The Last Song

I still must have run about butt-naked for all that I care, but that was a long time ago. It was the time when my grandmother was still alive and told me tales of the wondrous days of her youth. I can swear she did sing me a few songs when she'd find it hard to describe but for the life of me, I didn't remember a single word of the songs or what it was all about. But that was not the last time I heard those songs.

Now almost 20 years later, I’m scouring the internet for one of those songs (don't you wanna frown at the irony here -learning/looking for our traditional song in the internet!) for reason which I should have foreseen and which people have every right to expect of me.

See my sister who studies in Norway called me about her peculiar problem. "I have the perfect dresses (traditional) but what am I suppose to do about the traditional song or dance" she moaned. For all that I care she can sing one of those Lengtong Pauno's, but it did bug me that I myself didn't know a single line of those song, which people identified with me as my traditional song.

I remember, as a kid, our yearly sojourn to either one or the other of our aunts' village during the harvest festival. my parents would hardly approve of us going for the simple reason that there were free flow of alcohol but not wanting to offend any of the aunts, they would sent us packing without them hardly ever accompanying us. As the youngest in my family, I do feel lonesome, but anticipating for the festival in itself was a treat!

I remember, seeing men and women, young and mostly old, sitting around the hearth, or dancing along in circle in the big porch or court-yard, and throwing those songs at each other in anticipation of a reply. The reply did come every time and the song and dance would continue - the beat of the drums and the shrill but melodious voices mesmerizing the quaintly dead night in to a full bright morning.

Then I remember listening to, as a kid, the Smokies and the Eagles, the McKameys, etc, and while growing up came the Back-street Boys, MLTR, the Gaither Homecoming Friends, Avril Lavigne, Leeland, Sugarland, et al. They have entertained me and mesmerized me like any songs is suppose to do... And if I needed to express myself, I got a diary and a blog to express myself! I don’t need to twist and reverse words and sing it in monotone to express anything!

See I never needed the song! Am I still who I am since I didn't know and can't sing any of those so called 'traditional' song? A man without a leg is still a man, right? But then why do I write all this stuff about a stupid song if I don’t so much as care about it? Or is it really that stupid? And don’t I care?

But the truth is, I do care and it bugs me that I don't know any of those songs and can't sing even a single line. It is like a little stain in your favourite white shirt that people hardly notice but spoiled the cloth for you!  Every time you looked at the cloth, you see the big (actually tiny-little) stain!

So for the sake of me, I downloaded those songs and practiced a few of them. I have never got the chance to sing or show-off. And when I do sing it, will it be the last song? I have this idea of force feeding my children (when I have them) with these songs. But how long will the song survives -especially when it is faced against the like of Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber?

The honest truth is, those traditional songs are dying... we can accept that fact or make plans to revive them by singing them in our daily life, in our churches, and re-packaging them in a different avatar! But then, that's not case now.

Another truth is, we had more advance and stylist way to express our feelings and emotions, we no longer need to sing each other a song... we just make a simple phone call. Those songs were supposed to be expressed and came from the heart only and are very special - just like my diary.

The final truth is - the last song had been sung and we don't know when! Another song will not be sung again simply because we don't know how to!