Seeking new critical songwriters
Members
of the House of Representatives were often caught sleeping on film
during the House's sessions. Charismatic composer and singer Iwan Fals,
often dubbed as Indonesia's Bob Dylan, teased the legislators with his
song.
The lyrics were 'Wakil rakyat seharusnya merakyat/ jangan
tidur waktu sidang soal rakyat' which means "people's representatives
should get involved with the people, don't sleep during sessions when
discussing the people's fate".
During Soeharto's era, Iwan Fals
voiced the aspirations of the silent majority. Ironically, after
Soeharto's fall, such strong songs disappeared and they have been
replaced by love songs.
These days, lyrics with themes for love
and romance have flooded Indonesia's pop music scene. This romantic
phenomena among the people -- especially the younger generation -- has
hypnotized and inspired nearly every pop musician to create and give
birth to songs with a similar theme. It is a known fact that songs with a
similar theme can steal a great amount of society's interest and
enthusiasm when the majority of society consists of young people.
When
discussing romance or love, it actually doesn't just come from pop
music. Such themes can also be seen in novels with their twisting plots,
television with its soap operas, radio shows and many other kinds of
media which also contribute to the spread of romanticism.
Romanticism
has dominated the media to a point where we as viewers have been
unconsciously fed with the same, monotonous performances, shows and
acts. This can be seen from the similarity of our pop music which
continually brings us romanticism and love.
On the other hand,
looking at it from a different angle and not from an aesthetic point of
view, for some people lyrics have the ability to strengthen one's
courage and the ability to keep on struggling. This can be seen in the
70s and 80s with Iwan's unique songs such as Bento, Umar Bakri and Tikus
Berdasi.
Through his songs and music, Iwan Fals succeeded in
going down in history and since then his music has been known as "songs
from the voices of the people".
The success of these lyrics with a
critical theme can also be found abroad. For example, Bob Marley used
his passion and music to fight against racism which later brought the
Jamaican people into an era of change. Another example is the Sex
Pistols. Through their lyrics they fought against many social ills such
as colonialism, abortion, violence and apartheid which then made them
one of England's most popular bands.
In fact, lyrics with a critical theme can actually give a musician or a group of musicians a respectable place in history.
Another
example is the band Slank. With their song "Gossip Jalanan" (Street
Gossip) they were able to bring fresh air to Indonesian society during a
time when the people were not trusting their leaders. Several
legislators once planned to sue the group because the song criticized
corrupt and bribery practices in the House.
However, although
Slank has created such profound lyrics, they too have been engulfed by
the popular romance theme and hence their critical lyrics are no more.
To
be honest, not just Slank, but also the great maestro Iwan Fals has
been swept away in the competition to create so-called love and romance
songs.
Is there a difference between the situation and conditions
now and how it was during the New Order? Take a few moments and
consider the suffering of the "small" people who are trapped by many
kinds of problems and threats: Corrupt leaders, violent demonstrations,
violence and growing intolerance.
Are these problems not enough
to provoke Iwan Fals and other Indonesian musicians to speak out once
more for the aspirations of their people?
However, it is also not
entirely the musicians fault. This is due to the fact that at times the
market's demands to gain large amounts of material profit plays a
larger role in the creative process of a song rather than social issues.
If the market wants more romance then there will be more romantic songs
and ballads despite the poor and terrible situations and conditions
going on right under our noses.
It is not wrong for us or for
musicians to make a good living but it doesn't mean that we have to
sacrifice and ignore the people who truly need our help. Would we
continue lining up for burgers and donuts while some people still wait
for rice and oil?
Bear in mind, not all of the people are
entertained by the romance theme in the midst of economic difficulties,
political issues, injustices and many other urgent and crucial problems.
It's just that musicians are actually closer to the media than the
people.
And they are certainly more capable of speaking for the
one thousand voices of the people and are exceptional at putting these
voices into a song with powerful lyrics to once again evoke and move our
hearts and minds to become more aware of what is going on and finally,
lead us to lend a helping hand.
The writer is a lecturer at ISI Surakarta. He can be reached at setiawan_1085@yahoo.com
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