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Thai country music faces Facebook heartbreak

17/09/2012
Onsiri Pravattiyagul

Taking after age-old oral tradition, luk thung - Thai country music - has always been able to encapsulate the moods of an era, trends of certain times and mass celebrations or social ills of any given year.

If you want to recapture how Thailand was at one particular point, the back catalogue of luk thung songs would be able to tell you what Thai society ate, where teens hung out or, on an international scale, what kind of war the world was engaged in.

For the past decade, luk thung songs have touched on the subject of homosexuality and mobile phones, among many other matters, as they spiked the public's interest.

And now it's time for Facebook to make appearances in modern luk thung songs.

Nud Chaiyawat's Sahed Kue Facebook (Facebook is the cause), Turkkie Natham's Ok Hak Jak Facebook (Heartbroken on Facebook) and O Para's Facebook Book Suan Yang (facebook invades rubber tree plantation) are among the latest crop of songs whining about the social network - prominently featuring Mark Zuckerberg's invention in the title and in the lyrics - and how it plays an instrumental part on their inevitable heartbreak. Nud laments his lost love whom he starts seeing since Hi5 was in trend, but when facebook comes along, a guy she meets on Zuckerberg's cash cow steals her away from him along with his heart.

Turkkie, who sings in vernacular Isan over hard rock solo riffs, finds out that his lady dumps him when she changes her relationship status, comparing himself to a catfish whose fins are cut off before released back in the water. Facebook Book Suan Yang tells the story of how the invading social media enables O Para's main squeeze to play the field even further.

It might seem comical, but the reality is that facebook has travelled outside Bangkok, and technology is more integral and accessible to the new breed of luk thung artists and listeners. Luk thung, just like any other surviving music genre, is a living, breathing breed, and to welcome Facebook into the fold somehow signifies how our lives are so entwined with the internet. It's definitely the new normal for this generation and the next.

We can surely expect more songs to directly incorporate facebook and other social media sites. Who's up next? Instagram, maybe.

(Source: Bangkok Post, Music,  Thai country music faces Facebook heartbreak, 17/09/2012, Onsiri Pravattiyagul, link) 


Thai Popular Music Vocabulary

Facebook - the biggest and most popular social networking website, started in 2004 with over 955 million users more than half of them using a mobile device (See Wikipedia)

social networking - using a website to make friends, chat and share things like photos or articles, as people do on Facebook (See Wikipedia)
network - a large system of connected parts, organisations, people, etc. เครือข่าย
social network  

media - public ways of communicating news and information: television, radio, newspapers, magazines, the internet สื่อ
social media - Same as social networking (See Wikipedia)

instagram - a photo-sharing social networking website (See Wikipedia)

Luk Tung - Thai country music (เพลงลูกทุ่ง  "song of a child of the fields") (See Wikipedia)

heartbreak - the pain a person feels after losing a loved one (through breakup, physical separation, betrayal, romantic rejection, divorce or death) (See Wikipedia)
a broken heart
she broke his heart
he broke her heart
he broke his heart
she broke her heart
Facebook heartbreak
Thai country music faces Facebook heartbreak

oral - spoken, using speech (not written)
oral tradition - a story or some knowledge or know-how that is passed to younger people from older people by speech

taking after - being like, looking like something in the past (example: he takes after his father)
taking after age-old oral tradition

mood - the way that a person is feeling (happy, sad, angry, etc)
era - a period of time in history
moods of an era - the ways that people felt during certain periods in past history 

encapsulate - to give short summary (all the important facts in short form)
encapsulate the moods of an era

trend - a new development in clothing, make-up, etc แนวโน้ม a gradual change or development that produces a particular result ทิศทาง  
trends of certain times
Hi5 was in trend

mass - large numbers จำนวนมหาศาล
celebration - a party or special event to show that some event (such as a birthday or anniversary) is special
mass celebrations - celebrations involving large numbers of people (like the King's birthday involving the whole country) 

ills - problems or difficulties ปัญหา
social ills - social problems (such as protests or a bad economy with people losing their jobs)
social ills of any given year

Taking after age-old oral tradition, luk thung - Thai country music - has always been able to encapsulate the moods of an era, trends of certain times and mass celebrations or social ills of any given year.

recapture - to get the feeling of something again (example: The couple worked hard to recapture their lost love.)
recapture how Thailand was at one particular point

catalogue - make a list of the things in a group
back catalogue - a list of of things in the past
back catalogue of luk thung songs

hang out (verb, present) - socialize with friends; be at a place with friends (relax, talk, casual)
hung out (verb, past)
where teens hung out

engaged - actively involved in what you are doing
engaged in war

international - ระหว่างประเทศ between countries
scale - size (relative size)
on an international scale - doing something in a very big way (that even includes foreigners and foreign countries)

on an international scale, what kind of war the world was engaged in

If you want to recapture how Thailand was at one particular point, the back catalogue of luk thung songs would be able to tell you what Thai society ate, where teens hung out or, on an international scale, what kind of war the world was engaged in.

