I Guinayan Dandan
Fine'nina, I am not a musically inclined person at all. Ti maolek yu' kumanta. Ti maolek yu' dumandan, maseha na instrument. Ti maolek yu' mangge' kanta. But despite having all of this against me, I still dream of being a musician. I dream constantly of starting up a Chamorro band. There have been a couple of times in my life where I have been fortunate enough to be a part of a 'backyard jam' session, and each time it was ridiculously fun. Singing along to familiar songs, or making up new lyrics to familiar tunes.
What I enjoyed the most was singing with everyone, the English verses and then during the bridges making up my own lyrics in Chamorro to match the tune. Sometimes I would just translate one of the verses from English into Chamorro off the top of my head, other times it would be a completely new unrelated verse, and other times what I would imagine a third verse to the song would sound like.
Masangan na gaige gi halom kada na korason Chamorro, i guinaiyan dandan! Ginnen i minalago'-hu, sina hu sangan na, hunggan! Dinanche este!
So anyways, back to my band. The latest incarnation of my weird desire, is that I make like a Chamorro ska band. This is a big shift in my fantasies, because a few months ago and for a few years before that, it was to form an acoustic guitar band (this fantasy was maintained by one of my cousins who had a similar fantasy).
The trick will be however, finding people who are willing to admit to this fantasy that all Chamorros have, and then willing to take the plunge and actually do it. One of my brothers wants to start an anime soundtrack band (playing stuff like Lupin the Badhaircutted or Cowboy Bopeep). Another brother wants to start like a free style Hip Hop group. One of my friends wants to start a "real" Chamorro band, which will create sounds which are more indigenous then just translating English lyrics into Chamorro. One of my cousins wants an acoustic guitar band, and I actually know a lot of Chamorros who are pushing for that sort of music.
With all this raw, untapped talent out there, the difficulty will be finding people who can share or compromise their fantasies in order to form actually bands, as opposed to isolated and separate dreams. I would totally be willing to compromise my fantasy. I would absolutely join up with my brothers and form a freestyle, ska, anime soundtrack tribute band with songs in Chamorro.
Finding an audience for that might be difficult outside of Mental Health on Guam, but we should all remember what Jacques Lacan said, Mungga mahinalang i minalago', never give away to your desire.
What I enjoyed the most was singing with everyone, the English verses and then during the bridges making up my own lyrics in Chamorro to match the tune. Sometimes I would just translate one of the verses from English into Chamorro off the top of my head, other times it would be a completely new unrelated verse, and other times what I would imagine a third verse to the song would sound like.
Masangan na gaige gi halom kada na korason Chamorro, i guinaiyan dandan! Ginnen i minalago'-hu, sina hu sangan na, hunggan! Dinanche este!
So anyways, back to my band. The latest incarnation of my weird desire, is that I make like a Chamorro ska band. This is a big shift in my fantasies, because a few months ago and for a few years before that, it was to form an acoustic guitar band (this fantasy was maintained by one of my cousins who had a similar fantasy).
The trick will be however, finding people who are willing to admit to this fantasy that all Chamorros have, and then willing to take the plunge and actually do it. One of my brothers wants to start an anime soundtrack band (playing stuff like Lupin the Badhaircutted or Cowboy Bopeep). Another brother wants to start like a free style Hip Hop group. One of my friends wants to start a "real" Chamorro band, which will create sounds which are more indigenous then just translating English lyrics into Chamorro. One of my cousins wants an acoustic guitar band, and I actually know a lot of Chamorros who are pushing for that sort of music.
With all this raw, untapped talent out there, the difficulty will be finding people who can share or compromise their fantasies in order to form actually bands, as opposed to isolated and separate dreams. I would totally be willing to compromise my fantasy. I would absolutely join up with my brothers and form a freestyle, ska, anime soundtrack tribute band with songs in Chamorro.
Finding an audience for that might be difficult outside of Mental Health on Guam, but we should all remember what Jacques Lacan said, Mungga mahinalang i minalago', never give away to your desire.
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