I don’t know if Add Carabao directly identifies as a humanist. He does strongly identify as a Buddhist and accepts the label “Songs for Life” as the genre that he usually works in. [See a recent interview in which he mentions how Buddhism and “yonisomanasikara” [proper attention] in particular help him in songwriting.] But as an atheist and a humanist myself, I have noticed that Add Carabao’s works seems strongly humanist. To make that point, I give a definition of humanism below followed by excerpts from 32 songs that back up my observation that his work is humanist (has all the important humanist elements). I have only translated 300 of Add Carabao’s songs, so perhaps 10 percent of his work is strongly humanist in a way that feels universal.
Of course, many of the more Thailand-specific songs would also be humanist (for instance “นส. 3 ก.” or “NS3K Document”) but would be harder for a non-Thai to understand and so would not be used an example here.
So here is a definition of Humanism from The Humanist Magazine quoted prominently at the website of the American Humanist Association: “Humanism is a rational philosophy informed by science, inspired by art, and motivated by compassion. Affirming the dignity of each human being, it supports the maximization of individual liberty and opportunity consonant with social and planetary responsibility. It advocates the extension of participatory democracy and the expansion of the open society, standing for human rights and social justice. Free of supernaturalism, it recognizes human beings as a part of nature and holds that values-be they religious, ethical, social, or political-have their source in human experience and culture. Humanism thus derives the goals of life from human need and interest rather than from theological or ideological abstractions, and asserts that humanity must take responsibility for its own destiny.”
If we compare the humanism seen in Add Carabao songs to western humanism, the biggest difference might be the enthusiasm for moderation (the Middle Path).
Browse the translated lyrics below and draw your own conclusions. Before you start, check out the entire songs ความจริง Kwam-jing “Truth” and คนล่าฝัน Kon La Fun “Dream Chaser” if you haven’t already. And perhaps read my review of the recent compilation album Poem (I have discussed humanism in those songs elsewhere and so don’t cover those important songs here). If you are skeptical that Add Carabao is “free of supernaturalism,” read the interview I have titled “Add Carabao clarifies his religious position.”
Below are 30 key songs lyrics excepted in English translation (a few of the songs, including the first one, were not actually written by Add Carabao, but he was always in control of which songs went on the official Carabao albums and, of course, on his own solo albums). Click on the hyperlinks for the song with full details. And remember the music carries meaning on its own, even apart from the lyrics.
ปลาใหญ่ ปลาน้อย Bplaa Yai Bplaa Noi Big Fish, Little Fish
“One animal has a body large and bold
Has great strength and is totally savage
Devouring the small animals, so they die and are gone
It is natural law that brings it about
Big fish eat little fish
Big animals eat little animals
It’s a law . . . Not [for] people
Look around at human society
Having hands that overflow with merit/virtue
People have moral principles that will lead them
The light of Dharmic truth guides us like a golden light
Be king and generous to each other, brothers and sisters
Compassionately support/maintain the world, brothers and sisters
It’s not like we’re [pieces of] dead wood; we’re friends
…Big fish are friends with little fish
Big animals are friends with little animals
It’s a law . . . create/build the laws together, people!
(1981)
มนต์เพลงคาราบาว Mon Pleang Carabao The Spell of Carabao Songs
“Come sing songs to soothe the heart and give [us] energy
to study diligently, to pursue learning
to at last be way out in open, not inactive
A rhythmic trance, being into the lyrics of the song
There is no competition in music
There are truth and dreams in music
There is music played in this world of freedom
There is music played to signify the lives of people.
The tune reflects real life
It is essential advice for real life
beautiful and meaningful. Don’t leave it behind
[and] forget [it] while dancing in the center of the floor”
(1981)
บัวลอย Bua Loy
Note: This song celebrates the sacrifice of an ordinary soldier, whose name Bua Loy means “Lotus Leaf.” This works for the song because a lotus grows up through the water and finally blossoms above the water. Bua Loy matured and “blossomed above the water” in his selfless final act. It is one of the best known Carabao songs. Below is my singable, rhyming translation.
“Bua Loy, this guy I know
He always limps, he’s got crossed eyes
He’s not that much to see
but his mind is high, like the Lotus Leaf
A friend when you need a friend
A cook when you need to eat
A doctor if you scream in pain
He’ll get you back on your feet
Bua Loy’s been handicapped
And so of course he escapes the draft
But still he volunteers
The man is brave and he endures
He works hard all the time
A humble, normal guy
Helps out every friend
He’s there through thick and thin
. . . One day the guns resound
Bua Loy is lying on the ground
Mumbles “Are y’all OK?”
