Still making a difference

Warner Music (Thailand) has unveiled the album “7+1”, a compilation of 13 songs from six songs-for-life solo artists and one band.

Caravan’s Surachai “Nga” Chanthimathorn and Mongkol “Wong” Uthok, Carabao’s Yuenyong “Ad” Ophakul and Kirati Phromsakha Na Sakolnakorn, Khon Dan Kwien’s Isara “Siphueak” Anantathat, Akarin “Pong Na Palien” Ketumunee, Kanakham “Bie” Apiradee and the band Paendin are featured. Songs-for-life, first heard in the 1970s – one of Thailand’s most politically tumultuous decades – have always aimed to make a difference. They reach beyond mere entertainment to reflect social change. They express hope, offer encouragement and underline fundamental truths. 

Although never part of the mainstream, songs-for-life have offered a breath of fresh air.

“Songs-for-life have told the truth and fought injustice for four decades,” says Nga Caravan, who formed his band in 1974. 

“On this album I have two songs – ‘Wan Nee’ [‘Today’], offering hope to people who fight for life and politics, and ‘Ao Pa Khuen Ma’ [‘Retrieval of the Forest’], a kind of conservation song. It compares those who live within the purity of streams and forests to the city people and globalisation that invade them.”

Wong Caravan singles out “Rom Mai Klang Daed” (“Tree Shade in Sunshine”), which declares that a society mired in conflict can recover through kindness and dharma, like a tree shade in the sunshine, and “Khao Thai Blues”, about Thai rice being exported to dubious countries. 

Ad, noting that Carabao has been in the songs-for-life fold since 1980, says his new tune “Yak Dai Arai Thammai Mai Bok” (”What Do You Want?”) takes a victim’s view of the violence in the deep South. Khiew Carabao offers “Sanya Fah”, about a man who finally finds a mate after living alone for a long time.  

Khon Dan Kwien, formed in 1984 by Siphueak and other musicians from the highlands, was immediately successful with its debut album, “Dek Pump”, all tunes written by Sek Saksit, and it’s still played regularly today. Siphueak has contributed “Vampire” to the new disc, about male nocturnal lust, and “Jai Toranong”, a boost for anyone suffering from depression.

Pong Na Palien’s “Dokmai Kap Baiya” uses flowers and grass as metaphors for the love of kind and cruel men. Bie offers a rearranged rendition of Ad Carabao’s song “Tam Sieng Huajai” (“Following Heart Sound”).

Paendin recorded “Pleng Phuea Cheewit Jong Jaroen” (“Songs-for-Life”), “Panejorn” (“Wander”), and “Chuan Fan Khao Nee” (“Escape with Another Lover”).

The first, says band leader Suthep Panamphan, “is danceable and is about a boy who dreams to be a songs-for-life artist. 

“‘Panejorn’ is a ballad about people spending their lives drifting from one to another place, and ‘Chuan Fan Khao Nee’ is a kind of blues rock about a man who falls in love with another guy’s girlfriend.”