Songs for Life | Coconote

Title: Songs for Life: Leftist Thai Popular Music in the 1970s URL Source: blob://pdf/dfc7a82b-2ee6-4194-9c6b-13a580375d2b Markdown Content: Songs For Life: Leftist Thai Popular Music in the 1970s Pamela A. Myers-Moro This paper examines a popular song style which flourished for a brief period following the student-led revolution in Thailand in 1973. Songs for life expressed social and political protest, served as a marker of group identity among progressive students, and symbolically represented the ethos of the student movement. This music is strikingly contrastive to other Thai music in both sound and content, and draws selectively upon American pop and rock as well as Thai folk music. The present discussion proceeds through several sections: 1) adescriptive background on Thai political events, the student movement, and the role and nature of popular expression during the 1970s; 2) discussion of the musical phenomenon itself, and of 3)musical and textual features of the songs, focusing upon what is shared and not shared with other Thai popular music. It is in this realm of similarity and contrast that the import and significance of the songs-as social and political expression-lies. There is general acknowledgement that songs often play a vital role in political movements, both reflecting and motivating participation. Yet, analyses of such songs rarely go further than the content of the lyrics2 or descriptive overviews.3 According to some authors, in fact, music can only express political meaning through words, though a song may connote unsung but known words. However, musical symbols or signs may have referents other than song lyrics. Therefore, not only words but texture, instrumentation, performance context, etc.-features which have gained significance through social experiences-shall be discussed here? The songs to be discussed constitute a single unit of analysis for two reasons. First, they are referred to by informants as one category of music; second, the words bot phleng phua chiiwit ((classifier for songs) songs for life) appeared on recordings and concert announcements and so represent a category used by the commercial music industry. 93 94 Journal of Popular Culture Thailand in the 1970s In brief, an increasingly strong student movement led to the resignation and exile of the top three government leaders in 1973; a period of relative democracy and liberalness followed, beset with problems of division and instability. Successive changes of parliamentary leaders culminated in a swing to the right via a violent coup in 1976. Though the Thai absolute monarchy was overthrown in 1932, Thailand has not experienced true constitutionalism for a period of any length. Between the years immediately following World War I1 and 1973, there were no civilian governments, and it is well-known that Thai politics are characterized by struggles among elite and military factions6 Between 1957 and 1973, power lay in the hands of a tightly-knit succession of generals: Sarit, Thanom, and Praphat. Though in the late 1960s Thanom was less suppressive than the rigorously anti-communist Sarit who preceded him, Thanom and Praphat imposed martial law in 197 1, greatly restricting civil liberties. By 1972, Thanoms government could be characterized by one American scholar as . . .more arbitrary and suppressive than any preceding military regime. In the same era, there were a variety of social and economic pressures: budget problems at the end of an economic boom, the world energy crisis, an increasing fear of indigenous Chinese, an emerging generation gap, the turmoil of neighboring countries, and the strategic withdrawal of American forces from Southeast Asia. Most discussions of recent Thai politics focus in large part on the student movement, a movement unprecedented in Thai history, for it was the massive demonstrations of students which overthrew Thanom and Praphat. For decades, since student participation in the 1932 revolution, Thai students were largely apolitical, becoming involved in only a handful of political events.*The Thai universities have been described as the Thai political system in miniature, characterized by I. . .submissiveness and conformity to the authority-seniority system.g During Thanoms years, in the late 1960s, things began to change. Girling writes of this period: . . .despite the conservatism of the Thai education system and Thai elite society, a number of students and intellectuals were able to free themselves from the restrictive way of thinking of the old order.. . . They expressed their concern with the development of contemporary Thailand, characterized by dictatorship, the spread of capitalism, and foreign military bases.O 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 95 A variety of student discussion groups formed, often with a Marxist orientation; Girling sees these groups as a training ground for the events of the 1970s. However, it is after the formation of the National Student Center of Thailand (NSCT) at Chulalongkorn University in 1972-its first task being organization of a boycott of Japanese goods-that student interest and involvement in politics began to skyrocket. Authors have pointed to a number of reasons for this activism, such as the rapid increase in the number of university students, an emerging bourgeoisie, the declining state of the national economy, and exposure to new political ideas through Western universities.Q Of course, the movement arrived on the heels of student movements in other parts of the world, notably the United States and France. In the songs for life, we can hear the tremendous influence of American youth via their music. The high-point of the students efforts were the mass demonstrations of October 14-15, 1973, in which an estimated 500,000 took part.13 Protesters were supporting the NSCTs demand for the release of 13 people-including students and university lecturers-who had been arrested and for a new constitution. Sixty-five people were killed and 1,000 injured as police fired indiscriminately upon the protesters.14All commentators-Americans and Thais alike-attest to the significance of this event. Darling writes: . . .very probably the political system of the country will never again be the same. One of the most well-entrenched military regimes in Thai history was toppled, not by another competing military faction nor by some external armed force, but by crowds of protesting and unarmed students demanding the alleviation of unsatisfactory conditions and a more modern form of government.5 After the protest, the king appointed a civilian government, and plans were made for elections. The intellectual atmosphere of the democratic era, 1973-6, deserves special consideration here, for this is the context in which songs for life appeared. This period is regarded by many as a time when expression blossomed, for the censorship of the Sarit-Thanom years was lifted after the October demonstrations (though there was anything but total freedom of expression16). The description by Anderson is worth quoting at length: . . .to general astonishment, a steadily swelling torment of critical poetry, songs, plays, essays, novels, and books flooded first the capital and later the provinces. Many of these works had been written or composed under the dictatorship but had never seen the light of day. Others were produced by the radicalizing effects of the October days themselves, 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 96 Journal of Popular Culture and the rapid increase in political consciousness among students in the free atmosphere of the liberal era. For the left, . . .an almost giddy sense of exhilaration, iconoclasm and creativity was born. For a time it seemed that one could say, sing or do almost anything.l8 Thai students inevitably refer with pride to this blossoming, using just that word. the writings of Marx, Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and the few Thai Marxists became available and apparently could be found everywhere. Other changes included the formation of unions-some of which would have been illegal previously-and farming organizations, which conducted literally thousands of mostly small-scale labor strikes between October 1973 and the end of 1974. However, the successes of the students and the demonopolizing of power did not occur without resistance and turmoil. On the contrary, the right and those who resisted the new changes (including the shocking wave of protests and strikes) responded through right-wing groups, such as the Red Gaurs and the Village Scouts,lg and their own books, pamphlets, songs, and broadcasts. In fact, the upsurge of right-wing expression may be considered a blossoming equivalent to that of the left. The features of right-wing media use is pertinent to the present study, and were i t not for limitations of time and resources, a comparative study of songs for life and right-wing songs would be illuminating. However, a few words about the governments role in the mass media are necessary. Both the national T V station and the national radio systems are administered and directed by the Public Relations Department; other radio stations are operated by the armed forces and various government departments; the Army owns and operates Army TV. While radio and T V are controlled officially, the press tends to monitor itself, knowing where the accepted limits of political expression lie, so that public criticism of high officials and the fundamental institutions (King-religion-state) are rare. (On the other hand, private criticism and gossip have always been rarnpant).Z0 Anderson believes that this deep involvement of right-wing forces in the mass media helped rightists to successfully gain power over the left in 1975 and 1976. Significantly, we can see that the conflicts of the 1970s were expressed publicly, through the media-something new in Thailand.21 The so-called democratic era ended in 1976, a political change precipitated by factors too numerous to discuss here. A variety of events led to a tragic mob scene at Thammasat University on October 5-6 of that year. There were an estimated 4,000 students within the 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 97 gates of the campus, and 4,000 rightists attempting to storm in. Early in the morning on October 6, shooting, burning and lynching began, with the police in the lead; the carnage was almost unbelievable.22 Later that same day, Prime Minister Seni and his cabinet were ousted; the constitution, parliament, and all political parties were abolished; martial law was proclaimed, banning any political gatherings; and press censorship was established. The militarys new National Administration Reform Council announced that it was now in charge.2J At this time, and within the next few months, many left-wing activists and students fled to the Northeastern region of the country to seek refuge with the Communist Party; some actually joined the party but many did not. The leading songs for life musicians, their songs banned, were among those who fled. Other forms of Thai music, and the concept of Art of Life T o understand the motivation behind songs for life-and hence their appeal and significance-one needs to know something not only of the political events in contemporary Thailand, but of the aesthetic context in which the songs occurred. The following discussion summarizes briefly the varieties or spectrum of Thai music, and the philosophical and political motivations behind the songs for life. From the index categories of commercial songbooks, and charts drawn by informants, contemporary Thai music falls into several categories. The categories offered here are intended solely as heuristic aids and are not meant to be rigid: 1) the classical or court tradition, to which only a small minority of people listen. David Morton has written: . . .(classical) Thai music was a hot-house art from the beginning, having grown up as an aristocrats music performed at the courts by court musicians for court functions. With the abolition of the monarchy in 1932 the traditional social foundation for the music disappeared and its practice and performance came to a more or less abrupt halt.. . In recent years the music has not played a significant part in the lives of a majority of the people, which perhaps in part explains the apathy of the general public toward i t today.* 2a) city music, closely tied to the Bangkok night-club/fancy restaurant scene. This style has changed little over the past few decades. The music usually features a soloist or duo with Western band accompaniment. Though this style is obviously influenced by American or international pop styles (as in the adoption of Western instruments), some notably Thai features are present, such as the 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 98 Journal of Popular Culture distinctive female vocal timbre. There are a number of singers in this category, both male and female, who emerged in the 1950s and are still well-loved, and have released dozens of recordings. The star figure is Suthep, whose voice strikes listeners as smooth and richly romantic. 2b) luuk krung (lit. child of the city), a Bangkok-based popular style which is felt to embody youthful ideals and passions. It is generally acknowledged that the sole subject of luuk krung is love. Young female singers are particularly popular, though each artist may release only a single recording, and enjoy a single hit. Musically, this style is similar to 2a above; a context analysis of the lyrics may reveal each styles distinguishing characteristics. 2 C ) a very popular trend is that of musicians who skillfully arrange American and other non-Thai hit songs, either translating or creating Thai lyrics. These groups, such as Impossible of the early 1970s and Hot Pepper of the early 1980s, appeal to teenagers and young people. The main medium is the cassette tape-recording. 3) country music, luuk thung (lit. child of the fields), which originated in the Northeastern region (isaan) but spread to other regions. It remains the popular form enjoyed by up-country Thai and lower-class emigrants who live in Bangkok. It appears the some Bangkok-dwellers are offended by these songs and find the words objectionably dirty (the anthropologist might observe in this an expression of inter-ethnic and inter-class stereotypes). The tie between this music and Northeastern folk traditions is strong and easily recognizable, especially in the vocal style and timbre of the singers. The indigenous mouth-organ, khaen, sometimes appears as accompaniment, along with Western instruments such as the trumpet, violin, and accordion. One informant labeled this folk music. There are, to be sure, diverse sub-distinctions within each of these broad categories. Most significantly, it appears that these categories represent social categories, or audiences. It will be seen later that the music of the leading songs for life group, which might share an audience with the styles of Za, Zb, or 2c above, is conspicuously distinguished from the city styles, though not divorced entirely. It also uses a few strategically chosen features of folk music/luuk thung. Hopefully, from this cursory overview of Thai song, the context of the concept of art for life can be appreciated. This is the concept behind the textural content, at least, of songs for life, and from 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 99 which the song movement takes its name. The concept is discussed in Silapa phua chiiwit, silapa phzla prachaachon (Art for life, art for people) by Jitr Phoumisak. Jitr, who is the subject of a song for life (see examples at end) and whose poems were sometimes used as lyrics, was a poet and graduate of Chulalongkorn University. After a long imprisonment, he joined the Communist party in 1965 and was soon killed by government officials. Some of his works were distributed privately in the 1950s, though others were not published until the 1970s. While Jitrs name was publicly taboo under Thanom and Praphat, his Chomna Sakdina Thai (The face of Thai feudalism) was the bible of radical students by 1974.25 He became a legendary figure and role model for many of the progressive students, who considered [Jitr] a martyr who had chosen to reject a bright future in order to join the revolutionary forces.26 Art for life. ..was originally written in 1957, and first published in 1972 under the pseudonym Thiphakorn. In brief, Jitr distinguishes two types of art: art for imperialism, and art for the people.27 The former represents a vulgar, thoughtless, non-Thai way of life; its creators, while indeed producing for the masses, concentrate upon the sale and popularity of novels, songs, films, magazines, etc. and ignore the impact or influence of their work. They are, in short, irresponsible. An artist for the people, on the other hand, should seek first of all to access, reflect and express all aspects of life-the injustices as well as the fun and sensuality. Second, he must offer solutions, ways for people to resolve societys problems. Jitr likens such artists to warriors, and their work to both spears (weapons which can pierce enemies) and lanterns (which can lead people to truth-interestingly, an image which appears in some of the songs for life). He does not call for music which can be sung by all or which represents the folk roots of the nation-these being characteristics of the American lefts views toward popular song earlier in this century.