers until the lungs are numb
ไม่เคยคิดจะบอกลา I never thought I would say goodbye ยังคงเชื่อตลอดมา I have always believed
แสงสว่างของดวงดาว The light of the stars
แสงสะท้อนจากดวงจันทร์ The reflected light of the moon
ควันที่ไหลผ่านน้ำ The smoke that flows through the water
เหมือนอุปสรรค ต้องฝ่าฝัน Like an obstacle [one] must struggle through
ใช้ไฟฉายเพื่อส่องทาง Use a flashlight to light the path
ใช้ความคิดเพื่อเขียน rhyme Use your thoughts to write rhymes
ล่องหน เหมือนได้ท่องเวลา Vanish like you can time travel
ความทุกข์ก็หาย ในทันตา Suffering disappears immediately
ชีวิตมีเกิดแก่ มีสุข มีแย่ มีหย่อนยาน Life has birth, old age, has happiness and distress, it has laxness**
มึงอย่าท้อ ถึงคนเค้าล้อ Don’t be downhearted, to the point that people make fun of you
ไม่มีใครแพ้ไปตลอดกาล Nobody keeps losing forever
เพราะในเวลากลางคืนยังมีดวงดาวที่เจิดจ้า Because in the time of night there still are stars that are bright ถ้าล้มแล้วมึงลุกขึ้นยืน ก็คุ้มแล้วที่เกิดมา If you fall, get up again. It’s worth being born into this world
ADD: *ค่ำคืนนี้ยังมีดวงดาวเจิดจ้า Tonight the stars looks so bright
คราบท้องฟ้ายังดูสดใส the sky looks clear
สุดส่วนของขอบฟ้ากว้างไกล to the end of the wide horizon
ไม่มีวันใดมืดมิดสนิทนาน……………………… There’s no chance darkness is very close for long
*Other possible translations of this line: “There is no night when darkness is close for long” or “There is no night the complete darkness lasts for long.”
**This is a variation on a Buddhist saying as well as a variation of a refrain from a famous Carabao song “Kon La Fun.”
It’s hard to know how many of the themes and metaphors of this song purposely refer to famous Carabao songs (beyond “Ganja”), and how many are just metaphors themes and metaphors common to many to many Thai songs, but I hear echos of Carabao songs in “ชีวิตมีเกิดแก่ มีสุข มีแย่,” (Kon La Fun) “ถ้าล้มแล้วมึงลุกขึ้นยืน” (Kwam Chuea by Bodyslam featuring Add Carabao). And actually the entire last rap verse sounds like a Carabao song.
Lyrics and Melody by ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul, aka Add Carabao
From 40th Anniversary Album อัลบั้ม 40 ปี ฅนคาราบาว (40 years of Ye Old Carabao People)
I categorized this song under the “Humorous Stories” category because of the video.
เพียงเห็นครั้งแรก ใจมันก็เต้นตูมตามเหมือนคนเหนื่อย Just seeing [her] the first time, [my] heart beat “boom boom” like a person tired
อยากเห็นเรื่อยๆ ตรงที่เก่าที่เดิมที่เดินผ่าน [I] wanted to see [her] constantly right where she walks by
วันๆ เฝ้ารอเวลา ที่หมุนไปอย่างเนิ่นนาน Day by day I waited on the time, which took forever to come around
มีเพียงแค่ตามองตา เท่านั้นก็สั่นถึงวิญญาณ Just our eyes meeting was enough to shake my soul
นั่นหรือเปล่า ที่สาวที่หนุ่ม เขาว่าความรัก Is this, or isn’t it, what young men and women call love?
รักติ๊งต่าง ขี้ตู่ แค่เราเฝ้าฝันไปเอง คิดไปเอง “Let’s suppose” love. I’m always claiming without proof. Just dreaming on to myself. Thinking to myself
เพียงความรู้สึก ส่วนลึกในหัวใจคือความสุข Just the feeling deep in the heart is happiness
แอบรัก แอบปลูก ต้นไม้แห่งความรักไว้ในใจ Loving secretly. Secretly planting a flower of love in the heart
ดอกใบก้านกิ่งลำต้น งดงามตามจินตนาการ Flowers, leaves, branches, and stem. Beautiful following the imagination
บ่มเพาะไว้ในใจตน เด็ดดมได้เพียงแค่ในฝัน Cultivated in one’s heart, [it’s a flower you] can smell only in a dream.