The very last words Bua Loy will say
From that day ’til this day
In a farmhouse on a hill
Bua Loy is absent still
It’s listless there and grey
Spoken:
This world is all messed up
‘Cause some care just about their own needs
How many people in this world
Rise as high as this lotus leaf?
Sung:
This world is all messed up
‘Cause some care just about own needs
How many people in this world
Rise as high and become free . . . . as Bua Loy!!!!!”
(1984)
เรฟูจี Refugee
“. . .all that’s left is boats drifting in
Come on, come on, welcome Refugee!”
(1984)
เสียงเพลงแห่งเสรีภาพ Siang Pleang Heng Saripaap Music of Freedom
“If we want to go forward
[one] must create confidence
or democracy
that is really true, like we long for
so that Thai people can have freedom
Music so [we can] express [to everyone]
that we yearn for a great freedom.
Music so we can express
We long for liberty
Music of freedom
Free-dom!
Music of freedom
Free-dom!
Music of freedom
Free-dom!
Music of freedom
Free-dom!”
(1985)
ประชาธิปไตย Bprachaatipbpadtai Democracy
“Let the citizens have the right to vote
People come grab the reigns of the lives of citizens
[We] will rule the democratic system
Will we play Thai-style or like the system internationally?”
(1986)
ถึกควายทุย ภาค 8 Tuk Kwai Tuey Pak 8 Tuk, the Buffalo with Short/Twisted Horns, Part 8
Note: Bamboo spreads by sending out runners that send up new shoots from underground. In the song “Mai Pai” all the people in the world are said to be related to each other like the bamboo in a clump or grove. In the context of the song “A clump of bamboo” means other people will pop up to take up the project even after you are sidelined from the action.
“Manohk, oh, Manohk
The world still needs people who do good
You are not all alone
On the contrary! A clump of bamboo!
There are still bamboo shoots
putting out leaves, splitting into new clumps
To be shoots to be rows
To be skin and flesh
To be energy
To be strength of spirit
To give moral support”
(1987)
เพื่อเมืองไทย Peua Muang Thai For Thailand
Note: This song originated as a Coke commercial and is addressed to Thai young people. The word “kwam bpen Thai” that I have translated “Thai-being/Thai culture” is usually translated “Thainess,” and “Thainess” is often held up as a standard that young people must conform to. Add Carabao has turned this idea on its head.
“Now the river basin of Thai-Being/Thai culture
goes however we go,
is as we are
No exceptions ever
[If you] don’t try, of course, you won’t know.
It’s something deep from the thoughts in the heart.
If [we] let you teach, will you teach?
If [we] have you think, what will you think?
If we have you do/make [something], then what will you do/make?
[Go ahead! Do it!]
With love and intention
Confident even for a long time
You are the beautiful future
People who carry on the creation of Thai society
It’s something profound from the thoughts in one’s heart
If [we] let you teach, can you teach?
[We] want you to think. What do you think?
[If we] have you do [something], what will you do?
It’s something deep from the thoughts in the heart
Open doors! What doors [will you open]?
[We] want you to think. What do you think?
We’d have you do [something]. What’ll you do?
It’s something deep from the thoughts in one’s heart.
We’d have you do [something]. Can you do it?
For Thailand with [your] heart and mind.
For Thailand, what will you do?”
(1991)
ในนามแห่งความรัก Nai Nam Heng Rak In the Name of Love
“Tell the person beside you, please tell them loudly, that love still exists
What disappeared from this city is still fine; it hasn’t fled anywhere
A city where people urgently push and crowd and rush around
The city where there the cars are stuck in traffic and [drivers] compete for breathable air
Nature had to be destroyed
Exchanged for drunkenness, lust, and passion . . .Lust and passion
Tell the person beside you, please tell them loudly, that love is calling for you
But in this period, people right now are dazzled by civilization [by the big, bright city]
Walking like blind people, their eyes unseeing
Groping for a way to survive, devoid of kindness
Where are there any schools or universities that teach people to be human? . . .Teach people to be human?
But great love hasn’t yet arisen. Support each other if you are able.