** Rather, the didactic function of song is to be enhanced. Obviously, Jitrs recognition of the power and influence of all art-whether or not it is intended to be propaganda or political art-is akin to the philosophies of Marx, Lenin, and Mao regarding art. A careful comparison of these philosophies deserves to be undertaken.29 The people: musicians and listeners By far the leaders in the movement, and the most popular band, was the group Caravan (Kharawaan). They issued a number of immensely popular recordings and their greatest hits became available in popular songbooks. Caravans music is of particular interest, for the groups imaginative style is most contrastive to other Thai popular 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 100 Journal of Popular Culture music. The best biographical source on the group is a pamphlet issued by the Union of Democratic Thais, from which the following quote is taken: Two leading activists [in the early 1970~1 were Surachai and Virasak. Both were under the influence of Bangkoks westernized atmosphere at first. Surachai Jantimaton is a native of Surin Province, the son of a school teacher and formerly a student at Silapakorn University. Virasak Suntornsii was born in Nakorn Rachasima Province but was a fourth-year law student living an urban life until plunging into political-cultural work. Both were non-professionals who, like many of their generation, learned from musical films, juke boxes and nightclub performers catering to the hundreds of thousands of American GIs and civilians brought to that part of the world by the wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. These two, however, were attracted in particular to the anti-war and satirical songs of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger [emphases in original]. Early in 1974, Surachai and Virasak traveled through the Northeast, performing for rural audiences. Later that year three new members were added, two from a vocational school in the Northeast. One of them was Tonggraan Taanaa, a former fourth-year student in the Arts Department, a founder of the United Artists of Thailand, and the Cultural United Front. The other was Pongtep Kradonchamnana, who, like Tonggraan, was from Nakorn Rachasima Province. Another new member was Monkhon U t o k , a native of Roi-et Province and graduate of the University of Technical Arts.. . The five-member group adopted the name Caravan from a satire by a young journalist named Vinai Ukrit about the American military presence in Thailand. The song entitled Yellow Bird (see examples at end) was written by Vinai. Caravans songs were performed and sung at student rallies, especially at Thammasat University, by the band itself and by groups of students. The band also performed at fund-raising events for charitable organizations (including two concerts for UNICEF, the recording of one becoming available commercially), film openings, and at least one movie soundtrack. As many students became involved in charitable work and political activism among the rural peoples, Caravan toured the country and performed in rural centers. However, and this is most significant, the groups audience was primarily composed of the progressive students and young people in Bangkok. In contrast to most popular musicians in Thailand, Caravan performed not in elegant dress but in casual clothing, such as blue jeans and plain tops (one informant pointed to his own knit pullover and said, like this) or in the indigo cotton dress of Northern farmers. One should bear in mind that students at Thammasat wore uniforms until October 1973.30 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 101 New versions of Caravans songs were recorded by other singers, such as Sawin and Suthep-favorite singers in the nightclub tradition. This author has heard one anonymously-performed tape of Caravan songs on which the song melodies and lyrics were retained, but the musical style differs significantly. Such contrasting versions may allow us to isolate the features of Caravans music which were most important to audience members and other musicians, and to trace the changes which occur when a song moves from one stylistic, hence social, category to another. A second group is Komchai (torchlight, a lantern hung at events such as marriages and births). The group was formed in 1975 and based at Ramkamhaeng University, Bangkoks public university. Three members of Komchai, plus the five members of Caravan, fled to the jungle on December 18, 1976, not long after the coup. Three days later, on December 21, two members of another songs for life group, K u r u c h o n (people who teach), also sought refuge with the Communist party. All members of Kuruchon were students or graduates of teachers colleges; their songs were particularly concerned with the problems of education in Both members who went to the jungle were originally from the Northeast. From the jungle, all three groups evidently broadcasted over the guerrilla radio station, Voice of the People of Thailand. There were other musical groups at this time as well which performed songs markedly different from other Thai city songs. Some are anonymous or, at least, the identity of the singers is not vitally connected with the musical products. Other groups, such as The Grass, sang meaningful, inspirational songs which lacked the political rhetoric of Caravans work. At present, it is difficult to assess the demography of the songs for life audience. It appears that the songs appealed mostly to the dedicated, idealistic progressive students, particularly those at Thammasat, circa 1974-the same young people who took on the role of the conscience of Thailand,32 who hoped to improve life in their nation. However, one informant described the immense popularity of the progressive image: Everyone wanted to be progressive. Evidently riding on the commercial success of Caravan, with its unique synthesis of musical styles and its startlingly new and powerful lyrics, dozens of other groups issued songs for life recordings. Many of these were little more than luuk k r u n g with politically-relevant lyrics; such groups, according to the informant, died a natural death-quickly, like most popular artists in Thailand. Caravan, on the other hand, has retained a loyal group of listeners, a small audience which remains dedicated to the leftist 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 102 Journal of Popular Culture ideals of the democratic era and to the music associated with their movement. One can picture, then, a core of dedicated leftist students who enjoyed the real songs for life, surrounded by a much larger mass of pseudo-progressive young people and musicians who were attracted to the trend as though to a new dress fashion. Music as protest Music cannot be effectively communicative-it cannot carry meaning-if it is not formed of appropriate symbols, of symbols which speak. Songs for life speak through their contrast to other popular songs; significantly, they are different, but not too different. They are distinctive enough to suit the needs and tastes of their particular audience, without being so different as to alienate listeners. Thai protest songs, therefore, retain many features familiar to Thai listeners, especially that urban social group most familiar with American pop music. The songs fit into categories of musical perception shared by the audience towards whom they are directed, and, one can argue, socially-constituted meanings are attached to these categories. The following discussion points to features of the songs which clarify this thesis. Performance context. The situations in which songs for life were performed have already been described. A few additional points shall be added here. First, it is noteworthy that students actually sang many songs for life, especially songs associated with the Communist movement itself. However, not all leftist songs of this period lend themselves to communal sing-a-longs. Without its imaginative and experimental instrumentation and musical structure, difficult to reproduce in a communal singing situation, the music of Caravan would lose much of its uniqueness and hence its significance. In short, songs for life-as Jitr described-are not songs to be sung by the people, but they are songs for the people. In this respect, they are not so different from other popular songs of Bangkok. Songs for life were conspicuously not performed in the contexts in which one might find other popular music, such as nightclubs, elegant restaurants, and the government-monitored mass media (until some of the songs passed over into the repertoires of established singers, as mentioned earlier). As student rallies and demonstrations were anew social situation, a new phenomenon, songs for life can be viewed as a new sound for a new context. However, a feature of listening-context which is shared by the various popular of Bangkok (or, in fact, most of Thailand) is the cassette tape recording. Many students and young people, Particularly those who did not attend Thammasat during the mid-l970s, came 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 103 into contact with songs for life only through tape recordings, which could be obtained either at regular music stores or through friends. During the years post-1976 when this music was not available legally, the latter method was a major means of dissemination. Musical features. Because musical analysis of songs for life is still in progress, only a few salient features shall be described here. Caravans music alone is considered (it is recognized by participants as the most important leftist music of the period), and no attempt is made to trace its stylistic development through time. Both the vocal style and use of instruments in Caravans recordings immediately remind American listeners of rock and folk-rock of the late 1960s and early 1970s-Caravan sounds like Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc. However, the musics similarity to Thai folk musical traditions and Zuuk thung is equally striking. It is probably impossible, however to properly trace all instances of so-called acculturation in Thai popular music. The task is especially complicated here because Caravans music is so experimental and varied that almost every selection could be analyzed separately-each may be like or unlike American music, folk music, or nightclub music, in different ways. Vocal styles vary somewhat among Caravans main singers, yet all are more raw, not as obviously cultivated and smooth as most city singers. One singer in particular tends to break his voice, often forcefully at the ends of phrases, and sings songs with high-pitched melodic peaks for which he must reach in the screaming manner of American rock singers. The songs are sung primarily by male soloists, though most include phrases in which the soloist is backed up by a chorus of males (in some instances a female as well) singing in parallel fourths, fifths, or octaves. This feature is rarely, if at all, present in other Thai popular music. The vocalists style in several examples is amazingly similar to that of Zuuk thung and hence Thai folk song: what to a Bangkok-dweller may seem a nasal vowel production, a raspy vocal timbre, ornate improvisational embellishment in many passages. Informants note Caravans use of Thai traditional instruments (what one called local instruments.) The phin, a plucked mandolin-like instrument from the Northeast, appears in several songs, usually functioning as a drone while a guitar provides more active accompaniment. In folk music, the phin also provides a drone.33 The khlui, the vertical bamboo flute of the court orchestra which also is played in the Northeast, appears hauntingly behind a spoken sermon or funeral oratory in the song entitled Yellow Bird. In addition, 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 104 Journal of Popular Culture folk drums are used, but not in the characteristic manner of the Western drum-set, which appears in other Thai popular styles. Acoustic guitars, sometimes picked and sometimes strummed, appear in every song and constitute the main accompaniment. The guitar technique is undoubtedly borrowed from American music, quite possibly from the popular groups mentioned above. A bass guitar is included in some songs, and harmonies are those familiar to those Western listeners. T o what degree, then, does such guitar accompaniment mark a contrast with other Thai music? Singers of luuk thung and city music are often accompanied by guitars, too, but in a manner less clearly derived from American music. Accompaniment in these styles is rarely purely guitar but a small band with brass and woodwind instruments, and frequently accordion. The texture is sparse and choppy, providing rhythmic punctuation, while Caravans guitars create a thicker, more constantly active texture. Another distinctive feature of Caravans instrumentation is the use of American folk instruments-harmonica and fiddle-possibly because such instruments were being exploited by American popular singers in the late 1960s. Listeners do not seem to be aware that these are instruments associated with an American folk tradition. Notable, however, are the several selections on the tape entitled American antraay (Dangerous American), including the title song, which feature distinctively American fiddling. It should be no accident that songs about Americans boast a recognizably American sound. Solo western flute and solo violin, in a non-fiddling style, appear in some songs, generally filling in spaces between vocal phrases, perhaps echoing or elaborating upon the phrase just sung. This linking function of solo instruments is found in Thai nightclub music and luuk thung as well. Song form, of course, is closely related to poetic verse form, to be discussed later. The poetic form employed in the present case does not demand stanzas of a set length, and we do not find verses, though certain melodic sections and/or sections of text may be repeated, thereby demonstrating some unity. Sections of melody are built of any number of phrases; if phrases occur in regular lengths, that length is usually four musical bars. This latter feature is shared with much American pop, with rock-n-roll, and with much Western classical music. Phrases in this style may be thought of as musical ideas which in most examples recur throughout a song, though rarely occurring twice the same way. In other words, an entire song will progress through ever-changing, mutating musical ideas. This mutative quality is most likely a result of the shifting demands of the texts 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 105 linguistic tones. Because spoken tones are accommodated to an amazing degree-Thai is a tonal language-even repeated melodic ideas are seldom identical, unless the words are repeated as well. Accommodation to linguistic tones is often accomplished through embellishments of the melody. The spoken rhythm of words also contributes to this ever-changing quality, though this rhythm is not accommodated strictly. In some cases, for instance, words with long vowels fall on notes of relatively short duration (in spoken Thai, vowel length is phonemic). The form of many songs by Caravan is shaped partially through instrumental interludes, usually consisting of an important melodic segment played once through on guitar. Instrumental introductions of varying lengths begin virtually every song (as in most Thai popular music), but concluding instrumental sections often do not appear. A formal device not shared with other popular styles, however, is the non-metered vocal section which begins a number of Caravans selections. This feature is possibly inspired by the non-metered vocal phrase(s) which begin Northeastern Thai vocal forms. A selection entitled Man and Buffalo not only features such a section, sung by a soloist, but an imaginative inner section in which the musicians sing in different meters and produce unusual vocal effects. Lyrics: textual content and structure. According to informants, it is the words to songs for life which make the songs particularly meaningful and unusual. They recognize the extreme contrast between songs for life lyrics and the polluted water (nam naw) of the standard love songs, and this contrast is exciting. Thai progressive students felt daring and adventurous when they listened to Caravan because the lyrics expressed images and ideas which, in ordinary circumstances, simply were not to be uttered. The themes and images portrayed in songs for life are remarkably consistent. One finds depictions of farmers, their lives and work; urges to rally together for social and political causes; inspirational verses on hope, faith and the will to carry on despite trials; and cogent social criticism. Within the texts themselves, a