นั่นหรือเปล่า ที่สาวที่หนุ่ม เขาว่าความรัก Is this, or isn’t it, what young men and women call love?
รักติ๊งต่าง ขี้ตู่ แค่เราเฝ้าฝันไปเอง คิดไปเอง “Let’s suppose” love. [I’m] always making things up.* Just dreaming on to myself. Thinking to myself
จะเป็นอะไรก็ช่างมัน ฉันไม่แคร์ ไม่กังวล ไม่สนใจ Whatever! I don’t care, I’m not worried, I’m not going to let it bother me
ปล่อยให้ชีวิตมันเดินไป ในแต่ละวันอย่างมีความหวัง Let it be that life travels on in each [new] day with hope
มันดีกว่าดำรงอยู่ อย่างเรื่อยเปื่อยกับชีวิตไร้พลัง It’s better than passively living a life without strength.
ถึงสมรักสมชัง ถึงขี้ตู่ ติ๊งต่าง ค่อยว่ากันทีหลัง Whether [she and I] are a love match or the opposite, whether I’m just making things up, whether I’m just supposing, we can talk about that later
จากได้ตั้งหน้าถมทาง สร้างวิมานรักอากาศ After I intently go over the path again, building castles in the air
จะเป็นอะไรก็ช่างมัน ฉันไม่แคร์ ไม่กังวล ไม่สนใจ Whatever! I don’t care, I’m not worried, I’m not going to let it bother me
ปล่อยให้ชีวิตมันเดินไป ในแต่ละวันอย่างมีความหวัง Let it be that life travels on in each [new] day with hope
มันดีกว่าดำรงอยู่ อย่างเรื่อยเปื่อยกับชีวิตไร้พลัง It’s better than passively living a life without strength
ถึงสมรักสมชัง ถึงขี้ตู่ ติ๊งต่าง ค่อยว่ากันทีหลัง Whether [she and I] are a love match or the opposite, whether I’m just making things up, whether I’m just supposing, we can talk about that later
จากได้ตั้งหน้าถมทาง สร้างวิมานรักอากาศ After I intently go over the path again, building castles in the air
หลงรักจินตนาการ วิมานรักอากาศ Falling in fantasy love. Love castles in the air.
ลุ่มหลงรักจินตนาการ วิมานรักอากาศ Enchanted with fantasy love. Love castles in the air.
*ตู่ is to claim without proof, and ขี้ is a prefix to that turns it a word X into the one who often does X. So “I’m always making things up” seems close.
Lyrics by ยืนยง โอภากุล Yuenyong Opakul and ปรีชา ชนะภัย Preecha Chanopai
Composer: คาราบาว Carabao
From 40th Anniversary Album อัลบั้ม 40 ปี ฅนคาราบาว (40 years of Ye Old Carabao People)
Note: There is a joke in the title. The “kon” meaning “people” in “Carabao people” is spelled in the ancient way using an obsolete letter “k” that is no longer in the Thai alphabet. In the song, Carabao is protesting that they are still relevant while spelling “Carabao people” using an old-fashioned spelling. Maybe a good translation would be “Ye olde Carabao Band: 40 Years.”
This song riffs off the theme song for the TV show คาราบาว เดอะซีรีส์ “Carabao The Series,” which came out the year of the 30th Anniversary. It was an anthology series, with each episode covering a famous Carabao song, first with an intro to the song by the band Carabao, then a drama based on the song of the week, another few words from the band commenting on the drama, and some famous younger band (a different band each week) covering the Carabao song of the week in a totally new way. Most of the episodes were REALLY well done. If you can partially understand Thai, this show is MUST SEE. Search for คาราบาว เดอะซีรีส์ on YouTube.
