Camellia
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
People say, well, men say,
that when they love someone, they would go even to the end of the world in
order to catch them. That’s cheesy, indeed, and crazy, of course. However, I
myself have witnessed some of my male friends do that kind of thing. They were
falling head over heels for a girl, and they had done literally almost
everything they could in order to steal that girl’s heart. They didn’t even
care whether that girl was taking them for granted, or even worse, ignoring
them. They even got more curious when the girl was ignoring them. No matter
what we, their friends, told them to stop, they just wouldn’t. Love is
irrational, isn’t it? As today’s song for Male
Special Part 2: Ways of Being A Man, I have a classic titled “Camellia II”,
performed by Indonesian legendary singer-songwriter Ebiet G. Ade. This song is
probably the best in depicting, in a poetic way, how a man can’t be stopped
easily when he’s already started to chase a woman he loves.
“A cluster of beautiful days with
you, Camellia, reviving my longing again, inviting me there. I want to run
after your thousand shadows, Camellia. I don’t care; I’ll catch you, even if I
had to pierce the grassland.” –Ebiet G. Ade, Camellia II
First released in 1979, “Camellia
II” was the title song for Ebiet G. Ade’s second studio album of the same name.
It was the second song of four-part songs in which mention the name Camellia
for the title. Ade wrote the song himself. “Camellia II” is the most well-known
one from the Camellia series; more than the rest of other: “Camellia I”,
“Camellia III”, and “Camellia 4”.
Lyrically, “Camellia II”
tells a story of a man who falls deeply for a woman named Camellia, yet the
love is unrequited. That’s in particular. In general, it speaks about an
unrequited love; a blind one, a crazy one, an irrational one. It’s a one-sided
love that somehow, can force people to chase after shadows, though they already
know that it leads to nothing but emptiness. “A cluster of beautiful days with you, Camellia, reviving my longing
again, inviting me there. I want to run after your thousand shadows, Camellia.
I don’t care; I’ll catch you, even if I had to pierce the grassland.” Yet
there’s nothing rational about love, isn’t it? Until at some point, we hear
they tell us, to stop chasing after mindless dreams. Love is only an illusion
we build inside our hearts. “Suddenly my
footstep is stopped; a million hands have held me back. I want to curse, they
say, you don’t need to run after an uncertain dream. Today is a dream too, so
let it come into your heart.”
Both my mother and father
are huge fans of Ade. As I mentioned on the previous post, my parents have
given so much influence in my taste of music. During my trip to Penang last
May, I heard “Camellia II” performed by a band in the Universiti Sains Malaysia
campus. At that time I was thrilled and excited; turned out I’m not the only
young generation who love this song.
“Suddenly my footstep is stopped;
a million hands have held me back. I want to curse, they say, you don’t need to
run after an uncertain dream. Today is a dream too, so let it come into your
heart.” –Ebiet G. Ade, Camellia
II
“Gugusan hari-hari indah bersamamu Camellia
(A cluster of beautiful days
with you, Camellia)
Bangkitkan kembali rinduku mengajakku kesana
(Reviving my longing again,
inviting me there)
Inginku berlari mengejar seribu bayangmu Camellia
(I want to run after your
thousand shadows, Camellia)
Tak peduli ‘kan kuterjang, biar pun harusku tembus
padang ilalang
(I don’t care, I’ll catch
you, even if I had to pierce the grassland)
Tiba-tiba langkahku terhenti, sejuta tangan telah
menahanku
(Suddenly my footstep is
stopped, a million hands have held me back)
Ingin kumaki mereka berkata, tak perlu kau berlari
mengejar mimpi yang tak pasti
(I want to curse, they say,
you don’t need to run after an uncertain dream)
Hari ini juga mimpi, maka biarkan ia datang di hatimu,
di hatimu
(Today is a dream too, so
let it come into your heart, into your heart)”
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