Until the sky collapses
The land crumbles
Even if the world is razed to the ground and destroyed by fire for all time
There in a dream, at one time love had arrived
On the earth, once upon a time, it’s beautiful with color,
nature, many species of wild animals and plants,
People love each other like a verse of poetry, brothers and sisters!
(2X)
Tell the person beside you, please tell them loudly, that love is begging you
The love from two people, has a harmony that is beautiful, wonderful
Young people are [our] strength; they are [our] hope
[One’s] two hands are where [it starts], not [with] some third party
Love wants me to follow it. I come in the name
of love!
Love wants me to follow it. I come in the name of love!
Love has me come along. I come . . . . in the name of love!”
(1994)
หลวงพ่อคูณ Luang Por Koon
Note: This song is about the famous monk Luang Por Koon, who passed away (in 2015) at the age of 91. This song is on the album, “People who Create the Nation.” It seems that Add and other Carabao band were followers of Lung Por Koon, as were many Thai people. He was thought to have especially strong magical powers, but this song makes fun of the superstitious followers and has Luang Por Koon telling his followers that it is really up to them to fix things. The notes under the official video say [in translation]: “Don’t be wrapped up in waiting for fate or relying on a Buddha image only. It should also depend on the efforts and perseverance of each person.”
“Auspicious, great, kindness
But upright people, students of Luang Por Koon
All flow in to make merit.
The blessing of Luang Por Koon:
May you be rich, rich!
Accepting and giving out auspicious objects
and sprinkling holy water
His holiness helps upright people
To walk on the path, safe, going along beautifully,
doing business, rich
Like winning the lottery, a big number
Just this please, Luang Por Koon?
Please protect us, please protect us!
[They] grab and soak in the holy water
There are many disciples/followers
There are many government ministers, and members of the House of Representatives
They all ask for blessings continually
Luang Por tells these young guys,
the kickboxers, gangsters, and players,
the stars, lucky and prominent, confident to the point of amazing
Luang Por Koon, he tells these young guys,
It’s [really] up to you guys
to be thinking about good and evil
Good and evil is inside the skull
I come and knock [it], bonk! bonk! Be sure to remember and not forget!
(Good and evil is inside the skull)
I come knock [it], bonk! bonk! Be sure to remember and not forget!
Enter all you government ministers,
Members of the House, mischief makers, I will give a blessing:
Go sit in Parliament
I won’t have you speaking abusively. [You] must be aware!
Hang a monk or Buddha [amulet around the neck] to be an model
The citizens are distressed
And so they march [in protest]”
(1994)
รกกำเนิด Rok Gamnert Original Placenta
“The tall skyscrapers are so beautiful you crane your neck [to look up]
Manufactured products come from minerals and woods
However tall you build it, there is likely no point [no benefit]
If the forested mountain must be completely destroyed
In less than 100 years, that’s all, one’s home is pounded to dust
A very tall building will not endure as long as the mountain
Why do humans lose their way and damage their original placenta?
Nature, oh, Nature! . . . Tears fall”
(1997)
ดาวแห่งโดม [ปรีดี พนมยงค์] Dao Haeng Dohm [Pridi Panomyong] Star of the Dome [Pridi Banomyong]
Note: Pridi Banomyong led the revolution that changed Thailand from absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy in 1932, so he the founder of Thai democracy. He is also the founder of Thammasat University.
“The human world will be beautiful if people dare ask themselves,
Throughout life, do I ever dare challenge injustice?
Let this bruised gloomy burned world meet its fortune and fate
But the person named Pridi dared to do it. Remember this for sure!”
(2001)
ดอกไม้สีชมพู (Dok Mai See Champoo) Pink Flower
Note: This is a heart-wrenching song about the plight of a transgendered person. Add wrote it in 2002 in the first person, and sings it himself (similar to the song “Please, Answer the Child” where he puts himself in the place of a child.)
“My fragrance stimulates the heart. I’m a pink flower
lonely, shimmering. In the end, I’ll be alone and depressed
I want to scream and cry so the world knows
Ask them, Just where am I wrong?
Am I wrong that my heart is a girl?
Am I wrong that my body is a boy?
My body I still don’t understand
I want to have someone to come and understand me [enter my heart]
A flower has no right to chose
A group of insects come to smell
Bow the head and accept the bruising.
I’m a pink flower.”
(2002)
ไม่ยืนยง Mai Yuenyong Not Endure [Forever]
Note: Add Carabao’s real first name is “Yuenyong” which means endurance. So when he is saying endurance doesn’t endure. He is talking about his own mortality.
