When I was a kid still in primary school, the type of music I was exposed to was that which my elder brother and elder sister were listening to at the moment. So it was that their favourite tunes became mine as well. Gersang, HeadWind, Wings, Search, Exists, etc; these Malay rock bands (immensely successful back then in the 1980s) were the staple on the radio-cassette player at home and I can vividly recall how crazy I was over such songs like Exists' Untukmu Ibu, Search's Isabella and Gersang's Masih Aku Terasa, even to the point of memorising their emotionally over-wrought lyrics so that I could wail them out in the bathroom whilst having my shower.
Those were the days!
Today, such songs rarely make it to the playlist of my media player of my pc or my mp3 player and even when they do, I have trouble appreciating the music or even understanding the "depth" of the lyrics. Case in point;
Sewaktu kau melangkah
Meninggalkan diriku
Sebaknya rasa di dalam dadaku
Menahan titis air mata
Ingin aku berpesan
Kepadamu kekasih
Sekiranya engkau merinduiku
Hubungilah aku di sini
Jika ada kesilapanku
Maafkanlah diriku oh sayang
Dan izinkan aku bertanya
Mengapa kau berubah hati
Kiranya kau ada penggantiku
Tetapi hidupmu tak bahagia
Relaku memaafkanmu
Dan menerimamu sayang...
--- Spring - Pesanan Buat Kekasih
The simple corniness of the lyrics, sung in a plaintive but banal tune, against a mercilessly conventional guitars-with-drums melody... My senses immediately switch off and I cannot "feel" the song at all.
However, jiwang songs do possess a certain appeal, I guess. It is, afterall, still music and in the words of Victor Hugo, music is something which...
expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.
