Last week, our Saturday evening practice group transcribed this song Mangginen Manu by Daniel De Leon Guerrero, where he sings about contemporary problems facing the island of Guam at the time of the song’s release. It’s an excellent example of how Chamorro music is much deeper than simply creating “good island vibes.” While creating nice, feel-good tunes is definitely part of Chamorro songwriting, being able to speak to the current moment with wit, rhythm, and rhyme is also significant. In this song we get a sampling of some sharp social commentary and criticism of the institutions and behaviors that are responsible for the welfare of the island and its people. This post includes Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Mangginen Manu sung by Daniel De Leon Guerrero. Happy listening!
| Ti hu hulat esta i tano’ kumumprendi | I can’t understand the world already |
| Alugåt na ta fanggé’ge’me’na, manggé’ge’tåtte1 | Instead of us going forward, we’re going backwards |
| Ya ti ta tungo’ esta håyi para ta bota | And we already don’t know who we’re going to vote for |
| Sa’ an håyi ha’ matå’chong guiya hit fuma’bábaba2 | Because whoever sits, they are the ones who cheat us / dupe us |
| Mañe’lu-hu, mangginen manu | My siblings, where are they coming from, |
| Ai esti na prublema på’gu gi tano’-ta ta paló’lo’po’ | Oh these problems, now, in our land, that we are falling upon |
| Sangåni yu’ , ya bai tungo’ | Tell me, and I’ll know |
| Mangginen manu esti na prublema ai nai på’gu gi tano’ | Where these problems in our land come from today |
| Ai bula manmahåhåksa3 na eskuela | There are a lot of schools being built / raised |
| Lao ti ta tungo’ håyi ma’estru yan ma’estra | But we don’t know who (will be) the teachers |
| Ya bula eskuela lokkue’ manmahúhuchom | And there are also many schools being closed |
| Sa’ mampulilu4, mansumi’, yan i kemmon mansénmutong | Because they’re moldy, leaking/flooded, and the bathrooms stink |
| Mañe’lu-hu, mangginen manu | My siblings, where are they from |
| Ai esti siha na prublema ai på’gu ta paló’lo’po’ | Oh these problems that we’re now falling upon |
| Sangåni yu’, ya-hu na hu tungo’ | Tell me, I’d like to know / I want to know |
| Mangginen manu esti na prublema ta fåfåna’ på’gu, ai che’lu | From where are all these problems that we’re facing now, oh, sibling |
| I mås nuebu na prublema ta fåfåna’ | The newest problem that we’re facing |
| Na i CLTC5 ni hagas manå’na’ | That the CLTC has long been hiding |
| Manmasåsångan na bula ai na’an-ñiha | It’s said that there are a lot of their names |
| Manma’upos lao gi magåhet, otru ‘sta mañåsaga | They were passed over, but honestly, there’s already other people living there |
| Mañe’lu-hu, mangginen manu | My siblings, from where are |
| Ai esti na prublema på’gu gi tano’-ta ta paló’lo’po’ | These problems in our land that we are now falling upon |
| Sangåni yu’, ya-hu na hu tungo’ | Tell me, I want to know |
| Mangginen manu esti na prublema på’gu ta paló’lo’po’, mañe’lu-hu | Where are these problems from that we’re now stacking, my siblings |
| Ai guaha ta’lu unu ti hu kumprendi | Oh, there’s another one that I don’t understand |
| Håfa i gubietnu na sigi ha’ di ma kotte6 | Why they continue to take the government to court |
| Ai dalai ya ti siña ma li’e’ | Sheesh, can’t they see |
| Na ginen i betsan7 Chamoru esti na salåppe’ | That this money is from the pockets of the Chamorro |
| Pues sangåni yu’ | So tell me |
| Mañe’lu-hu, mangginen manu | My siblings, from where are |
| Esti na prublema på’gu ta paló’lo’po’ | These problems that we are now falling upon |
| Mañe’lu-hu, ya-hu na hu tungo’ | My siblings, I want to know |
| Mangginen manu esti na prublema | Where are these problems from |
| Sa’ esta yu’ kanna’ púpuno’ na tiempu | Because I’m already being nearly killed these days |
Notes
1 fanggé’ge’me’na, manggé’ge’tåtte: These are transformations of the words mo’na and tåtte, which mean “forward” and “backward.” They have been affixed with the prefix gé- which means “to go further (in a certain direction.” So géme’na is to “go further forward” and gétatte means “go further backward.” Then they have also been transformed with reduplication to put it in the present tense, and then also the plural fan- / man- to make it refer to 3 or more people.
2 fuma’bábaba: The root word is båba which means “bad.” A common transformation of båba is fa’baba which means “to fool, trick, deceive, dupe, cheat.” The UM infix has been added to put the word into the emphatic form. The emphatic form in English sounds like “They are the ones who cheat us” versus “They cheat us.”
3 manmahåhåksa: The root word is håksa which means “to lift, raise.” It has been transformed with reduplication, the indefinite man- prefix and the plural man- prefix.
4 mampulilu: This is referring to things being moldy. The mam- is the plural man- prefix. You’ll notice the base word pulilu sounds similar to the word pulu or pilu, which means “hair.” I couldn’t find this word in most of the common dictionaries, but Jay said it’s what his family (from Hågat) always uses to describe things being moldy.
5 CLTC: This is an abbreviation for the Chamoru Land Trust Commission.
6 kotte: This word can be used as either a noun or a verb. As a noun it means “court, trial” and as a transitive verb it means “to put on trial.”
7 i betsan: This is the vowel harmonized version of the word botsa which means “pocket.”
Lengguahi-ta 