“My hands have a guitar. With perseverance [I] distill songs from tears
Loves songs are written by a pen, but my songs are written by life.
Lyrics for life.
The sky is still wide open. The sparkling rain waits to sprinkle the ground so perennials are waving branches in the wind
The story of a small person who becomes a popular is like [when] insects come and joyfully smell a blooming flower. . . .
[There’s] the saying that endurance doesn’t endure. Endurance doesn’t endure.**
Oh . . .Oh . . . Yuenyong doesn’t endure.”
(2004)
ความหมาย (Kwam Mai) Meaning
“Life’s meaning is determined by [those] having life.”
(2005)
เว้นวรรค Wen-Wak Some Space
Note: According to Thai Wikipedia, there were many Songs for Life artists and music stars with the crowds gathering to drive out Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, but not Carabao or Add Carabao. Someone asked his opinion and he immediately wrote this song, which was interpreted to mean he thought Prime Minister Thaksin should step down. He refers back to Cruel May 1992, a mass popular uprising, in which he participated, that ended with a massacre of protesters by the military.
“Lower the temperature of harshness
Everywhere people are glaring suspiciously at each other
The ghosts of the city whisper of evil omens coming
The blood and tears of Thai people will flow to caress the land
Cruel May [1992] I hear/feel the sound of the guns resounding,
lashing into [our] mothers, father, sisters, and brothers at Sapaan Paan Fai [The King’s Bridge]
Fear speeds over to impress itself on the heart. Death is carried on its back
[You] tell [your]self “I’m outta here,” get out of the way, and hide from the violence
Everyone retreat their different steps, so afterward we can move forward
Democracy will gain strength
For Thailand, why must we buy [it] expensively?
In a dignified way, [we can] lower the harshness by taking a break [by means of spacing]”
(2006)
ขี้เมากะเพราแตะ Kee Mow Graprow Dtae The Drunken Basil Flip-Flops
Note: From a silly song that tells the story of a wife who gets sick of being bossed around by her husband at his drunken party, and when she runs out of food in the refrigerator and he is still demanding more stir-fried basil dishes, she cuts up her flip flops and makes stir-fried basil flip flops to serve him and his friends.
“This is the story of basil stir-fry that quite clearly stir [fries] for women’s rights
Watch out! The alcoholic who likes to oppress will one day encounter the drunken basil stir-fried flip-flops”
(2006)
ตอบหนูที “Dap Nu Tee” Please Answer the Child
Note: This song is about a terrorist attack on a school. And the pronouns used are all the pronouns used by children, so this puts the song in a child’s voice (although Add sings it).
“The smoke drifts and lingers
The truth appears before us
The scene blurry because of a curtain of tears
Alas, the school was burned last night
The sadness isn’t over [?]
The teacher died, hit by a bullet
This morning we still had a teacher standing
beside us kids
looking at the ruined school
What was it my school did?
Why’d you have to burn the school?
Did my teacher do anything?
Why’d you have to kill the teacher?
Was my school hurting anyone?
Why destroy the school?
How was our teacher in the wrong?
Why did you have to kill the teacher . . . of us children?
So I now I will study wherever
And who will come be the teacher?
And why be so cruel to me?
Whoever knows, please answer me”
(2007)
ผ่านพบที่ผูกพัน Paan Pop Tee Pook Pan The Encounter that is a Lasting Connection
“As life goes along, the more you look, the more it resembles a soap opera. Shoulder love, shoulder struggle. Cross the sky, mountain, and sea.
For the most part, it’s disappointment, experiencing only failure. If just sometimes, or only once, something fulfills your expectations, it’s enough
Because life is short. You encounter [something], and instantly it passes
But it’s likely to leave furrows, buried deep in the memory.
Do you ever sometimes have someone . . . you meet and are instantly bonded?
Even through day and night you dream away and don’t forget . . . . the encounter that is a lasting connection
Himalayan glaciers melting and flowing down to sea. This life is like that: it begins then dies and disappears.
But love, on the other hand, is secure, arising as a legend, calling out [a song] –a melody of happiness mixed with suffering mixed with relationships/strong connections.
Because life is short. Encountering [something], it shortly passes
But it’s likely to leave furrows, buried deep in the memory.
Do you ever sometimes have someone . . . you meet and are instantly bonded?