number of devices are employed which indicate the relationship-as perceived by the progressive students-of songs for life participants and the peasants about whom they are concerned, for whom they speak. On the one hand, we have songs about farmers and laborers, and about villages in isaan (Thailands impoverished, dry Northeastern region which produces one quarter of the nations rice crop; residents are ethnically Lao). Yet, more subtly, the songs are put in the voice of peasants through 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 106 Journal of Popular Culture strategically chosen words of the Northeastern dialect (the Lao language). For instance, pronouns used by Northeasterners are employed, often making the solo singer an I, a farmer. The Lao word which produces negatives, often translated as not, is used, though not exclusively (bau, in contrast to Central or Bangkok Thais may). In Eating Rice, the verb to eat is the word indicating to eat with ones hand by dipping morsels of rice into other foods, in the manner of the Northeasterner (paap). In at least one case, the linguistic tones of the Northeastern dialect are employed. More importantly, however, these usages of dialect are only partial (except in the case of the tones) and therefore symbolic. They do not obscure the meaning of the text from the Bangkok listeners for whom the songs are intended; they only establish the voice of the peasant. A further means of establishing a symbolic connection with the peasantry is the use of farm and rural imagery as metaphor or simile. For instance, in Rice Awaiting Rain one finds: We live like rice awaiting raiddeath in drought will soon come. . . Several noun images appear strikingly throughout the songs. Blood (Zuat), sweat (ngua), and alliance (samphan) are distinctive examples. Other recurring images are drawn from nature, such as sun (tawan, pra-athit, duang athit), sky (faa), beams or rays of the sun and stars (saeng tawan, saeng athit, saeng daaw), land or soil (din, phaen din), and a variety of birds. These images are in most cases metaphors, and are by no means unique to songs for life. The metaphorical use of nature imagery in classical literature is well-known to informants-it occurs in Thai folk expression as well-and they attribute nothing special to the appearance of such images in protest songs. The texts are simply poetic, and therefore include poetic imagery. The referents of such metaphors are understood explicitly by listeners. Fictional birds appear frequently, such as the yellow bird (nok sii hang)-yellow being the color of purity, of the Buddhist monks robes. Another example is the bird of sunlight (nok saeng tawan) which represents hope and a new way of life. Such metaphors are consistent in meaning throughout the songs. For example, in some cases sky stands for the monarchy, and in others it represents the power structure in general. One should note that the recurring images discussed here both separate and unite songs for life with other popular expression. Some images are distinctive, such as blood and sweat (not to mention farmers and the Bourgeoisie), while others are shared and thus establish and reinforce Thai-ness. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 107 Besides employing familiar poetic imagery, songs for life conform to accepted poetic style by generally appearing in the klaun verse form. There are several kinds of klaun; Thai scholars distinguish them according to performance context and textual content.34 Klaun forms may also be distinguished by the number of syllables in each line, and indeed we find most of Caravans songs following the same rhyme scheme, though with lines of differing lengths. Originally a type of classical verse, klaun in loose forms now appear in many media. Mosel writes: . . .[C]ontemporary Thai poetry shows a strong preference for [klaun] form.. . Its rules are sufficient to create a natural euphony and rhythm, but flexible enough to permit individual ingenuity and insure ease of composition.. . It is the favored form for lyrical and folk poetry, the recitations which accompany the classical dance-drama and vulgar theatre (like) [sic], and didactic and editorial commentary. It is also the form most used in the lyrics of songs, both traditional and modern.s5 (See Figure 1 for a chart of the ideal 8-syllable klaun.) Rhymed words have identical vowels (phonemically) but not tones, and identical final consonants. Besides the external rhymes charted above, internal rhymes-such as from alliteration and assonance-are desirable. The songs for life lyrics follow the klaun external rhyme scheme loosely or, in some cases, employ no external rhyme at all. However, they are rich in internal rhymes, including those from combining words with similar or identical meaning to produce a pleasing s0und.3~ Regarding the songs without apparent rhyme scheme, it will be necessary to analyze the poetic form of other Thai pop song styles before claiming that lack of external rhyme is a unique characteristic of songs for life. Informants consulted were not disturbed by the absence of external rhyme in the examples discussed. t w o lines - - - - - - - - one stanza. - # I* - - - - - - -r # * *-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ (*Rhymes marked with asterisk need not fall on the ideal syllable, but within the hemistitch) 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 108 Journal of Popular Culture Ideal Rlaun form, two stanzas shown. Source: James Mosel, Trends and Structure in Contemporary Thai Poetry (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Southeast Asia Program Data Paper No. 43, 1961), p. 17. Conclusion A final question to be considered is this: why might a group such as Caravan rise to enduring fame and success, while other groups with politically-relevant lyrics fall by the wayside? The role of the commercial music industry and the promotion of specific songs and musical groups, which must be great, has not yet been considered. Still, Caravans music may have been most successful because the group drew upon appropriate symbols, upon appropriate sounds and structural features. The meanings of such features are the connotations created through human experiences and human interaction. For the Thai progressive students, Caravan carried the most important messages. One manner in which to summarize the songs for life phenomenon, especially the music of Caravan, is to consider the interpretive model of anthropologist Clifford G e e r t ~ . ~ ~ In culture, religion, cockfights, etc., Geertz finds both a model of and a model for. It is not difficult to see that such a model offers one way to view songs for life. Caravans music was a model of the experience of Thai progressive students: the songs were influenced by the music of American protest songs, by the writings of culture hero Jitr Phoumisak, and by Thai expressive traditions. The songs were up-to-date, fashionable, yet powerfully significant-characteristics, perhaps, of the student movement itself. At the same time, the songs provided a model for behavior, thought, and emotion. As one informant said, Everyone wanted to be progressive. . . , and perhaps many felt that by listening to Caravan, some progressiveness would rub off. The songs embodied an ethos, expressed a desired union between youth, laborers, the poor (one might even go so far as to view the prevalent streaming and communitas images, in Victor Turners sense, as expression of such unity). the singers costumes and lyrics expressed community with the people of isaan, as did their use of folk instruments and some vocal and formal features of popular isaan music. Even the social organization of Caravan-the group formed in part of educated ex-peasants, which lacked a star figure-embodied the ideals of its audience. Most importantly, the songs were different from other musical styles, and the quality of difference-and the desire for it-characterized the revolutionary aspirations of Thai students in the 1970s. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 109 El, il ogue After returning from the jungle near the end of the 1970s, Caravan has continued to perform as a group. Their recordings are available legally, they have made new recordings, and they perform live for a small but dedicated audience. One member, Surachai, has become something of a premier figure in the group, and has issued a solo recording. Another band member formed a new group, Khurubuuw- the Tagalog word for buffalo. While Caravan has been criticized for doing the same old thing, the socially critical songs of Kharabaaw are extraordinarily popular. The group was perhaps the single most popular band in Thailand during the mid-1980s. Appendix A: Examples Word from the jungle (literally, The meaning of events from the village). Performed and recorded by Caravan; words by Prasert Jandam. Translation by Union of Democratic Thais. This village if ours. It is very old, Its been here a long time, its been here a long time. And just as long are we here. We just manage to survive, And the house-spirits dont complain, But the devils from town Are always after us. Through good and bad, We farmers stick together. Never traveled, never studied, Never learned to read and write, We only work hard, And then work hard some more, and then work hard some more. Clearing the forest, plowing the land, We work in the wind and sun, Burning sun and windswept rain. We endure and dont run away. But the devil from town sucks us dry Until we are thin and frail. Now the youth are leaving, The old stay here at home. Only the little ones Stay at home with them. Hope is dim: Only death seems clear. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 110 Journal of Popular Culture Our cattle and buffalo stolen Our ricefields turn to sand, We have no rice or fish. We burn with anger at the cities. All around us is disaster. Whether asleep, Or whether awake, There is only frustration and pain. So many here, so many thousands more over there. Yellow Bird. Performed and recorded by Caravan; words by Vinai Ukrit. Translation by Pamela Moro with Preya Wongkhomthong. Spreading wings to fly away from the city You, yellow bird, leave. You fly to freedom. Now that your life has ended, You ascend to the sky. White clouds ask: who are you? Bathing your wings with sunlight what is the color of the world you dreamed of? Hm.. . (Spoken, as a memorial [funeral oratory] with khlui accompaniment): Do you remember the events of last October 14-15? Do you remember the stain of blood and nightmares? Our young heroes and heroines died amidst a storm of bulIets and teargas died from savage smashing and beating died as they raised their empty hands, seeking freedom. Now let us pause and be silent to honor those heroes as a reminder to those who continue to fight. (Sung): Spreading wings to fly away from the city, You, yellow bird, leave. You are the spirit of freedom Now that your life has ended. H m . . .15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 111 J i t r Phoumisak. Performed and recorded by Caravan. Translation anonymous. He died at the edge of the forest, his red blood soaked into this troubled land. On that day when he came down from the mountain Under the shadow of the giant eagle He was shot down by gleeful killers: Luck worth promotion four ranks and a thousand stars! Just as a star might fall, so fell his life: And before death. . .what is this life? Thousands of poor to ten rich men- So shameful before the sky and earth! But he fought on the side of the poor, Seeing, writing, speaking out. Prison could hold his body but never his aspirations: He was born to fight injustice. The lawless authorities twisted and blocked his path: How many others were destroyed like him? In nineteen sixty-five, black clouds covered the sky With the might of the giant eagle. He left home and town for the life of a jungle fighter: a life of risk never-ending. . . In May sixty-six, the sun and shadow fled: Sprawled on an oxcarts track, he died. Do you see this body?. . . Its Jitr Phoumisak! Do you see this body?. . . Its Jitr Phoumisak! He died where jungle and town meet. He died at the jungles edge and his red blood soaked into the Isaan soil. . . The redness will last on and on. His death seemed pointless but from there his fame grew: How people ask about him, hungry for his thoughts. The name of Jitr Phoumisak, the thinker and writer Is like a candle bringing light to the people. Weaving Golden Rays. Performed and recorded by Caravan. Translation by Pamela Moro and Preya Wongkhomthong. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 112 Journal of Popular Culture We beg all: come join together to bind a great alliance to weave golden rays of independence with pure hearts and minds. Notes Sources for the present study included cassette tape recordings of songs for life and other Thai popular music, and Thai songbooks. Interviews were conducted with six Thai young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area. Special thanks to Preya Wongkhomthong for her patient and expert help on translations. 2See,for example, John Greenway, American Folksongs of Protest (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1953);Vernon L. Lidtke, Songs and Nazis: Political Music and Social Change in Twentieth-Century Germany, in Essays on Culture and Society in Modern Germany, ed. by D. King et al. (A and M University Press, 1982),pp. 167-200; and Willard Rhodes, Music as an Agent of Political Expression, African Studies Bulletin 5 (May, 1962),pp. 14-22. SRichard A. Reuss, American Folksongs and Left-Wing Politics, in Folklore, Nationalism, and Politics ed. by Felix J. Oinas (Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers, 4Rhodes,p. 14and William Bascom, Comment: African Arts and Social Control, African Studies Bulletin 5 (May, 1962),pp. 22-25. his view is not unique. John Blacking has discussed how musical form and structure relate to cultural and social conditions, How Musical i s Man? (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1973), pp. 54-88. John Shepherd attempts to show how analysis can, within certain limitations, elucidate the social meaning inherent in music-The musical coding of ideologies, in Whose Music? A Sociology of Musical Language, ed. by John Shepherd et al. (London: Latimer New Dimensions Limited, 1977), p. 69. Musical change, therefore, can be traced generally to changes in culture and society. See Blacking, p. 76. 6For example, see Clark D. Neher, Modern Thai Politics (Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1976). ?Frank C. Darling, Student Protest and Political Change in Thailand, Pacific Affairs 47 (1974). pp. 5-19. See page 10. *On those rare exceptions, see David Morel1 and Chai-anan Samudavanija, Political Conflict in Thailand: Reform, Reaction, Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain, Publishers, Inc., 1981), pp. 137-9 and Darling, pp. 1978),pp. 9-31. 5-6. gGirling,p. 170. Olbid., p. 169 Illbid., p. 171. 2For example, see Ben Anderson, Withdrawal Symptoms: Social and Cultural Aspects of the October 6 Coup, Bulletin for Concerned Asian Scholars 9 (3, pp. 13-30),pp. 13-30 and Darling. SAnderson, p. 27. For examples, see Neher. ISDarling, p. 15 16Forexamples, see Anderson. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 113 illbid., p. 22. 8lbid. 9On. such groups, see Ibid., pp. 19-20. 20Girling, p. 172. ZlAnderson, p. 24. The most complete presentation of recent Thai expression, including works from all parts of the political spectrum, is a forthcoming book by Herbert Phillips on Thai literature and literary figures. 22See Morel1 and Chai-anan, Chapter 10. 231bid., p. 275 Z4David Norton, T h e Traditronal Music of Thailand (Berkeley: University of 25Anderson, p. 30. 26Morell and Chai-anan, p. 301. 27This concise summary based upon Jitr Phoumisak (Thipakorn), Silapa p h w chiiwit, silafia phua prachaachon (Bangkok, 1975). pp. 190-203. 280n the American left and song, see Richard A. Reuss, American Folksongs and Left-Wing Politics: 1935-56, in Folklore, Nationalism, and Politics ed. by Felix J. Oinas (Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers, 1978),pp. 9-31. 29On policies towards music in China, historically, see Arnold Perris, Music as Propaganda: Art at the Command of Doctrine in the Peoples Republic of China, in Ethnomusicology 27 (January, 1983),pp. 1-28. 3 0 0 1 1 the symbolic significance of casual dress among Thai students during this period, see Herbert Phillips forthcoming book on Thai literature. SLFrom an anonymous, unpublished manuscript compiled by Thai people living in the Los Angeles area. s2HerbertPhillips, personal communication. SSTerry Miller and Jarernchai Chonpairot, The Musical Traditions of Northeast 34Jame~ Mosel, Trends and Structure in Contemporary Thai Poetry (Ithaca: 351bid., p. 17. s6See Ibid., p. 9. SICliffordGeertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973). California Press, 1976),p. 223. Thailand, Journal of the Siam Society 65 (1978),pp. 1-17. Cornell Southeast Asia Program Data Paper No. 43, 1961),pp. 14-15. Pamela A. Myers-Moro is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License

