Tag: Female Chamorro Singers

Kåntan Chamoru: Adios Guinaiya

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

For this Saturday’s Praktikan Pupuengi session, our friend Danet won the vote and chose Adios Guinaiya by Rose Martinez Certeza. The music is in an upbeat, East coast swing style, which contrasts with the singer’s sad tale of being left by their significant other. The group had a great time helping each other out to get these lyrics transcribed and some words were not immediately obvious. I was supposed to be resting during the session because of my headache, but everyone was having so much fun that I couldn’t help but jump in and participate.

As always, this post includes Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Adios Guinaiya by Rose Martinez Certeza. Happy listening!

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Kåntan Chamoru: Uchan Uchan

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

Last weekend Jay led both the Praktikan Ogga’an and Praktikan Pupuengi groups because I was attending a Letterpress printing workshop. They finished reading Umépanglao, and I am sure everyone is very relieved. That story is one of the longest and most technically challenging we’ve read because most of us have never built those crab traps. Our friend Aric was the exception, as he was familiar with one of the methods from his crawdad hunting!

The letterpress workshop I attended finished by the afternoon, so I got to join our evening group as we continued through our list of Chamorro songs from Chamorro women. We ended up transcribing and translating the song “Uchan Uchan” from Maria Yatar, which has some lovely, soft folk vibes and beautiful imagery in the lyrics. For anyone struggling to find Chamorro music that you like, this song offers a different and refreshing listening experience. The words and pacing are also fairly accessible (with just a few challenging areas), making it a great song for beginners. This post includes Chamorro lyrics, an English translation and language notes for the song “Uchan Uchan” by Maria Yatar. Happy listening!

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Kåntan Chamoru: Hu Li’e’ Hao Neni

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

This past weekend we gathered for our first Saturday practice groups of the year, and it was so wonderful to see everyone again after 2 months away. In our first Praktikan Pupuengi session of this year, we continued through our current song list that focuses entirely on songs from Chamorro women. Aunty Mary won the vote, and she chose Hu Li’e’ Hao Neni by Bobbie DeGracia. It’s actually a sad song where the singer talks about seeing their significant other with someone else. But the song pace is on the slower side, which makes it great for beginners. Just be attentive to how some words are contracted and blended together with other words – especially the pronouns. As always, this post includes Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song. Happy listening!

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Kåntan Chamoru: Suetti Hao

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

Last week our friend Alicia won the vote to choose our song for Praktikan Pupuengi, and she chose this one from the Guam Sirenas. It is so fun, cute and high-energy, with the singer is declaring who she is choosing to be her sweetheart (and she makes it very clear that she did have options!). The quick, clipped pace of this song, combined with some challenging sound quality, meant this one took longer than usual for our group to transcribe. There was even one little phrase that gave us trouble, and we’re still not 100% certain we got it right. But we made it through, and honestly, we had such a great time along the way.

As always, this post includes Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Suetti Hao by the Guam Sirenas. Happy listening!

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Kåntan Chamoru: Ti Hu Nisisita Hao

On By Schyuler LujanIn Chamorro SongsLeave a comment

This past Saturday, our evening practice group didn’t meet because Jay was at a conference, so I transcribed this song during a solo study session. I got some much-needed help from Jay and our study group to clarify a few tricky words—big thanks to all of them! I really enjoyed both the music and lyrics to this song, and I think its message of leaving behind a toxic person and relationship will strike a chord with many. In this post, you’ll find the Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Ti Hu Nisisita Hao sung by Jocelyn Toves. Happy listening!

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