Even day and night you dream away and don’t forget . . . . the encounter that leaves a lasting connection
In the place we struggle (even if in the end, we arrive at the same place as before) – in the place we yet walk, it’s still good to have love
This mix of happiness and suffering is only an obstacle. In difficult places one is likely to come across the encounter that leaves a lasting connection.”*
(2008)
* I found a video in which Add introduces the song. He says: “In this life of ours, we are born alone and die alone. Maybe there are some times—some times or some people who give rise to a feeling of awe or being impressed, never to be forgotten. You might take it and turn it into lyrics or poems or compose a song. Or some people will go create movie or a TV drama. I believe all of us have something like this that comes our way. It’s not necessary to tell anyone. Keep it to yourself in your heart, know of it yourself, and you’ll be happy just you yourself. If you do this, you’ll feel good. But if you tell someone, nobody will criticize.”
เพื่อชีวิตติดล้อ Peua Cheewit Dit Lor For Life on Wheels [The Motorcycle Song]
“We get one life. Use it complete,
So it’s enough. Two wheels, just pay for fuel, and drinking up”
(2009)
เพื่อผู้ลี้ภัย Peua Poo Lee Pai For Refugees
Note: From a song that advocates alternatives to refugee camps for refugees.
“Freedom is a life that people have a right to by birth.
Freedom is something that every person seeks. They want something more than a refugee camp.
Immigrants are all along the back of the ax.* They all have spirits and minds aiming for freedom.
I want the world to know through this song that refugees here and anywhere are people
This is an appeal to [my] Thai brothers and sisters
Please recognize the story of refugees
Counting to 100s of thousands of lives. They remain waiting with hope
Waiting for sympathy to help them push forward
See the significance. People change lands
In order to have lives of human freedom
That freedom is a life that people have a right to by birth
The freedom we all seek is to have more than the
rights of only a refugee.”
*The map of Thailand is compared to an ax, so along the back of the ax would be along the border with Myanmar.
(2008)
สุดขอบฟ้า Sud Kob Fah The Horizon
Note: Add wrote the hook for this inspirational song by the rap group Thaitanium.
Add sings
: “…If in that day [they] didn’t try,
today who knows where we would be standing?
[One] must live life with regret that [one/someone] didn’t do it.
Life would probably lose its meaning if we don’t do it. Woot! . . .
Day raps:
Way up high in the sky, it’s very cold
There is a storm, there is a story.
You can’t see, there’s a white fog. Really?
Up in the dark sky, a shiny star is sparkling
Shining brilliantly. Who is that star?
Tell me, who are you?”
(2010)
กำลังใจคาราบาว Gamlang Jai Carabao Carabao Strength of Spirit/Moral Support
Note: This song celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the band Carabao. (They always have special songs on the multiple-of-5 anniversaries of the band).
“On the road, our Songs for Life are a product of social ideology
Good and bad [examples] in the songs that one day will be a legend, a spirit aiding each other
But on the Middle Path in religion, certainty is uncertain
Bow and accept life as it comes, like a person who is drenched until you know [you are] awake”
(2011)
แสงทองส่องทาง Seng Tong Song Tang Golden Light Lighting the Way
“Every person should have the right
to think and to see what seems to be problem.
Why don’t you ask yourself sometimes,
why must [they] always be flexing muscles?
To be in a warm embrace, is something everyone needs
But not teargas [and a] spray of bullets!
. . . .A bird flies where he likes,
[If he] wants to eat, to sleep, he has the freedom
Why don’t people have freedom,
even though people are much more sophisticated than birds?
. . .Young men and women you have a pure heart
Continue fighting. This world will be in your hand.
Guardians come and then pass by
Citizens are the ones who will continue standing up
To be in a warm embrace, is something everyone needs
But not tear gas! Not a spray of bullets!”
(2012)
ยังบาว Young ‘Bao
Note: From the theme song for the movie Young ‘Bao, a movie about the formation of the band Carabao.
“If this world didn’t have songs, people would remain colorblind
For the one life that [we] have: lively music, lively dancing to refresh the heart!”
(2013)
อยากได้อะไรทำไมไม่บอก Yaak Dai Arai Tamai Mai Bok If You Want Something, Why Don’t You Tell [Us]?
Note: This is a song addressed to the Muslim population in the south of Thailand. He is pleading for a peaceful resolution of the problem (in an area conquered by the Kingdom of Siam in 1785) rather than terrorism (as mentioned in the song ‘ตอบหนูที “Dap Nu Tee” Please Answer the Child).