Title: Songs for Life: Leftist Thai Popular Music in the 1970s

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Songs For Life: Leftist Thai Popular Music in the 1970s

Pamela A. Myers-Moro This paper examines a popular song style which flourished for a brief period following the student-led revolution in Thailand in

1973. Songs for life expressed social and political protest, served as a marker of group identity among progressive students, and symbolically represented the ethos of the student movement. This music is strikingly contrastive to other Thai music in both sound and content, and draws selectively upon American pop and rock as well as Thai folk music. The present discussion proceeds through several sections: 1) adescriptive background on Thai political events, the student movement, and the role and nature of popular expression during the 1970s; 2) discussion of the musical phenomenon itself, and of 3)musical and textual features of the songs, focusing upon what is shared and not shared with other Thai popular music. It is in this realm of similarity and contrast that the import and significance of the songs-as social and political expression-lies. There is general acknowledgement that songs often play a vital role in political movements, both reflecting and motivating participation. Yet, analyses of such songs rarely go further than the content of the lyrics2 or descriptive overviews.3 According to some authors, in fact, music can only express political meaning through words, though a song may connote unsung but known words. However, musical symbols or signs may have referents other than song lyrics. Therefore, not only words but texture, instrumentation, performance context, etc.-features which have gained significance through social experiences-shall be discussed here? The songs to be discussed constitute a single unit of analysis for two reasons. First, they are referred to by informants as one category of music; second, the words bot phleng phua chiiwit ((classifier for songs) songs for life) appeared on recordings and concert announcements and so represent a category used by the commercial music industry.

