In early August, Jay and I traveled to O’ahu to celebrate my Aunty Lupe’s 90th birthday with family. My prima Torrey—Aunty Lupe’s granddaughter—wanted to honor her with a Chamorro song for this incredible milestone. She chose “Nånan-måmi,” a beloved tribute to Chamorro mothers and matriarchs. The day before the party we practiced together, and the next day we performed it as a sing-along.

Afterward, Aunty Lupe told us how special it was—no one had ever done anything like that for her before. Even my Aunty Faye, who used to teach Chamorro at UH Mānoa, hugged me and said how wonderful it was that we sang this song (she said it was even better than Happy Birthday!).

If you’re looking for a meaningful song to celebrate a mother or matriarch in your life, this is a wonderful choice. It’s well-known, beginner-friendly, and with a little pronunciation practice, even beginners can sing it beautifully. (My prima isn’t yet conversational in Chamorro, but she did an amazing job with the phrases and sounds!)

As always, you’ll find the Chamorro lyrics, language notes and an English translation for the song “Nånan-måmi”. Happy listening!

Continue reading “Kåntan Chamoru: Nånan-måmi” →

This is the first JD Crutch song I’ve put on the blog. Little by little, I’m trying to listen to more Chamorro music, and luckily Jay has a vast Chamorro music library that ensures I always have something new to listen to. This song came up right when we were parking the car to get some food from Chochu Local this past weekend. It was my first time hearing it, and I really enjoyed the folky vibes. So here are Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for Mandåndan i Kampåna sung by JD Crutch. Happy listening!

Continue reading “Kåntan Chamoru: Madåndan i Kampåna” →