“If one could apologize on behalf of others, I want to apologize, on their behalf, for the purpose of redemption
To withdraw the sin that was committed already, to eradicate [it] all until the seed(s) spread(s) out to the tip of the ax*
So sorry for our country. Our Southern home. The end of tranquility.
The suffering that is covered up and pressed down[?] [Let’s] help each other take account of it. Help each other bring it out, and fix it.
Lets combine our thoughts, our strength, our hearts. [If] you think something or want something, we want you to come explain it.
With reason, search for a conclusion, and [we] will break free towards peace.
If you want to get something, (peacefulness, peacefulness) why don’t you tell [us]?
If you want to get something, (peacefulness, peacefulness) why don’t you tell [us]?
If [you] want something, then tell us. Our mutual desire is still peace
The country probably won’t cling to stubborn convictions. The religions of ethnic groups can be different from each other.
We can live together. We can portion everything out. Please tell us.”
*The shape of Thailand on a map is like an ax. The Southern part of Thailand is the handle of the ax.
(2013)
ค่าของคน Kaa Kong Kon The Value of a Person
“The golden sun, the indigo sky,
[they] have a question: Will you struggle?
[You may] think only of being discouraged, only of waiting for luck
[Think], Where is the true value of a person?
People are born very precious/excellent
Born beautiful human beings
The value of a person still waits for the proving
So what about you? What kind of person do you want to be?
Be like the birds that soar
Out to find food to nourish their bodies
Your value that is true
I know where it is
Oneself is up to oneself
Only you yourself can support it.
Make up your mind to do it to the fullest
Be proud of the duty/function that you have
The value of a person is right here
Right here is the value for society
You have usefulness for society
You ARE a benefit of society”
(2013)
วางดาบ Wang Dap Set Down the Sword
Note: This song may annoy some people because of the context. It came out right after a coup. Add Carabao appeared to take a “give dictatorship a chance” approach (my words, not his) to avoid further violence (many died and were injured in the government crackdown on the protests.) But with or without context, the song is remarkable for its driving rock ‘n roll enthusiasm for moderation.
“Confucius once told us: Those who like to play chess
Don’t only think of attacking, so you must also have a way to retreat from an attack
It’s natural that people have their stubborn convictions
But the superior type of person sets down the sword
[To] put down the sword, trust, and back down is normal
Put down the sword in equanimity. To live as normal is more precious than anything.
People consider being born into life as so ordinary
And never think to be amazed about it
But as soon as they fall ill and the doctor tells them it’s a horrible disease
They want [everything] restored to normal
While we still have life, we need to learn to be happy
Don’t increase all the suffering with fortune, rank, desire, and passion
People are born into one life. It’s a precious creation
Normal life puts down the sword
[To] put down the sword, trust, and back down is normal
Put down the sword in equanimity. To live normally is more precious than anything.
(If it’s too heavy to bear, put it down! Then [you’ll feel] light and comfortable . . .)
Because ordinary things, actually already are special things
Really, really [special] for humans like us
[To] put down the sword, trust, and back down is normal
Put down the sword in equanimity. To live normally is more precious than anything.”
(2014)
อยากได้ยิน Yaak Daiyin Want to Hear
Note: This is another song that came out right after the coup. It pleads for reconciliation between people with polarized political views.
“What words would you like to hear from all those many people who pass back and forth?
“Hello,” sending a smile your way, would likely be better than a suspicious frown
Because in our hearts, we don’t hear their hearts. And their hearts also search to hear our hearts
If hearts can sense each other and share the suffering, happiness is not far off.
This world still needs love. This world still needs empathy/mutual understanding
Catch each other’s eyes with forgiving love, and move forward learning from it.
We have mountains, rivers, and oceans. We have all kinds of animals sharing the habitat
There are humans, there is you and me. Here is paradise: the one and only world right here.
They say that our world amounts to the tip of the antennae of a snail, [that] life gets tossed away like a cigarette butt
[We] must learn about our hearts and minds; release the spirit to cross the bridge to freedom
There is no happiness comparable to peace. All [our] experience shows this is true
There is true, earnest anger. History is [our] example.
It’s a question awaiting an answer from people.”
