'Senyum Paramuda' speaks of hope, appeals to the young
By Franki Raden
JAKARTA (JP): Leo Kristi's music, performed at last week's show Senyum Paramuda (Young People's Smiles), speaks of hope and appeals to Indonesian youths to build a better civilization.
Hands waving strongly/My dedication with a peaceful smile/Is given to my country
Your smiles reflect the strength of millions/To build civilization in close harmony/A vow of justice and unity
My country shines brightly/With the smiles of healthy youths/Who build the eternal world/In line with their conscience/Oh, Freedom
Kristi always manages to deliver his songs with a theme of heroism, yet in an intimate way. In his hands, the hymn Satu Nusa Satu Bangsa (One Country, One Nation) -- the last item on the program -- could be conceived as an ordinary song. Such is Kristi's humanistic vision in performing the piece that its hefty ideological content becomes at once both intimate and effective in rousing nationalistic sentiment.
Kristi's humanistic vision has been noticeable in much of his music, from the 1970s onward. It is interesting to observe that his daily life is consistent with his vision; he is neither an artist nor an intellectual speaking from an ivory tower. He lives amid the subjects of his songs, mainly those from the working class who lead poverty-stricken lives.
His devotion to human values could be heard throughout the evening, in songs such as Tepi Surabaya, Lewat Kiaracondong, Bencana Tanah Negara, Di Deretan Rel, Nyanyian Malam, Gulagalugu Suara Nelayan, Nyanyian Fajar and Lenggalenggung Badai Lautku.
Through his music, Kristi characteristically singles out the essential problems facing people and the emotions that go with these problems. As a result, his lyrics are not the sharp and direct social protests like those of Iwan Fals and Sawung Jabo.
The lives of the subjects in his songs are revealed delicately and poetically and touch our conscience deeply. Thus, without cornering his audience, his songs leave an indelible mark on our conscience. The more so because each Kristi performance endeavors to depict pictures of people's environment via a visual language.
For this show Kristi donned a black jacket with a handbag attached to his waist. He seemed to represent a newcomer from a small town looking for work in metropolitan Jakarta. More strikingly was the appearance of his three-year-old child, carried by his wife dressed in traditional kain and a simple kebaya.
The presence of Kristi and wife and child on stage presented a forceful picture of working class life. The blend of music with the chatter and cries of the young child represented a working class environment soundscape. Kristi played on his worn-out guitar and a plastic pail serving as a percussion instrument.
At the start of each song he said permisi (with your permission) as street singers are wont to do. His lyrics told the story of an old woman, hard work, fishermen's fate at sea, groups of shirtless children on the side of a railway track, a bare breasted girl behind a decrepit bamboo screen, quarreling women and babies crying in train cars, an old teacher running a street stall, a girl in a rice field holding a reaping knife, the dejection of a fisherman's wife waiting in vain for the return of her husband and an earthquake disaster.
Through these songs Kristi conveyed the "terror" of his chosen topics to an audience who walked on the building's thick carpet, sat on velvet-laid chairs and looked at the neo-classic interior of the Jakarta Playhouse -- all symbols of the Indonesian middle class lifestyle.
It is this class who can afford Rp 20,000 (US$8.40) for a Kristi show and who are daily fed by the news media on Western lifestyles. It is not surprising that Kristi's recordings, marketed to this socioeconomic group, sell a maximum of 70,000 pieces, a figure too small for a mainstream pop music product.
Who wants to hear songs about the panorama of human life as described in Kristi's lyrics amid the current forceful development of this nation? Indosiar, the private television station that relayed this show, felt the need to tame the "terror" of Kristi's show with sophisticated lighting, making the atmosphere resemble a discotheque in Jakarta.
Humanism for the greater part my have left the middle class; they try to bury their feelings through expensive dreams and a consumer life style. During the intermission a university student asked me, "Excuse me, Sir, you seem to be an expert. Could I ask you why I am the only one on my campus who likes Kristi's music?"
The question came to me so suddenly, I could not respond readily. But my heart said, "If that is true, you must be a happy man."