Stay Graceful

Your speech denotes your personality; your manner denotes your family.

 Khmer Proverb

"Thunder Romance"

I haven’t been able to update this blog for awhile. I was traveling, helping my niece
move across the country. Anyway, today I have a very old Khmer song to share.
The song is “Sontheuk Pkor Kraom” which loosely translates to Thunder Romance.
It was composed in baky buon (four-syllable metre). The four-syllable metre is the
oldest of the Khmer poetic metres. It predated the arrival of Hinduism
in Cambodia. It’s the metre which mostly found in songs.
“Sontheuk Pkor Kraom” had been adapted to mahori music. You can listen to
a recording of the song here. There are three stanzas in the original, but for
whatever reason they left out the last stanza in that mahori recording.

A roar of thunder echoed around the sky

Followed by another roar and another...  

I steered my lover toward the stable

Told her to take shelter inside.

With a heavy heart, I left my lover

Went looking for horses

But the horses were long gone.

A bundle of rolled up tobacco

Betel nuts wrapped in a shawl

Couldn’t quit my lover

I asked my wife for a divorce.

Source for the Khmer lyrics: Traditional Songs of Cambodia by Hang Sout, Em Chiey, Meas Saem (2004) Phnom Penh