ADD SINGS:
จากสุพรรณมากับรถไปรษณีย์ [I] came from Suphan [by hitching a ride] with a postal vehicle*
สตางค์พอมีแต่จำต้องประหยัด [I] had enough money but I needed to be thrifty
เข้าสู่เมืองกรุงมุ่งมาเป็นเด็กวัด I came into the big city intending to be a temple boy
ได้ข้าวก้นบาตรหล่อเลี้ยงชีวี Receiving leftovers to nourish myself
ณ ช่างก่อสร้างอุเทนถวายฯ At Uthentawai School of Architecture
เรียนตามพี่ชายเขาเคยอยู่ที่นี่ I studied following my older brother who had been here
เลยได้เพื่อนใหม่เป็นนักดนตรี And so I got new friends who were musicians
สูงยาวเข่าดี ปรีชา ชนะภัย Nice and tall, Preecha Chanapai [Lek]
LEK SINGS:
เต้นกินรำกินเป็นศิลปินไส้แห้ง [I] performed for a living, being a starving artist
กลางคืนแสดงวงเพรสซิเดนท์เล่นเพลงฝรั่ง At night, shows of the band President played Farang songs
กลางวันแสดงโรงแรมนานาแนวคันทรี In the day, shows at the hotel had all genres of music
กับคุณเทียรี สุทธิยง เมฆวัฒนา With Khun Thierry Suthiyong Mekwattana
มาวันหนึ่งคิดถึงเพื่อนเก่า Then one day, I was thinking of an old friend
อยากฟังเพลงลุงขี้เมาที่เพื่อนเรารังสรรค์ I wanted to hear the song “Lung Kee Mao” [“The Drunken Uncle”] that our friend had created
แต่มันกลับกลายเป็นทำร้ายให้เพื่อนตกงาน But that unexpectedly became something that hurt my friend, causing him to lose his job
เพราะสมัยนั้นเขาห้ามเล่นเพลงไทย Because in that era, we weren’t allowed to play Thai songs.
THEIRRY SINGS:
เกิดเวียงจันทน์ ปีสองพันห้าร้อยหนึ่ง I was born in Vientiane [Loas] in the year 2501 [1958]
สองขวบติดตามพ่อแม่กลับเมืองไทย At age two, I returned with my mother and father back to Thailand
เคยเป็นพระเอกหนังเรื่อง โอ้…กุ๊กไก่ I had previously been a movie actor [in] “Oh Gook Gai” [Oh “Chicken Coop”]
ทั้งเป็นนักดนตรีห้องอัดอโซน่า I was both a musician at Ozana recording studio
เคยเล่นโฟล์คซองกับพี่เล็กมาก่อน And I had previously played folksongs with P’Lek
จึงเป็นเพื่อนเกลอกันในยุคแสวงหา And so we were friends/pals in the era of seeking/chasing [something]
ผมเชื่อเหลือเกินมันคือโชคชะตา I really believe it was fate
ลิขิตนำพาเป็น เทียรี่ คาราบาว destining, leading me to be Thierry Carabao
ADD SINGS:
จากเดือนตุลาสองห้าสองสี่ สี่สิบปีแล้ว From October 2524 [1981], 40 years now
เพื่อนเอ๋ยน้องแก้วกอดคอกันมาเพื่อนคาราบาว Oh friends, dear younger brothers and sisters, come tossing arms around each others shoulders, Carabao friends!
ผลงานมากมายผ่านร้อนหนาว So many works [of art and entertainment] completed through hot and through cold
คนหนุ่มคนสาวคนเฒ่ายังเป็นแฟนๆ Young men, young women, and old people are still fans
LEK SINGS:
กี่หมื่นกี่แสนกี่ล้านกิโลก็ไม่ย่อท้อ However many ten thousands, hundred thousands, or millions of kilos [we travel on tour], we won’t be disheartened.
ตราบที่มีแรงไปต่อจะขอโลดแล่น And long as we have strength to go on, let’s rush on
สติยังดีสองขาสองแขน Our minds are still good, and we have two legs and two arms
ยังไม่มีแผนเลิกเล่นจะเลิกทำไม We still have no plans to quit playing. Why would we quit?
ADD SINGS:
เพราะลมหายใจเข้าออกเป็นเพื่อชีวิต Because the breath [we] breathe is For Life**
เพราะลมหายใจเข้าออกคือคาราบาว Because the breath [we] breathe is Carabao
(Solo)
ADD SINGS
เพราะลมหายใจเข้าออกเป็นเพื่อชีวิต Because the breath [we] breathe is For Life
เพราะลมหายใจเข้าออกคือคาราบาว Because the breath [we] breathe is Carabao
THIERRY SINGS:
จากคำนินทาก้าวมายิ่งใหญ่วงเพื่อชีวิต From rumors, we’ve made great strides here, a band For Life
ฟ้าดินลิขิตให้สู้ให้สร้างรับใช้สังคม Sky and Earth have written that [we] must create and serve society
ให้มีเสียงเพลงคอยอุ้มสม so there are songs to match [what is going on]
ถ่วงโลกกลมๆ ใบนี้ด้วยคุณธรรม So that this round, round world is weighted down with merit/virtue
ADD SINGS:
ตะวันคล้อยต่ำแทนคำเปรียบเปรยว่าเฒ่าชรา In place of words hinting that we are old and senile, the sun [just] travels and sets
คนเราเกิดมา มีใครบ้างหนาผู้คนจดจำ We people are born into the world. Is there anyone people remember?