93 94 Journal of Popular Culture

Thailand in the 1970s

In brief, an increasingly strong student movement led to the resignation and exile of the top three government leaders in 1973; a period of relative democracy and liberalness followed, beset with problems of division and instability. Successive changes of parliamentary leaders culminated in a swing to the right via a violent coup in 1976. Though the Thai absolute monarchy was overthrown in 1932, Thailand has not experienced true constitutionalism for a period of any length. Between the years immediately following World War I1

and 1973, there were no civilian governments, and it is well-known that Thai politics are characterized by struggles among elite and military factions6 Between 1957 and 1973, power lay in the hands of a tightly-knit succession of generals: Sarit, Thanom, and Praphat. Though in the late 1960s Thanom was less suppressive than the rigorously anti-communist Sarit who preceded him, Thanom and Praphat imposed martial law in 197 1, greatly restricting civil liberties. By 1972, Thanoms government could be characterized by one American scholar as . . .more arbitrary and suppressive than any preceding military regime. In the same era, there were a variety of social and economic pressures: budget problems at the end of an economic boom, the world energy crisis, an increasing fear of indigenous Chinese, an emerging generation gap, the turmoil of neighboring countries, and the strategic withdrawal of American forces from Southeast Asia. Most discussions of recent Thai politics focus in large part on the student movement, a movement unprecedented in Thai history, for it was the massive demonstrations of students which overthrew Thanom and Praphat. For decades, since student participation in the 1932 revolution, Thai students were largely apolitical, becoming involved in only a handful of political events.*The Thai universities have been described as the Thai political system in miniature, characterized by I. . .submissiveness and conformity to the authority-seniority system.g During Thanoms years, in the late 1960s, things began to change. Girling writes of this period:

. . .despite the conservatism of the Thai education system and Thai elite society, a number of students and intellectuals were able to free themselves from the restrictive way of thinking of the old order.. . . They expressed their concern with the development of contemporary Thailand, characterized by dictatorship, the spread of capitalism, and foreign military bases.O 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 95

A variety of student discussion groups formed, often with a Marxist orientation; Girling sees these groups as a training ground for the events of the 1970s. However, it is after the formation of the National Student Center of Thailand (NSCT) at Chulalongkorn University in 1972-its first task being organization of a boycott of Japanese goods-that student interest and involvement in politics began to skyrocket. Authors have pointed to a number of reasons for this activism, such as the rapid increase in the number of university students, an emerging bourgeoisie, the declining state of the national economy, and exposure to new political ideas through Western universities.Q Of course, the movement arrived on the heels of student movements in other parts of the world, notably the United States and France. In the songs for life, we can hear the tremendous influence of American youth via their music. The high-point of the students efforts were the mass demonstrations of October 14-15, 1973, in which an estimated 500,000 took part.13 Protesters were supporting the NSCTs demand for the release of 13 people-including students and university lecturers-who had been arrested and for a new constitution. Sixty-five people were killed and 1,000 injured as police fired indiscriminately upon the protesters.14All commentators-Americans and Thais alike-attest to the significance of this event. Darling writes:

. . .very probably the political system of the country will never again be the same. One of the most well-entrenched military regimes in Thai history was toppled, not by another competing military faction nor by some external armed force, but by crowds of protesting and unarmed students demanding the alleviation of unsatisfactory conditions and a more modern form of government.5 After the protest, the king appointed a civilian government, and plans were made for elections. The intellectual atmosphere of the democratic era, 1973-6, deserves special consideration here, for this is the context in which songs for life appeared. This period is regarded by many as a time when expression blossomed, for the censorship of the Sarit-Thanom years was lifted after the October demonstrations (though there was anything but total freedom of expression16). The description by Anderson is worth quoting at length:

. . .to general astonishment, a steadily swelling torment of critical poetry, songs, plays, essays, novels, and books flooded first the capital and later the provinces. Many of these works had been written or composed under the dictatorship but had never seen the light of day. Others were produced by the radicalizing effects of the October days themselves, 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 96 Journal of Popular Culture

and the rapid increase in political consciousness among students in the free atmosphere of the liberal era. For the left, . . .an almost giddy sense of exhilaration, iconoclasm and creativity was born. For a time it seemed that one could say, sing or do almost anything.l8 Thai students inevitably refer with pride to this blossoming, using just that word. the writings of Marx, Lenin, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, and the few Thai Marxists became available and apparently could be found everywhere. Other changes included the formation of unions-some of which would have been illegal previously-and farming organizations, which conducted literally thousands of mostly small-scale labor strikes between October 1973 and the end of 1974. However, the successes of the students and the demonopolizing of power did not occur without resistance and turmoil. On the contrary, the right and those who resisted the new changes (including the shocking wave of protests and strikes) responded through right-wing groups, such as the Red Gaurs and the Village Scouts,lg and their own books, pamphlets, songs, and broadcasts. In fact, the upsurge of right-wing expression may be considered a blossoming equivalent to that of the left. The features of right-wing media use is pertinent to the present study, and were i t not for limitations of time and resources, a comparative study of songs for life and right-wing songs would be illuminating. However, a few words about the governments role in the mass media are necessary. Both the national T V station and the national radio systems are administered and directed by the Public Relations Department; other radio stations are operated by the armed forces and various government departments; the Army owns and operates Army TV. While radio and T V are controlled officially, the press tends to monitor itself, knowing where the accepted limits of political expression lie, so that public criticism of high officials and the fundamental institutions (King-religion-state) are rare. (On the other hand, private criticism and gossip have always been rarnpant).Z0 Anderson believes that this deep involvement of right-wing forces in the mass media helped rightists to successfully gain power over the left in 1975 and 1976. Significantly, we can see that the conflicts of the 1970s were expressed publicly, through the media-something new in Thailand.21 The so-called democratic era ended in 1976, a political change precipitated by factors too numerous to discuss here. A variety of events led to a tragic mob scene at Thammasat University on October 5-6 of that year. There were an estimated 4,000 students within the 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 97

gates of the campus, and 4,000 rightists attempting to storm in. Early in the morning on October 6, shooting, burning and lynching began, with the police in the lead; the carnage was almost unbelievable.22 Later that same day, Prime Minister Seni and his cabinet were ousted; the constitution, parliament, and all political parties were abolished; martial law was proclaimed, banning any political gatherings; and press censorship was established. The militarys new National Administration Reform Council announced that it was now in charge.2J At this time, and within the next few months, many left-wing activists and students fled to the Northeastern region of the country to seek refuge with the Communist Party; some actually joined the party but many did not. The leading songs for life musicians, their songs banned, were among those who fled.

Other forms of Thai music, and the concept of Art of Life

T o understand the motivation behind songs for life-and hence their appeal and significance-one needs to know something not only of the political events in contemporary Thailand, but of the aesthetic context in which the songs occurred. The following discussion summarizes briefly the varieties or spectrum of Thai music, and the philosophical and political motivations behind the songs for life. From the index categories of commercial songbooks, and charts drawn by informants, contemporary Thai music falls into several categories. The categories offered here are intended solely as heuristic aids and are not meant to be rigid: 1) the classical or court tradition, to which only a small minority of people listen. David Morton has written:

. . .(classical) Thai music was a hot-house art from the beginning, having grown up as an aristocrats music performed at the courts by court musicians for court functions. With the abolition of the monarchy in 1932 the traditional social foundation for the music disappeared and its practice and performance came to a more or less abrupt halt.. . In recent years the music has not played a significant part in the lives of a majority of the people, which perhaps in part explains the apathy of the general public toward i t today.* 2a) city music, closely tied to the Bangkok night-club/fancy restaurant scene. This style has changed little over the past few decades. The music usually features a soloist or duo with Western band accompaniment. Though this style is obviously influenced by American or international pop styles (as in the adoption of Western instruments), some notably Thai features are present, such as the 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 98 Journal of Popular Culture distinctive female vocal timbre. There are a number of singers in this category, both male and female, who emerged in the 1950s and are still well-loved, and have released dozens of recordings. The star figure is Suthep, whose voice strikes listeners as smooth and richly romantic. 2b) luuk krung (lit. child of the city), a Bangkok-based popular style which is felt to embody youthful ideals and passions. It is generally acknowledged that the sole subject of luuk krung is love. Young female singers are particularly popular, though each artist may release only a single recording, and enjoy a single hit. Musically, this style is similar to 2a above; a context analysis of the lyrics may reveal each styles distinguishing characteristics. 2 C ) a very popular trend is that of musicians who skillfully arrange American and other non-Thai hit songs, either translating or creating Thai lyrics. These groups, such as Impossible of the early 1970s and

Hot Pepper of the early 1980s, appeal to teenagers and young people. The main medium is the cassette tape-recording.