(2014)
น้ำ Naam Water
“The most important thing about humankind is that life is precious
We are born because we are born. It wasn’t destiny or the business of anyone
The time we have isn’t that long. We must do [what we do] following our love and desires
The water is polluted because [we] give up on our beliefs [and] don’t persist in searching for truth, which is a thing that doesn’t die”
(2015)
เพลงของกู เวอร์ชั่น 3 Playng Kong Gu Version 3 My Song, Version 3
Note: This song, posted straight to Facebook, seems to respond to criticism that Add Carabao had strayed too far from his early Communist and then pro-working class ideology, becoming a rich capitalist.
“Songs for Life arose and still exist
They are a door, they are defining
October 14, 1973 [a famous popular uprising against dictatorship]
A tragic day this world must remember [because so many died in the struggle]
But this song here, is MY song
Written from what I know
Know from Buddha’s teachings
Know from a heart that is brightened/clear
Songs for Life were written to join the struggle
In the middle of the jungle, in the middle of the mountains. The troops in the jungle have guns
Saying goodbye to the classroom. We let it all go
Many hundreds and thousands [for] not a very long time.
[Our] ideology lead us far
Then we were defeated. It was like waking up from a dream,
turning back to reality
MY song. MY story.
The song of me. It doesn’t stay still
Everything changes according to the factors
Everything changes, and the lyrics also are not the same as before
The Songs for Life are dedicated to those people
Who still fight throughout the country of Thailand
Relieving sadness, a blanket for the heart
Just this, which is all I can do. Just that, which is what I know
But this song here is my song
My body is mine. My songs are mine
For a life of independence [not under anybody else]
My song. My story
My story. It doesn’t say still
Everything changes according to the factors
Everything changes, and the lyrics also are not the same as before
[Then he starts singing in Pali (seems to be a Buddhist chant)]:
Wa ya taama sangkara
Aba ma tay na sambpa tay ta”
(2017)
กัญชาคอมมิชชั่น Ganja Commission [Cannabis Commission]
Note: Carabao played a role in a successful campaign to decriminalize marijuana in Thailand! In order to do it, they had to openly apologize for an early song that (probably disingenuously) condemned marijuana.
“Ganja. America makes cold war
Ganja. Pressuring the UN
To force the third world, as with Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia
to pass laws [treating] ganja as an addictive drug
… America forbids us, but they turn around and use
Both cultivating and selling, [cannabis] blooming is [big] business
Thais and ganja have been closely tied since forever
Then the law comes along and classifies ganja is an addictive drug
Those who grow it and add it to chicken soup are still guilty!
It’s an infringement on the rights and liberties of the people!
So who takes commissions [to grow ganja] and kickbacks from the Cannabis Commission?
… Ganja is a medicine, a local herb
That’s been around for so very long, since the Age of Narai [1631-1688]
But America is afraid they won’t be able to sell it [because Thailand will underprice them], and so they obstruct the Thai people
[They] hold that planting and using [it] is wrong
May Thais please have their rights to access marijuana?
Can we please fix the law, unlocking [ganja] from [the category of] addictive drugs?
And together we’ll help oversee use of marijuana, so that it isn’t abused
That’s better than to keep infringing on the rights and liberties of people.
It’s better than taking a commission or kickback from the Cannabis Commission”
(2019)
ยอดมนุษย์ 2% Yot Manut Song Percen The Top 2 Percent of Humanity
Note: This song relates to Add Carabao’s 68th birthday on November 9, 2022. I assume he is calculating the odds of survival for someone born in his cohort, in 1954. It includes words in Sanskrit that are used as a protective incantation. In the context of the song, it means something like “knock on wood.” The jist of the song is “We’re lucky to be alive.”
“There are 7 billion people on this planet
Do you know previously, [by] only 14 years of age,
26 percent left this world, and died, even though they were still young
[REFRAIN] Not quite yet, it’s still not our turn
We’re not buried, not burned [in a cremation ceremony] “Vaya-dhamma sankhara”* [“Decay is inherent in all compounded things]
66 percent left [this world] between ages 15 and 64
There are only 8 percent who live and eat well, until today. That is our blessing.
REFRAIN
At 65 years still 8 percent left
6 billion have left this world
The people born at the same time as me have dropped away in great numbers
I’m already lucky to have passed through young adulthood
REFRAIN
When I was born, the word was still low-tech.
Today the internet shrinks the whole world
You don’t have to go to the bank to withdraw money
Cars and trains don’t need to refill with gasoline
“Vaya-dhamma sankhara …” –– a protective incantation.
Who passes 90 years? It’s the top 2 percent.”
(2022)