ตราบชีพยังอยู่ จะขอตอกย้ำ As long as we still have life, let us stress
จะก้มหน้าทำหน้าที่ฅนคาราบาว We will put our heads down and do the duty of [ye olde] Carabao people.
All SING:
40 ปีแล้ว ยังขอตอกย้ำ 40 years now. Let us emphasize again
จะก้มหน้าทำหน้าที่… ฅนคาราบาว We will put our heads down and do the duty of [ye olde] Carabao people.
*The story of young Add heading off to Bangkok, hitching a ride on a postal vehicle, is covered in another autobiographical song that is amazingly good: ไม่ยืนยง Mai Yuenyong (Not Endure [Forever])
**The genre of music they play is called “Songs for Life,” or “For Life.” Wikipedia defines “Songs for Life” as “a type of Thai folk music, strongly influenced by elements of Western folk and rock music with a protest theme mainly centered on the hardship of working-class people and in favor of a democratic political system.” The genre started in the 1970s but Carabao became the most successful example of the genre in the 1980s. The definition given in Wikipedia may be skewed by the example of Carabao.
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)
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
Add Carabao has a new compilation album of his most poetic songs in ultra-HD, with an English language title, “Poem,” and ITS AVAILABLE IN THE US ON AMAZON MUSIC! (And the fact that there is an English-language title means you don’t have to type in Thai to find it.) For the record, the Thai-language title of the album is “กวี” which means “Poet.”
The music is good enough to stand on its own, even if you don’t understand Thai, but if you want to be blown away, see how the lyrics translate into English. Because these songs have lyrics that more than double the impact of the music, often including a punchline that will take your breath away.
If I were to pick 15 songs that best demonstrate Add Carabao’s poetic abilities, I would have something very close this album. And they aren’t all famous songs. Don’t be fooled by “Talay Jai” (Ocean Heart) as the inevitable opening song (Add Carabao’s favorite). For instance, this album includes an inexplicably overlooked song that has long been my personal favorite: “Kwam Jing” (Truth), which totally works as an atheist hymn. “All the faith eclipses the thinking and dreaming one should have.” And, “It’s in the study of genuine truth/reality that the world spreads out for a person.”
In Mai Pai someone on a rainy moonlit night is composing a song on a bamboo flute: “I tease a song from the fingers that flutter/ from the rain’s pitter-patter/ from the heart that cares . . . about you.” And in the next moment, through the power of music, we are contemplating the oneness of the human race and of the universe in general.
Rang Koy (The Vulture Waits) is similarly powerful. The first verse sets up a wild scene in a jungle where a vulture waits (to eat those who die along the path). There are streams flowing out of sight and cliffs that defy the sky. The second verse explodes by asking, Who understands the life of music? (Where does music come from?). We should let it go (sing out) like streams flowing out of sight. Like cliffs that defy the sky! And, as in all these songs, the music almost tells the story by itself — in this case by including the chirping of birds and other jungle sounds.
Luk Lung Kee Mao (Son of the Drunken Uncle) is a long vivid story with a poetic punchline that I will not give away. (In audio of the debut performance of this song, I thought I heard a collective gasp from the audience.) I had long argued that “Son of the Drunken Uncle,” written for the band’s 25th anniversary was even better than “The Drunken Uncle” (a fan favorite from the very first Carabao album).
Lok Hang Kwam Rak (World of Love) is a song that makes you want to light candles and all hold hands (or that was one friend’s response to it). Rak Tong Su (Love Must Struggle) is Thailand’s “I Will Survive” [a breakup] song. Ngem Jai (An Opening in the Heart) s another wholesome campfire song that encourages people to open their hearts, just a crack, to each other and let the truth out.