3) country music, luuk thung (lit. child of the fields), which originated in the Northeastern region (isaan) but spread to other regions. It remains the popular form enjoyed by up-country Thai and lower-class emigrants who live in Bangkok. It appears the some Bangkok-dwellers are offended by these songs and find the words objectionably dirty (the anthropologist might observe in this an expression of inter-ethnic and inter-class stereotypes). The tie between this music and Northeastern folk traditions is strong and easily recognizable, especially in the vocal style and timbre of the singers. The indigenous mouth-organ, khaen, sometimes appears as accompaniment, along with Western instruments such as the trumpet, violin, and accordion. One informant labeled this folk music. There are, to be sure, diverse sub-distinctions within each of these broad categories. Most significantly, it appears that these categories represent social categories, or audiences. It will be seen later that the music of the leading songs for life group, which might share an audience with the styles of Za, Zb, or 2c above, is conspicuously distinguished from the city styles, though not divorced entirely. It also uses a few strategically chosen features of folk music/luuk thung.

Hopefully, from this cursory overview of Thai song, the context

of the concept of art for life can be appreciated. This is the concept behind the textural content, at least, of songs for life, and from 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 99

which the song movement takes its name. The concept is discussed in Silapa phua chiiwit, silapa phzla prachaachon (Art for life, art for people) by Jitr Phoumisak. Jitr, who is the subject of a song for life (see examples at end) and whose poems were sometimes used as lyrics, was a poet and graduate of Chulalongkorn University. After a long imprisonment, he joined the Communist party in 1965 and was soon killed by government officials. Some of his works were distributed privately in the 1950s, though others were not published until the 1970s. While Jitrs name was publicly taboo under Thanom and Praphat, his Chomna Sakdina Thai (The face of Thai feudalism) was the bible of radical students by 1974.25 He became a legendary figure and role model for many of the progressive students, who considered [Jitr] a martyr who had chosen to reject a bright future in order to join the revolutionary forces.26

Art for life. ..was originally written in 1957, and first published in 1972 under the pseudonym Thiphakorn. In brief, Jitr distinguishes two types of art: art for imperialism, and art for the people.27 The former represents a vulgar, thoughtless, non-Thai way of life; its creators, while indeed producing for the masses, concentrate upon the sale and popularity of novels, songs, films, magazines, etc. and ignore the impact or influence of their work. They are, in short, irresponsible. An artist for the people, on the other hand, should seek first of all to access, reflect and express all aspects of life-the injustices as well as the fun and sensuality. Second, he must offer solutions, ways for people to resolve societys problems. Jitr likens such artists to warriors, and their work to both spears (weapons which can pierce enemies) and lanterns (which can lead people to truth-interestingly, an image which appears in some of the songs for life). He does not call for music which can be sung by all or which represents the folk roots of the nation-these being characteristics of the American lefts views toward popular song earlier in this century.** Rather, the didactic function of song is to be enhanced. Obviously, Jitrs recognition of the power and influence of all art-whether or not it is intended to be propaganda or political art-is akin to the philosophies of Marx, Lenin, and Mao regarding art. A careful comparison of these philosophies deserves to be undertaken.29

The people: musicians and listeners

By far the leaders in the movement, and the most popular band, was the group Caravan (Kharawaan). They issued a number of immensely popular recordings and their greatest hits became available in popular songbooks. Caravans music is of particular interest, for the groups imaginative style is most contrastive to other Thai popular 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 100 Journal of Popular Culture

music. The best biographical source on the group is a pamphlet issued by the Union of Democratic Thais, from which the following quote is taken: Two leading activists [in the early 1970~1 were Surachai and Virasak. Both were under the influence of Bangkoks westernized atmosphere at first. Surachai Jantimaton is a native of Surin Province, the son of a school teacher and formerly a student at Silapakorn University.

Virasak Suntornsii was born in Nakorn Rachasima Province but was a fourth-year law student living an urban life until plunging into political-cultural work. Both were non-professionals who, like many of their generation, learned from musical films, juke boxes and nightclub performers catering to the hundreds of thousands of American GIs and civilians brought to that part of the world by the wars in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. These two, however, were attracted in particular to the anti-war and satirical songs of Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger [emphases in original]. Early in 1974, Surachai and Virasak traveled through the Northeast, performing for rural audiences. Later that year three new members were added, two from a vocational school in the Northeast. One of them was Tonggraan Taanaa, a former fourth-year student in the Arts Department, a founder of the United Artists of Thailand, and the Cultural United Front. The other was Pongtep Kradonchamnana, who, like Tonggraan, was from Nakorn Rachasima Province. Another new member was Monkhon U t o k , a native of Roi-et Province and graduate of the University of Technical Arts.. .

The five-member group adopted the name Caravan from a satire by a young journalist named Vinai Ukrit about the American military presence in Thailand. The song entitled Yellow Bird (see examples at end) was written by Vinai. Caravans songs were performed and sung at student rallies, especially at Thammasat University, by the band itself and by groups of students. The band also performed at fund-raising events for charitable organizations (including two concerts for UNICEF, the recording of one becoming available commercially), film openings, and at least one movie soundtrack. As many students became involved in charitable work and political activism among the rural peoples, Caravan toured the country and performed in rural centers. However, and this is most significant, the groups audience was primarily composed of the progressive students and young people in Bangkok. In contrast to most popular musicians in Thailand, Caravan performed not in elegant dress but in casual clothing, such as blue jeans and plain tops (one informant pointed to his own knit pullover and said, like this) or in the indigo cotton dress of Northern farmers. One should bear in mind that students at Thammasat wore uniforms until October 1973.30 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 101

New versions of Caravans songs were recorded by other singers, such as Sawin and Suthep-favorite singers in the nightclub tradition. This author has heard one anonymously-performed tape of Caravan songs on which the song melodies and lyrics were retained, but the musical style differs significantly. Such contrasting versions may allow us to isolate the features of Caravans music which were most important to audience members and other musicians, and to trace the changes which occur when a song moves from one stylistic, hence social, category to another.

A second group is Komchai (torchlight, a lantern hung at events such as marriages and births). The group was formed in 1975 and based at Ramkamhaeng University, Bangkoks public university. Three members of Komchai, plus the five members of Caravan, fled to the jungle on December 18, 1976, not long after the coup. Three days later, on December 21, two members of another songs for life group, K u r u c h o n (people who teach), also sought refuge with the Communist party. All members of Kuruchon were students or graduates of teachers colleges; their songs were particularly concerned with the problems of education in Both members who went to the jungle were originally from the Northeast. From the jungle, all three groups evidently broadcasted over the guerrilla radio station, Voice of the People of Thailand. There were other musical groups at this time as well which performed songs markedly different from other Thai city songs. Some are anonymous or, at least, the identity of the singers is not vitally connected with the musical products. Other groups, such as The Grass,

sang meaningful, inspirational songs which lacked the political rhetoric of Caravans work. At present, it is difficult to assess the demography of the songs for life audience. It appears that the songs appealed mostly to the dedicated, idealistic progressive students, particularly those at Thammasat, circa 1974-the same young people who took on the role of the conscience of Thailand,32 who hoped to improve life in their nation. However, one informant described the immense popularity of the progressive image: Everyone wanted to be progressive. Evidently riding on the commercial success of Caravan, with its unique synthesis of musical styles and its startlingly new and powerful lyrics, dozens of other groups issued songs for life recordings. Many of these were little more than luuk k r u n g with politically-relevant lyrics; such groups, according to the informant, died a natural death-quickly, like most popular artists in Thailand. Caravan, on the other hand, has retained a loyal group

of listeners, a small audience which remains dedicated to the leftist 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 102 Journal of Popular Culture

ideals of the democratic era and to the music associated with their movement. One can picture, then, a core of dedicated leftist students who enjoyed the real songs for life, surrounded by a much larger mass of pseudo-progressive young people and musicians who were attracted to the trend as though to a new dress fashion.

Music as protest

Music cannot be effectively communicative-it cannot carry meaning-if it is not formed of appropriate symbols, of symbols which speak. Songs for life speak through their contrast to other popular songs; significantly, they are different, but not too different. They are distinctive enough to suit the needs and tastes of their particular audience, without being so different as to alienate listeners. Thai protest songs, therefore, retain many features familiar to Thai listeners, especially that urban social group most familiar with American pop music. The songs fit into categories of musical perception shared by the audience towards whom they are directed, and, one can argue, socially-constituted meanings are attached to these categories. The following discussion points to features of the songs which clarify this thesis.

Performance context. The situations in which songs for life were performed have already been described. A few additional points shall be added here. First, it is noteworthy that students actually sang many songs for life, especially songs associated with the Communist movement itself. However, not all leftist songs of this period lend themselves to communal sing-a-longs. Without its imaginative and experimental instrumentation and musical structure, difficult to reproduce in a communal singing situation, the music of Caravan would lose much of its uniqueness and hence its significance. In short, songs for life-as Jitr described-are not songs to be sung by the people, but they are songs for the people. In this respect, they are not so different from other popular songs of Bangkok. Songs for life were conspicuously not performed in the contexts in which one might find other popular music, such as nightclubs, elegant restaurants, and the government-monitored mass media (until some of the songs passed over into the repertoires of established singers, as mentioned earlier). As student rallies and demonstrations were anew social situation, a new phenomenon, songs for life can be viewed as a new sound for a new context. However, a feature of listening-context which is shared by the various popular of Bangkok (or, in fact, most of Thailand) is the cassette tape recording. Many students and young people, Particularly those who did not attend Thammasat during the mid-l970s, came 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 103

into contact with songs for life only through tape recordings, which could be obtained either at regular music stores or through friends. During the years post-1976 when this music was not available legally, the latter method was a major means of dissemination.