decade - a period of ten years ทศวรรษ, ระยะเวลา 10 ปี
For the past decade

homosexuality - when a man loves a man or a woman loves a woman (See Wikipedia)

touch on - deal with some subject, topic or issue
touched on the subject of homosexuality

matters - affairs, a situation that you must deal with that has problems
many other matters

spiked the public's interest - made many people interested in something (very suddenly)

For the past decade, luk thung songs have touched on the subject of homosexuality and mobile phones, among many other matters, as they spiked the public's interest. And now it's time for Facebook to make appearances in modern luk thung songs.

plantation - a large farm where crops such as tea, coffee, cotton, sugar or, in this case, trees, are grown ไร่ นาขนาดใหญ่
invades rubber tree plantation
whining - complaining (making a crying sound) Household chores First on the home front. According to the

crops - plants grown by farmers every year
the latest crop of .. - the latest collection of ...

the latest crop of songs whining about the social network

Mark Zuckerberg - the creator of Facebook (See Wikipedia)

invention - some useful machine or system that someone has thought up and created for the first time  การประดิษฐ์
Mark Zuckerberg's invention

title - the name of a song
lyrics - the words of a song (that the singer sings)

instrumental - involved in an important way in making something happen
inevitable - certain to happen ที่เลี่ยงไม่ได้ unavoidable ซึ่งหลีกเลี่ยงไม่ได้
plays an instrumental part on their inevitable heartbreak

lament - feel sad about something
laments his lost love

cash - money เงินสด
Zuckerberg's cash cow

steals her away
another guy steals her away from him

Nud Chaiyawat's Sahed Kue Facebook (Facebook is the cause), Turkkie Natham's Ok Hak Jak Facebook (Heartbroken on Facebook) and O Para's Facebook Book Suan Yang (facebook invades rubber tree plantation) are among the latest crop of songs whining about the social network - prominently featuring Mark Zuckerberg's invention in the title and in the lyrics - and how it plays an instrumental part on their inevitable heartbreak. Nud laments his lost love whom he starts seeing since Hi5 was in trend, but when facebook comes along, a guy she meets on Zuckerberg's cash cow steals her away from him along with his heart.

vernacular - a spoken language (not written)
vernacular Isan - the spoken language used by people in Isan (in their daily lives)

solo - when one person does something alone (without others)
riff -  a short, repeated musical phrase (a short series of notes in a song that are repeated many times) (See Wikipedia)
hard rock solo riffs

sings in vernacular Isan over hard rock solo riffs

dump - when a girlfriend leaves her boyfriend (or a boyfriend leaves his girlfriend)
his lady dumps him

relationship - when someone has a girlfriend or boyfriend or is married or divorced, etc; a romantic or marriage relationship
status - the state, condition or situation at a point in time สถานะ the category or classification of a person, thing, or organization social position สถานะทางสังคม

relationship status - the way that
she changes her relationship status

catfish - a type of fish common in the Mekong river ปลาดุก (See Wikipedia)
fins - the things on a fish that help it swim
released - let an animal go (from a cage into the forest or into the river, for example) 

a catfish whose fins are cut off before released back in the water

main squeeze - the girl that some guy (a playboy with many girlfriends) sleeps with most of the time
play the field - try to get new girlfriends

Turkkie, who sings in vernacular Isan over hard rock solo riffs, finds out that his lady dumps him when she changes her relationship status, comparing himself to a catfish whose fins are cut off before released back in the water. Facebook Book Suan Yang tells the story of how the invading social media enables O Para's main squeeze to play the field even further.

comical - funny, makes you laugh

reality - actually happening ความเป็นจริง
the reality is that

integral - necessary and important ซึ่งเป็นส่วนจำเป็น
accessible - can be used by

breed - one kind, type or variety of something
new breed
the new breed of luk thung artists and listener

living, breathing - meaning: like a living thing it is growing and changing all the time
a living, breathing breed

genre - one kind or type of some art (example: literary genre, art genre, genre of writing)
music genre - one kind of music
surviving music genre

fold - 1. a special group of people or things; 2. to bend something, especially paper or cloth, so that one part of it lies on the other part, or to be able to be bent in this way พับ

welcome into the fold - welcome into a special group
welcome Facebook into the fold

entwined with - connected with (have an effect on everyone's life) 
lives entwined with the internet

signifies ...  - means that ..., shows that ...
signifies how our lives are so entwined with the internet

generation - a group of people in society who are born and live around the same time รุ่น (คนรุ่นต่างๆ)
this generation
the new normal for this generation and the next

incorporate - to add or include something as part of something else
directly incorporate

songs directly incorporate facebook  - not just mention it but include it as an important part of the story

It might seem comical, but the reality is that facebook has travelled outside Bangkok, and technology is more integral and accessible to the new breed of luk thung artists and listeners. Luk thung, just like any other surviving music genre, is a living, breathing breed, and to welcome Facebook into the fold somehow signifies how our lives are so entwined with the internet. It's definitely the new normal for this generation and the next. We can surely expect more songs to directly incorporate facebook and other social media sites. Who's up next? Instagram, maybe.

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