There are many lighthearted, playful, and humorous songs as well: Phi Suea Nak Su (Fighter Butterfly) is an infectiously upbeat song about a butterfly continuing to fly even with injured wings. Bor Yere Joye (No Big Deal), uses a dismissive phrase in Chinese that Add’s mother used to say, to cheer up the downhearted. And Tawan Tok Din, (The Sun Sets) goes on and on in a a silly 50s doo-op style, complete with falsetto voice, about the fact that people can’t survive a drowning. I did a direct translation then went online to ask “What the heck?” A friend suggested this was yet another song about impermanence. And believe it or not, the song suddenly made sense to me.
There are several more songs that for the moment I will categorize as “interesting” as I still need to think it over and/or translate them: “Sai Tan Tee Huan Kuen,” (The River That Flows Back), invites Thai expats to return home, offering sympathy for their plight. It came out in 2006. Is it being intentionally recycled for the current moment? “Pukawatketa” is a song involving the characters Arjuna and Krishna from an Indian myth. I have already translated an Add Carabao song titled “The Arrow of Arjuna” and its amazing, so we shall see. “Lung Fang” sounds like many other Carabao songs about idylic/not so idylic farm life, but that is just a guess based on the sound of a rooster crowing. [EDIT: The song is now translated] In Che’2018, Add Carabao takes a second run at memorializing Che Guevera, after regretting the result of an earlier attempt. Although this album’s version of “Che 2018” is in Thai, he also did a version in Spanish.
Below are the 15 songs as they are spelled on Amazon Music with hyperlinks to their translations here at Carabao in English. Four of the 15 songs already have rhyming translations, which I will link to. Three [EDIT: Two] have not yet been translated.
I got an interview with Add Carabao once to pitch the idea of doing an album in English using singable translations of his Thai-language songs (such as my own translations) plus some of his existing English language songs. At one point during this out-of-body experience, I was shouting “People need to know that you’re A POET! You’re a POET!”
An English-language album finally did materialize and it’s terrible. New songs were written directly in English FOR Add Carabao by a Thai composer who is A) NOT Add Carabao, and B) not completely comfortable with English. You can read about it HERE. Meanwhile, my fantasy album demonstrating Add Carabao is a POET! He’s a POET! has arrived. It’s just that the songs are still in Thai. And maybe that’s OK.
By แอ๊ด คาราบาว Add Carabao
Posted to YouTube on August 9, 2019 The official English-language title is “Cannabis Commission.”
Note: This song is very much like the song “Ameri-goy” (a made-up word involving “America”). Both songs attack America for something it most likely did (I didn’t check Add Carabao’s allegations, but they ring true), and he does it using the metaphor of a Thai boxing championship (see the video with this song and check the lyrics of the song “Ameri-goy“). He’s fighting an important issue with a compelling new song! He’s BACK!!
*กัญชง กัญชา อเมริกาทำสงครามเย็น Ganja. America makes cold war
(อะ) กัญชง กัญชา อเมริกา(ละ) กดดันยูเอ็น Ganja. Pressuring the UN
ให้บังคับโลกที่สามอย่างไทย ลาว เขมร To force the third world, as with Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia
ออกกฎหมายกัญชง กัญชาเป็นยาเสพติด to pass laws [treating] ganja as an addictive drug
คุณคิดว่าใครล้าหลัง ฝรั่งใช้กันลึ่มๆ Who do you think is backward? Westerners use it widely.
เราก็เป็นไอ้ทึ่ม ไทยแลนด์ทะเลาะกันเอง And so we are foolish. Thailand is divided [with some supporting legalization and some not]
นักเลงกัญชาต้องลงใต้ดิน ราชการกังฉินเสพสุขสบาย The potheads* must go underground. The corrupt government partakes, happy and content.
สาธารณสุข อย. และ ปปส Public Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and Narcotics Control Board
คิดบ้างไหมหนอ ว่าปกป้องผลประโยชน์ใคร Have you ever wondered whose benefits they are protecting?
อเมริกาห้ามเรา แต่เขากลับใช้ America forbids us, but they turn around and use
ทั้งปลูกทั้งขาย เบ่งบานเป็นธุรกิจ Both cultivating and selling, [cannabis] blooming is [big] business
คนไทยกับกัญชา ผูกพันมาตั้งปีมะโว้ Thais and ganja have been closely tied since forever
กฎหมายดันมาโผล่ ว่ากัญชาเป็นยาเสพติด Then the law comes along and classifies ganja is an addictive drug
ใครปลูกใครใช้ ต้มไก่ก็ยังมีความผิด Those who grow it and add it to chicken soup are still guilty!