Musical features. Because musical analysis of songs for life is still in progress, only a few salient features shall be described here. Caravans music alone is considered (it is recognized by participants as the most important leftist music of the period), and no attempt is made to trace its stylistic development through time. Both the vocal style and use of instruments in Caravans recordings immediately remind American listeners of rock and folk-rock of the late 1960s and early 1970s-Caravan sounds like Bob Dylan, Peter, Paul and Mary, etc. However, the musics similarity to Thai folk musical traditions and Zuuk thung is equally striking. It is probably impossible, however to properly trace all instances of so-called acculturation in Thai popular music. The task is especially complicated here because Caravans music is so experimental and varied that almost every selection could be analyzed separately-each may be like or unlike American music, folk music, or nightclub music, in different ways. Vocal styles vary somewhat among Caravans main singers, yet all are more raw, not as obviously cultivated and smooth as most city singers. One singer in particular tends to break his voice, often forcefully at the ends of phrases, and sings songs with high-pitched melodic peaks for which he must reach in the screaming manner of American rock singers. The songs are sung primarily by male soloists, though most include phrases in which the soloist is backed up by a chorus of males (in some instances a female as well) singing in parallel fourths, fifths, or octaves. This feature is rarely, if at all, present in other Thai popular music. The vocalists style in several examples is amazingly similar to that of Zuuk thung and hence Thai folk song: what to a Bangkok-dweller may seem a nasal vowel production, a raspy vocal timbre, ornate improvisational embellishment in many passages. Informants note Caravans use of Thai traditional instruments (what one called local instruments.) The phin, a plucked mandolin-like instrument from the Northeast, appears in several songs, usually functioning as a drone while a guitar provides more active accompaniment. In folk music, the phin also provides a drone.33 The

khlui, the vertical bamboo flute of the court orchestra which also is played in the Northeast, appears hauntingly behind a spoken sermon or funeral oratory in the song entitled Yellow Bird. In addition, 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 104 Journal of Popular Culture

folk drums are used, but not in the characteristic manner of the Western drum-set, which appears in other Thai popular styles. Acoustic guitars, sometimes picked and sometimes strummed, appear in every song and constitute the main accompaniment. The guitar technique is undoubtedly borrowed from American music, quite possibly from the popular groups mentioned above. A bass guitar is included in some songs, and harmonies are those familiar to those Western listeners. T o what degree, then, does such guitar accompaniment mark a contrast with other Thai music? Singers of

luuk thung and city music are often accompanied by guitars, too, but in a manner less clearly derived from American music. Accompaniment in these styles is rarely purely guitar but a small band with brass and woodwind instruments, and frequently accordion. The texture is sparse and choppy, providing rhythmic punctuation, while Caravans guitars create a thicker, more constantly active texture. Another distinctive feature of Caravans instrumentation is the use of American folk instruments-harmonica and fiddle-possibly because such instruments were being exploited by American popular singers in the late 1960s. Listeners do not seem to be aware that these are instruments associated with an American folk tradition. Notable, however, are the several selections on the tape entitled American

antraay (Dangerous American), including the title song, which feature distinctively American fiddling. It should be no accident that songs about Americans boast a recognizably American sound. Solo western flute and solo violin, in a non-fiddling style, appear in some songs, generally filling in spaces between vocal phrases, perhaps echoing or elaborating upon the phrase just sung. This linking function of solo instruments is found in Thai nightclub music and luuk thung as well. Song form, of course, is closely related to poetic verse form, to be discussed later. The poetic form employed in the present case does not demand stanzas of a set length, and we do not find verses, though certain melodic sections and/or sections of text may be repeated, thereby demonstrating some unity. Sections of melody are built of any number of phrases; if phrases occur in regular lengths, that length is usually four musical bars. This latter feature is shared with much American pop, with rock-n-roll, and with much Western classical music. Phrases in this style may be thought of as musical ideas which in most examples recur throughout a song, though rarely occurring twice the same way. In other words, an entire song will progress through ever-changing, mutating musical ideas. This mutative quality is most likely a result of the shifting demands of the texts 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 105

linguistic tones. Because spoken tones are accommodated to an amazing degree-Thai is a tonal language-even repeated melodic ideas are seldom identical, unless the words are repeated as well. Accommodation to linguistic tones is often accomplished through embellishments of the melody. The spoken rhythm of words also contributes to this ever-changing quality, though this rhythm is not accommodated strictly. In some cases, for instance, words with long vowels fall on notes of relatively short duration (in spoken Thai, vowel length is phonemic). The form of many songs by Caravan is shaped partially through instrumental interludes, usually consisting of an important melodic segment played once through on guitar. Instrumental introductions of varying lengths begin virtually every song (as in most Thai popular music), but concluding instrumental sections often do not appear.

A formal device not shared with other popular styles, however, is the non-metered vocal section which begins a number of Caravans selections. This feature is possibly inspired by the non-metered vocal phrase(s) which begin Northeastern Thai vocal forms. A selection entitled Man and Buffalo not only features such a section, sung by a soloist, but an imaginative inner section in which the musicians sing in different meters and produce unusual vocal effects.

Lyrics: textual content and structure. According to informants, it is the words to songs for life which make the songs particularly meaningful and unusual. They recognize the extreme contrast between songs for life lyrics and the polluted water (nam naw) of the standard love songs, and this contrast is exciting. Thai progressive students felt daring and adventurous when they listened to Caravan because the lyrics expressed images and ideas which, in ordinary circumstances, simply were not to be uttered. The themes and images portrayed in songs for life are remarkably consistent. One finds depictions of farmers, their lives and work; urges to rally together for social and political causes; inspirational verses on hope, faith and the will to carry on despite trials; and cogent social criticism. Within the texts themselves, a number of devices are employed which indicate the relationship-as perceived by the progressive students-of songs for life participants and the peasants about whom they are concerned, for whom they speak. On the one hand, we have songs about farmers and laborers, and about villages in isaan

(Thailands impoverished, dry Northeastern region which produces one quarter of the nations rice crop; residents are ethnically Lao). Yet, more subtly, the songs are put in the voice of peasants through 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 106 Journal of Popular Culture

strategically chosen words of the Northeastern dialect (the Lao language). For instance, pronouns used by Northeasterners are employed, often making the solo singer an I, a farmer. The Lao word which produces negatives, often translated as not, is used, though not exclusively (bau, in contrast to Central or Bangkok Thais

may). In Eating Rice, the verb to eat is the word indicating to eat with ones hand by dipping morsels of rice into other foods, in the manner of the Northeasterner (paap). In at least one case, the linguistic tones of the Northeastern dialect are employed. More importantly, however, these usages of dialect are only partial (except in the case of the tones) and therefore symbolic. They do not obscure the meaning of the text from the Bangkok listeners for whom the songs are intended; they only establish the voice of the peasant. A further means of establishing a symbolic connection with the peasantry is the use of farm and rural imagery as metaphor or simile.

For instance, in Rice Awaiting Rain one finds: We live like rice awaiting raiddeath in drought will soon come. . .

Several noun images appear strikingly throughout the songs. Blood (Zuat), sweat (ngua), and alliance (samphan) are distinctive examples. Other recurring images are drawn from nature, such as sun (tawan, pra-athit, duang athit), sky (faa), beams or rays of the sun and stars (saeng tawan, saeng athit, saeng daaw), land or soil

(din, phaen din), and a variety of birds. These images are in most cases metaphors, and are by no means unique to songs for life. The metaphorical use of nature imagery in classical literature is well-known to informants-it occurs in Thai folk expression as well-and they attribute nothing special to the appearance of such images in protest songs. The texts are simply poetic, and therefore include poetic imagery. The referents of such metaphors are understood explicitly by listeners. Fictional birds appear frequently, such as the yellow bird (nok sii hang)-yellow being the color of purity, of the Buddhist monks robes. Another example is the bird of sunlight (nok

saeng tawan) which represents hope and a new way of life. Such metaphors are consistent in meaning throughout the songs. For

example, in some cases sky stands for the monarchy, and in others it represents the power structure in general. One should note that the recurring images discussed here both separate and unite songs for life with other popular expression. Some images are distinctive, such as blood and sweat (not to mention farmers and the Bourgeoisie), while others are shared and thus establish and reinforce Thai-ness. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 107

Besides employing familiar poetic imagery, songs for life conform to accepted poetic style by generally appearing in the klaun

verse form. There are several kinds of klaun; Thai scholars distinguish them according to performance context and textual content.34 Klaun

forms may also be distinguished by the number of syllables in each line, and indeed we find most of Caravans songs following the same rhyme scheme, though with lines of differing lengths. Originally a type of classical verse, klaun in loose forms now appear in many media. Mosel writes:

. . .[C]ontemporary Thai poetry shows a strong preference for [klaun] form.. . Its rules are sufficient to create a natural euphony and rhythm, but flexible enough to permit individual ingenuity and insure ease of composition.. . It is the favored form for lyrical and folk poetry, the recitations which accompany the classical dance-drama and vulgar theatre (like) [sic], and didactic and editorial commentary. It is also the form most used in the lyrics of songs, both traditional and modern.s5 (See Figure 1 for a chart of the ideal 8-syllable klaun.) Rhymed words have identical vowels (phonemically) but not tones, and identical final consonants. Besides the external rhymes charted above, internal rhymes-such as from alliteration and assonance-are desirable. The songs for life lyrics follow the klaun external rhyme scheme loosely or, in some cases, employ no external rhyme at all. However, they are rich in internal rhymes, including those from combining words with similar or identical meaning to produce a pleasing s0und.3~ Regarding the songs without apparent rhyme scheme, it will be necessary to analyze the poetic form of other Thai pop song styles before claiming that lack of external rhyme is a unique characteristic of songs for life. Informants consulted were not disturbed by the absence of external rhyme in the examples discussed. t w o lines - - - - - - - -

one stanza. -

# I* - - - - - - -r

# * *-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _

(*Rhymes marked with asterisk need not fall on the ideal syllable, but within the hemistitch) 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 108 Journal of Popular Culture

Ideal Rlaun form, two stanzas shown. Source: James Mosel, Trends and Structure in Contemporary Thai Poetry (Ithaca, NY: Cornell Southeast Asia Program Data Paper No. 43, 1961), p. 17.

