TC Jukebox: What are you listening to now?

Tis bedtime.

Bob says it best.

Look out for each other.

Peace.

 

Here's a song sung in Amami (Islands off Japan)

Most will hate it lol - I kind of like the warbling! From the EXCELLENT anime Samurai Champloo

Context
The language she speaks is Amami language and the singing style is called Shimauta (島唄) which literally means island song/music and traditional style in my island, you can search 元ちとせ (Hajime Chitose) or 中孝介 (Atari Kosuke) and hear this style. This singing style is inherited through the generations; however, the language is completely dying as a result of discrimination that occurred until the middle of the Showa period.

My island was subjugated by Ryukyu (Okinawa) and then Satsuma, which is called Kagoshima today, this is why this song (actually this is two songs) is all about poverty.

Obokuri is about building a golden house we could never have, and Eeumi is about how they don’t have any nice clothes to wear for August, which is a harvest celebration season.

During this time they wish for the moon to hide in the clouds, so how poorly they dress won’t be seen beneath the moonlight, when their lover visits during the night.

While under the domain of the Satsuma clan from the early 1600 until the Meiji period which is over 250 years; our islanders were not allowed to make or plant anything other than brown sugar canes (This exploitation worsened during a later period known as brown sugar */黒糖地獄 today.) Since sugar was a premium product in Japan back then, the Satsuma clan could sell it to the other clans and make good money to pay off their debit and buy western weapons from Europe. Some of you who are familiar with Japanese history, might get a hint as to why Satsuma suddenly became so powerful. Armed with modern western weaponry around the end of the Edo period they were able to defeat the Tokugawa shogunate with the Choshu clan, and successfully modernise Japan. During that period most of the islanders literally had nothing to eat other than cycad, which is a highly poisonous plant.

 

Good group from cardiff got an ep out now, have a listen lots of influences nice little riff at the end

 

Done the blue Catholic hating tarts

Mon the Irish!