มันคือการรอนริด สิทธิ์เสรีภาพประชาชน It’s an infringement on the rights and liberties of the people!
ใครละกินคอมมิช คอมมิชชั่น กัญชากัญชง So who takes commissions [to grow ganja] and kickbacks from the Cannabis Commission?
กัญชง กัญชา อเมริกาทำสงครามเย็น Ganja. America makes cold war
(อะ) กัญชง กัญชา อเมริกา(ละ) กดดันยูเอ็น Ganja. Pressuring the UN
ให้บังคับโลกที่สามอย่างไทย ลาว เขมร To force the third world, as with Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia
ออกกฎหมายกัญชง กัญชาเป็นยาเสพติด To come out with law that ganja is an addictive drug
คุณคิดว่าใครล้าหลัง ฝรั่งใช้กันลึ่มๆ Who do you think is backwards? Westerners use it widely.
เราก็เป็นไอ้ทึ่ม ไทยแลนด์ทะเลาะกันเอง And so we are foolish. Thailand is divided [with some supporting legalization and some not]
นักเลงกัญชาต้องลงใต้ดิน ราชการกังฉินเสพสุขสบาย The potheads must go underground. The corrupt government partakes, happy and content.
กัญชาเป็นยา เป็นสมุนไพรพื้นบ้าน Ganja is a medicine, a local herb
มีมานมนาน ตั้งแต่ยุคสมเด็จพระนารายณ์ That’s been around for so very long, since the Age of Narai [1631-1688]
แต่อเมริกากลัวยาเขาจะขายไม่ได้ จึงกีดกันคนไทย But America is afraid they won’t be able to sell it [because Thailand will underprice them], and so they obstruct the Thai people
ปลูกใช้ถือว่ามีความผิด [They] hold that planting and using [it] is wrong
ขอสิทธิ์คนไทยเข้าถึงกัญชาบ้างหนอ May Thais please have their rights to access marijuana?
ขอแก้กฎหมาย ปลดล็อคออกจากยาเสพติด Can we please fix the law, unlocking [ganja] from [the category of] addictive drugs?
แล้วก็ช่วยกันคุม ไม่ให้ใช้กันผิดๆ And together we’ll help oversee use of marijuana, so that it isn’t abused
ดีกว่าคอยรอนริด สิทธิ์เสรีภาพประชาชน That’s better than to keep infringing on the rights and liberties of people.
ดีกว่ากินคอมมิช คอมมิชชั่น กัญชากัญชง It’s better than taking a commission or kickback from the Cannabis Commission
กัญชง กัญชา อเมริกาทำสงครามเย็น Ganja. America makes cold war
(อะ) กัญชง กัญชา อเมริกา(ละ) กดดันยูเอ็น Gganja. Pressuring the UN
ให้บังคับโลกที่สามอย่างไทย ลาว เขมร To force the third world, as with Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia
ออกกฎหมายกัญชง กัญชาเป็นยาเสพติด to pass laws [treating] ganja as an addictive drug
คุณคิดว่าใครล้าหลัง ฝรั่งใช้กันลึ่มๆ Who do you think is backwards? Westerners use it widely.
เราก็เป็นไอ้ทึ่ม ไทยแลนด์ทะเลาะกันเอง And so we are foolish. Thailand is divided [with some supporting legalization and some not]
นักเลงกัญชาต้องลงใต้ดิน ราชการกังฉินเสพสุขสบาย The potheads must go underground. The corrupt government partakes, happy and content.
นักเลงกัญชาต้องลงใต้ดิน The potheads must go underground
ราชการกังฉินให้มันท้องแตกตาย The crooked government. They should be gutted to death.**
*I translated “นักเลงกัญชา” as potheads. “นักเลง” means “hooligan” or “ruffian” very old-fashioned words “กัญชา” is of course “ganja.” So I translated “ganja holligan” as “pothead” and I don’t think it is meant too negatively, as many Carabao band members openly admit to smoking ganja. And one translator suggested just “users.” Many users go underground.
** Based on the written lyrics, it looks like “The crooked government wants the potheads to be gutted to death.” But based on a pause in the line as sung, I am hearing: “The crooked government. They should be gutted to death.”