Conclusion

A final question to be considered is this: why might a group such as Caravan rise to enduring fame and success, while other groups with politically-relevant lyrics fall by the wayside? The role of the commercial music industry and the promotion of specific songs and musical groups, which must be great, has not yet been considered. Still, Caravans music may have been most successful because the group drew upon appropriate symbols, upon appropriate sounds and structural features. The meanings of such features are the connotations created through human experiences and human interaction. For the Thai progressive students, Caravan carried the most important messages. One manner in which to summarize the songs for life phenomenon, especially the music of Caravan, is to consider the interpretive model of anthropologist Clifford G e e r t ~ . ~ ~ In culture, religion, cockfights, etc., Geertz finds both a model of and a model for. It is not difficult to see that such a model offers one way to view songs for life. Caravans music was a model of the experience of Thai progressive students: the songs were influenced by the music of American protest songs, by the writings of culture hero Jitr Phoumisak, and by Thai expressive traditions. The songs were up-to-date, fashionable, yet powerfully significant-characteristics, perhaps, of the student movement itself. At the same time, the songs provided a model for behavior, thought, and emotion. As one informant said, Everyone wanted to be progressive. . . , and perhaps many felt that by listening to Caravan, some progressiveness would rub off. The songs embodied an ethos, expressed a desired union between youth, laborers, the poor (one might even go so far as to view the prevalent streaming and communitas images, in Victor Turners sense, as expression of such unity). the singers costumes and lyrics expressed community with the people of isaan, as did their use of folk instruments and some vocal and formal features of popular isaan music. Even the social organization of Caravan-the group formed in part of educated ex-peasants, which lacked a star figure-embodied the ideals of its audience. Most importantly, the songs were different from other musical styles, and the quality of difference-and the desire for it-characterized the revolutionary aspirations of Thai students in the 1970s. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 109

El, il ogue

After returning from the jungle near the end of the 1970s, Caravan has continued to perform as a group. Their recordings are available legally, they have made new recordings, and they perform live for a small but dedicated audience. One member, Surachai, has become something of a premier figure in the group, and has issued a solo recording. Another band member formed a new group, Khurubuuw-

the Tagalog word for buffalo. While Caravan has been criticized for doing the same old thing, the socially critical songs of Kharabaaw are extraordinarily popular. The group was perhaps the single most popular band in Thailand during the mid-1980s.

Appendix A: Examples

Word from the jungle (literally, The meaning of events from the village). Performed and recorded by Caravan; words by Prasert Jandam. Translation by Union of Democratic Thais. This village if ours. It is very old, Its been here a long time, its been here a long time. And just as long are we here. We just manage to survive, And the house-spirits dont complain, But the devils from town Are always after us. Through good and bad, We farmers stick together. Never traveled, never studied, Never learned to read and write, We only work hard, And then work hard some more, and then work hard some more. Clearing the forest, plowing the land, We work in the wind and sun, Burning sun and windswept rain. We endure and dont run away. But the devil from town sucks us dry Until we are thin and frail. Now the youth are leaving, The old stay here at home. Only the little ones Stay at home with them. Hope is dim: Only death seems clear. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 110 Journal of Popular Culture

Our cattle and buffalo stolen Our ricefields turn to sand, We have no rice or fish. We burn with anger at the cities. All around us is disaster. Whether asleep, Or whether awake, There is only frustration and pain. So many here, so many thousands more over there.

Yellow Bird. Performed and recorded by Caravan; words by Vinai Ukrit. Translation by Pamela Moro with Preya Wongkhomthong. Spreading wings to fly away from the city You, yellow bird, leave. You fly to freedom. Now that your life has ended, You ascend to the sky. White clouds ask: who are you? Bathing your wings with sunlight what is the color of the world you dreamed of? Hm.. .

(Spoken, as a memorial [funeral oratory] with khlui accompaniment): Do you remember the events of last October 14-15? Do you remember the stain of blood and nightmares? Our young heroes and heroines died amidst a storm of bulIets and teargas died from savage smashing and beating died as they raised their empty hands, seeking freedom. Now let us pause and be silent to honor those heroes as a reminder to those who continue to fight. (Sung): Spreading wings to fly away from the city, You, yellow bird, leave. You are the spirit of freedom

Now that your life has ended. H m . . .15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 111

J i t r Phoumisak. Performed and recorded by Caravan. Translation anonymous. He died at the edge of the forest, his red blood soaked into this troubled land. On that day when he came down from the mountain Under the shadow of the giant eagle He was shot down by gleeful killers: Luck worth promotion four ranks and a thousand stars! Just as a star might fall, so fell his life: And before death. . .what is this life? Thousands of poor to ten rich men-

So shameful before the sky and earth! But he fought on the side of the poor, Seeing, writing, speaking out. Prison could hold his body but never his aspirations: He was born to fight injustice. The lawless authorities twisted and blocked his path: How many others were destroyed like him? In nineteen sixty-five, black clouds covered the sky With the might of the giant eagle. He left home and town for the life of a jungle fighter: a life of risk never-ending. . .

In May sixty-six, the sun and shadow fled: Sprawled on an oxcarts track, he died. Do you see this body?. . . Its Jitr Phoumisak! Do you see this body?. . . Its Jitr Phoumisak! He died where jungle and town meet. He died at the jungles edge and his red blood soaked into the Isaan soil. . .

The redness will last on and on. His death seemed pointless but from there his fame grew: How people ask about him, hungry for his thoughts. The name of Jitr Phoumisak, the thinker and writer Is like a candle bringing light to the people.

Weaving Golden Rays. Performed and recorded by Caravan. Translation by Pamela Moro and Preya Wongkhomthong. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License 112 Journal of Popular Culture

We beg all: come join together to bind a great alliance to weave golden rays of independence with pure hearts and minds.

Notes

Sources for the present study included cassette tape recordings of songs for life and other Thai popular music, and Thai songbooks. Interviews were conducted with six Thai young adults in the San Francisco Bay Area. Special thanks to Preya Wongkhomthong for her patient and expert help on translations. 2See,for example, John Greenway, American Folksongs of Protest (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1953);Vernon L. Lidtke, Songs and Nazis: Political Music and Social Change in Twentieth-Century Germany, in Essays on Culture and Society in Modern Germany, ed. by D. King et al. (A and M University Press, 1982),pp. 167-200; and Willard Rhodes, Music as an Agent of Political Expression,

African Studies Bulletin 5 (May, 1962),pp. 14-22. SRichard A. Reuss, American Folksongs and Left-Wing Politics, in Folklore, Nationalism, and Politics ed. by Felix J. Oinas (Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers, 4Rhodes,p. 14and William Bascom, Comment: African Arts and Social Control,

African Studies Bulletin 5 (May, 1962),pp. 22-25. his view is not unique. John Blacking has discussed how musical form and structure relate to cultural and social conditions, How Musical i s Man? (Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1973), pp. 54-88. John Shepherd attempts to show how analysis can, within certain limitations, elucidate the social meaning inherent in music-The musical coding of ideologies, in Whose Music? A Sociology of Musical Language, ed. by John Shepherd et al. (London: Latimer New Dimensions Limited, 1977), p. 69. Musical change, therefore, can be traced generally to changes in culture and society. See Blacking, p. 76. 6For example, see Clark D. Neher, Modern Thai Politics (Cambridge, MA: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1976). ?Frank C. Darling, Student Protest and Political Change in Thailand, Pacific Affairs 47 (1974). pp. 5-19. See page 10. *On those rare exceptions, see David Morel1 and Chai-anan Samudavanija,

Political Conflict in Thailand: Reform, Reaction, Revolution (Cambridge, MA: Oelgeschlager, Gunn and Hain, Publishers, Inc., 1981), pp. 137-9 and Darling, pp. 1978),pp. 9-31.

5-6.

gGirling,p. 170.

Olbid., p. 169

Illbid., p. 171. 2For example, see Ben Anderson, Withdrawal Symptoms: Social and Cultural Aspects of the October 6 Coup, Bulletin for Concerned Asian Scholars 9 (3, pp. 13-30),pp. 13-30 and Darling. SAnderson, p. 27. For examples, see Neher. ISDarling, p. 15 16Forexamples, see Anderson. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License Songs for Life 113

illbid., p. 22.

8lbid.

9On. such groups, see Ibid., pp. 19-20. 20Girling, p. 172. ZlAnderson, p. 24. The most complete presentation of recent Thai expression, including works from all parts of the political spectrum, is a forthcoming book by Herbert Phillips on Thai literature and literary figures. 22See Morel1 and Chai-anan, Chapter 10.

231bid., p. 275 Z4David Norton, T h e Traditronal Music of Thailand (Berkeley: University of 25Anderson, p. 30. 26Morell and Chai-anan, p. 301. 27This concise summary based upon Jitr Phoumisak (Thipakorn), Silapa p h w chiiwit, silafia phua prachaachon (Bangkok, 1975). pp. 190-203. 280n the American left and song, see Richard A. Reuss, American Folksongs and Left-Wing Politics: 1935-56, in Folklore, Nationalism, and Politics ed. by Felix J. Oinas (Columbus, OH: Slavica Publishers, 1978),pp. 9-31. 29On policies towards music in China, historically, see Arnold Perris, Music as Propaganda: Art at the Command of Doctrine in the Peoples Republic of China, in Ethnomusicology 27 (January, 1983),pp. 1-28. 3 0 0 1 1 the symbolic significance of casual dress among Thai students during this period, see Herbert Phillips forthcoming book on Thai literature. SLFrom an anonymous, unpublished manuscript compiled by Thai people living in the Los Angeles area. s2HerbertPhillips, personal communication. SSTerry Miller and Jarernchai Chonpairot, The Musical Traditions of Northeast 34Jame~ Mosel, Trends and Structure in Contemporary Thai Poetry (Ithaca:

351bid., p. 17.

s6See Ibid., p. 9. SICliffordGeertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (New York: Basic Books, 1973). California Press, 1976),p. 223. Thailand, Journal of the Siam Society 65 (1978),pp. 1-17. Cornell Southeast Asia Program Data Paper No. 43, 1961),pp. 14-15.

Pamela A. Myers-Moro is a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. 15405931, 1986, 3, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.0022-3840.1986.2003_93.x by University of California  Riverside, Wiley Online Library on [16/03/2025]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License

Transcript for:Songs for Life

Transcript for:
Songs for Life