Genjer-Genjer and the Historical Burden it Carries

Back in 2009, Solo Radio, a radio station in Surakarta, Central Java, was the target of a protest by a group of people claiming to represent Laskar Hezbollah just a few hours after it played the song, “Genjer-Genjer” on its broadcast.

The Muslim group demanded that the station apologize, arguing that the song belonged to the now-defunct Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) and therefore should be banned. In the end, the station bowed to the pressure and the crowd dispersed.

The song bears one of Indonesia’s greatest historical burdens. It is originally a Banyuwangi, East Java, folk song which speaks about the suffering of the poor during the Japanese colonial rule from 1942-1945.

However, since the aborted coup attempt on Sept. 30, 1965, it has been linked with the PKI, the group held responsible for the putsch.

“Genjer-Genjer,” the PKI and communism have always been feared as ghosts of the past that would rise again and seize power. If their long-rumored resurrection were truly the case, why have they not shown up and taken power as is feared?

“Genjer-Genjer” has a long history. Initially, it was the brainchild of Muhammad Arief, a traditional artist of the Using native community in Banyuwangi. Arief composed the song in 1942 to describe the destitution the people of Banyuwangi endured amid the Japanese occupation.

At the time, the Japanese took all the crops from the people, leaving them so impoverished that they could only consume genjer (Limnocharis flava) leaves. The plant, which grows in rice fields, was previously considered a weed and was normally used as animal feed.

“Genjer-Genjer” became famous after it was sung again by Bing Slamet and Lilis Suryani in 1962. The song was at that time played at many state events because it was deemed to be in line with Nasakom (Nationalism, Religion and Communism), the political idea of founding president Sukarno.

The PKI, which at that time was growing, also played “Genjer-Genjer” as a campaign song. Since then, it was branded as belonging to the PKI, and rather than being a traditional song with a social critique, it was suddenly considered to carry a communist ideology.

The disaster came in 1965. Following the Sept. 30 event, several pro-Soeharto media, many from military circles such as Berita Yudha, Angkatan Bersendjata and Pantjasila published unsubstantiated news that “Genjer-Genjer” was sung by members of Gerwani—a women’s organization affiliated with the PKI—when they tortured a number of army generals in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta.

And the rest is history. Since then, on par with discussions about the PKI, communism or Marxism, “Genjer-Genjer” has become a public taboo. Even after the Reform in 1998, which forced Soeharto to step down, the stigma leveled on “Genjer-Genjer” remained as the Solo Radio incident showed.

However, there were efforts to fight the stigmatization following the fall of Soeharto’s New Order. Several musicians played the song. “Genjer-Genjer” was also heard in a scene of the move Gie (2005), which was directed by Riri Riza. In this biopic of the intellectual figure Soe Hok Gie, a scene shows PKI sympathizers parading on the street and unfurling PKI’s hammer and sickle flag with “Genjer-Genjer” as the scene’s background music.

One of the bands who revived “Genjer-Genjer” is Dengue Fever. The Cambodian American band once covered the song with the lyrics in its original Using dialect of Banyuwangi, though later they translated them into Cambodian.

Another cover version of “Genjer-Genjer” that is no less beautiful is performed by Filastine, a musician from California, the United States, who collaborated with a singer from East Java named Nova Ruth. Their version of the arrangement feels more modern with its use of electronic music and a truly beautiful break beat rhythm.

In his film The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, western philosopher, Slavoj Žižek —dubbed one of the most dangerous thinkers of the current era—explains a concept called “universal adaptability”.

Simply put, universal adaptability can explain why a work, in this case a musical work, can change its meaning according to the needs of those who use it. Žižek uses Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony” to explain how universal adaptability works.

“The Ninth Symphony,” better known as “Ode to Joy”, was composed by Beethoven, a man who railed against authority, particularly the imperialist authority of Napoleon.

However, according to Žižek, as time went by, “Ode to Joy” was used liberally by many parties. The Nazis, for example, designated “Ode to Joy” as the national anthem, while the Soviet Union promoted it as a communist song.

During the Cultural Revolution in China, when almost all Western music was banned, “Ode to Joy” was still allowed to be played.

We can also use universal adaptability to explain the long history of “Genjer-Genjer.” From Arief’s initial intention as the song’s composer, which was to depict the story of the misery of the people during Japanese colonialism, “Genjer-Genjer” was later adapted by the PKI to become their campaign song.

Universal adaptability can also explain why the New Order regime completely prohibited the song, so that it could not poison the minds of Indonesian citizens and become an obstacle to the New Order’s “developmentalist” agenda.

The same phenomenon was also behind the reasons why “Genjer-Genjer” was later played in the film Gie, and was covered by Dengue Fever, as well as Filastine and Nova Ruth. The artists intended to free the song from its ideological shackles.

In other words, they encouraged the public to dare to fight against the New Order’s narrative which branded the song as communist and to enjoy it as music filled with the spirit of freedom.

It is not enough to discuss “Genjer-Genjer” and the state paranoia behind its ban here. However, what is clear is that we must release the song from the historical burden that has hung over it for many decades.

Instead, let us hear it as a song that calls upon us to abolish all forms of colonialism in this world.

PS: Previously featured in The Jakarta Post.