Bengawan Solo is a famous Indonesian song about the Solo River, which flows through central and eastern Java, Indonesia and is that island's longest river.

The song describes the legendary river in a poetic and nostalgic way, that it is surrounded by mountains, its sources are near the city of Surakarta, that it ends in the sea, and that the merchant class always makes use of it.

Written in 1940 by Gesang Martohartono, it is in the local kroncong style, a popular folk style with influences from Portuguese. The Japanese, who occupied the country during World War II, brought the song with them to Japan after returning from the war. There, and also in the rest of Asia and later worldwide, the song became very famous.

The song's widespread popularity began soon after its composition, and locally it is strongly associated with the period of war occupation and the society of the times. In 1940 Gesang, then a young, destitute and untrained musician, composed the song on a bamboo flute and began to sing it at local functions and gatherings in his hometown of Surakarta. It soon became well-known and liked among the local Javanese community; the song then achieved national acclaim after it was broadcast to a wider audience by various radio stations.

The melodies of the song also appealed to both the occupying Japanese soldiers, and the non-Indonesian prisoners (mainly Dutch civilians) in the internment camps. The song was taken back to Japan by the returning soldiers, where it (with the lyrics translated to Japanese) gained great popularity after various singers such as Toshi Matsuda released recorded versions of it which became best-sellers. The song has become almost synonymous with the perception of Indonesian music in Japan.

In 1991, a group of appreciative Japanese war veterans arranged for a statue of Martohartono to be erected in a park in Surakarta. Gesang himself was still resident in the city, now a nationally renowned figure^[1].

Various artistes have recorded the song, among whom are Waldjinah, Toshi Matsuda, Anneke Grönloh, Rebecca Pan and Frances Yip.

"Bengawan Solo" is a popular name given to restaurants and businesses, in reminiscence of the song^{[citation needed]}.

Contents 1 Trivia 2 Lyrics 3 See also 4 References

[edit] Trivia

• Bengawan Solo is the name of a popular chain of cake and pastry shops in Singapore.
• The tune became a big hit among Chinese communities after Malaysian singer Ms Poon Sow Keng sang to the tune with Mandarin Chinese lyrics for Hongkong Pathe in 1957. The popularity of the tune was further boosted by Ms Koo Mei, who made her rendition for Philips Records shortly thereafter. Incidentally, Pathe and Philips were major competitors at that time. Since then, many Chinese language singers have written their own lyrics for the tune, making the tune a well-known tune in Chinese oldies music.
• "By the River of Love", dating from early 1960s Hong Kong, is a song in English lyrics written to the tune. The lyrics of that song describe a romantic evening beneath twinkling stars and swaying palms. The period recording by Rebecca Pan can be heard on the soundtrack to the 2000 movie "In the Mood for Love" by director Wong Kar Wai. Ms. Pan also has a role in the movie, playing Mrs. Suen.

[edit] Lyrics

Indonesian lyrics	English translation
Bengawan Solo	Solo River
Riwayatmu ini	Thus your chronicles
Sedari dulu jadi	Has been since earliest times
Perhatian insani	Of sentient attention
Musim kemarau	In the dry season
Tak seb'rapa airmu	Your water is not much
Di musim hujan, air	In the rainy season, water
Meluap sampai jauh	Spills reaching far distances
Chorus:
Mata airmu dari Solo	Your water springs forth from Solo
Terkurung Gunung Seribu	Surrounded by a thousand mountains
Air mengalir sampai jauh	Water flows to reach far distances
Akhirnya ke laut	Eventually to the sea
Itu perahu	That boat
Riwayatmu dulu	In your past chronicles
Kaum pedagang s'lalu	The merchant folks had always
Naik itu perahu	Sailed in such boats

[edit] See also

• Music of Indonesia
• Music of Java

[edit] References

• ^  Asian Economic News article, 1999