In the movie G30S/PKI, a scene shows members of the Indonesian Women’s Movement (Gerwani) circling and slashing the faces of the seven generals who the film shows as having been kidnapped by members of the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI).

In the background of the scene, the song “Genjer-Genjer” quietly plays. That moment forever associates the song with that violent incident – turning it into an anthem for a massacre

 

Addressing Japanese subjugation

Originally composed by Muhammad Arief in the 1940s, “Genjer-Genjer” became a “PKI song” during the New Order government’s reign. However, author Utan Parlindungan in Mitos Genjer-Genjer: Politik Makna dalam Lagu (The Myth of “Genjer-Genjer”, the Politics of Meaning in Song) writes that the song was originally written to protest the oppression of the Japanese regime during their occupation of Banyuwangi, East Java.

Under the Japanese occupation, Banyuwangi’s Using people suffered a long famine. Genjer, an aquatic plant that was originally used as animal feed and considered a weed, was the only thing that kept the community from dying of hunger. Part of the song’s lyrics go:

“Genjer-genjer mlebu kendhil wedang gemulak

Setengah mateng dientas ya dienggo iwak

Sego sak piring sambel jeruk ring pelanca

Genjer-genjer dipangan musuhe sega”

Which translates as:

“Genjer-genjer in a pot of boiling water

Half-cooked and drained for a side dish

A plate of orange chili rice then served

Genjer-genjer eaten with rice”

Later on Arief, the song’s composer, was murdered for being a member of the People’s Cultural Institute (Lekra), an organization affiliated with the PKI. His body was never found.

 

Still taboo

After the New Order fell with Soeharto’s resignation in 1998, many artists began reworking elements seen as propaganda tools, such as the G30S/PKI film and “Genjer-Genjer” to skew their meaning. Filastine & Nova, a transcontinental United States/Indonesian electronic duo, and Bandung, West Java, hip-hop band Eyefeelsix were among these.

While it seems that the taboo surrounding the song has dissipated, the stigma still remains in some instances. Reggae-fusion band Mesin Sampink (now Tina Jaya) from Mojokerto, East Java, even experienced arrest when they performed a cover of the song in a 2018 show.

Aldi Vicky, the band’s frontman pleads innocence

“We only found out [that the song was not allowed to be played] after being informed by the police. We found the song on YouTube being covered by a reggae band. We thought that it sounded good, that’s why we wanted to cover it. When it comes to matters related to certain parties, to be honest, we really didn’t understand it before,” Aldi told The Jakarta Post on Sept. 17.

Since the arrest, Tina Jaya no longer dares to perform the song.

“My guitarist is traumatized,” said Aldi.

Stephanus Adjie, vocalist of Surakarta, Central Java, heavy metal band Down For Life, also works as a DJ for a radio station in the city. Around 2009, he played a clip of “Genjer-Genjer” during one of his shows, during an on-air quiz where listeners had to guess the name of songs from film soundtracks (“Genjer-Genjer” was on the soundtrack of the 2015 biopic Gie about Soe Hok Gie).

Not long after, the station was visited by an unidentified group of about 20 persons claiming to be members of nationalist organization Laskar Hizbullah, though this was never confirmed. They came in angry and looking for Adjie.

Reluctantly, Adjie “apologized to the mass organization and the police about the commotion. Not about the content of my radio broadcast”.

“If I had to apologize for playing this song, I didn’t want to. If I did, it would justify what they did, right?”

Adjie still regrets the censorship and the stigma around the song.

“I think it’s merely someone’s political agenda to revive this issue [of communism], in the interest of certain parties,” he said.

 

Flip the script

Musician Nova Ruth also reworked the song in an album titled LOOT, which was released in 2012. Nova chose to arrange the song as a form of historical tribute. As a form of appreciation for her predecessors in the past.

“My grandfather used to be a soldier. He was also assigned to the army in the PKI era [1965]. I sing it for my ancestors who once made a mistake, for whatever reason they had to be assigned. Perhaps he was forced in order to keep his family and his friends in the village affiliated with the party safe, so as not to end up being killed. One of them was my mother, who was only 6 years old at the time,” Nova Ruth told the Post on Sept. 17.

“I’m not singing this out of courage. However, I respect anyone’s history.”

She added that what happened to Aldi would not mean anything.

“Whether they arrest a thousand people, what’s the point if we as a nation don’t want to admit our mistakes? That’s not really the point, is it?” continued Nova.

Despite the political turmoil that has attached to “Genjer-Genjer”, Nova argues that the song has a beautiful tonal composition. She has performed the song many times in various parts of the world, and has always received a warm response.

“Most [audiences] really like it. But, if there are venues that ask us not to perform the song, we go along with that.”

Eyefeelsix has often performed a remixed version of “Genjer-Genjer” on stage. Gaya “Soulkillaz”, the band’s frontman said that they even planned to release their cover version as a single.

“We knew that arranging this song was a big risk,” said Gaya, who adds that they wanted to sing the song because, “Although this song was written to criticize the Japanese occupation, even today the message remains the same: people forced to forage because of their hunger.”

In addition to the politics behind the song, Gaya thinks that “Genjer-Genjer” has an impactful musical power. Thus, he tweaked its beat, turning it into a hip-hop style track. They even plan on adding some original lyrics.

“I thought it would be great if we experimented with this song; adding lyrics that are relevant to our socio-political conditions today, while still maintaining the chorus as a red thread that connects them,” said Soulkillaz.

“It’s not quite appropriate for society to keep maintaining an illusion and propaganda about the ‘specter’ of communism. How long do you want to go on? The movement is no longer there. After the release of the song, we’re more than ready to deal with various responses, even to open a discussion. This is an important part of the long history of our country,” he concluded.