There will be a special prize for anyone who can set these words to music.
Oh, we drank gin and soda1
and we ate Cheezy Cheese2
and passed the long evenings
with parties like these.
There's a djin down the toilet3
there's a ghost in the tree4
If you don't believe it is true,
come out to Jogja and see.
We drink the blood of our parents,5
we drink down the stars,6
then we ride home on bikes7
'cos we can't afford cars
We'll all smoke kretek8
'til our throats are all sore
and we'll laugh and we'll sing
'til our tonsils are raw
chorus.
People say there are classes
but we don't know where.
People say there are classes
but we just don't care.
People say there's a uni they call UGM9
Well, if they want to go there
then that's up to them
We play games like 'areshole'10
'til late into the night,
then we watch all the old movies
until it starts to get light
We go to bed at daybreak
to keep out of the sun.
It's bloody hard work here;
but hell, it is fun!
There's mad Madi Richardson11
From Oklahoma.
She was sent off to Jogja
when her family disowned her.
There's Adam who's
been to every island out here;
hunting wild shirts,
and in search of free beer
Lisa's dragged off our Postman12
and now she's locked her door.
If she doesn't let him out
we won't get our mail no more.
There's Jimmy or Dimmy.
Sometimes called James
He may speak Bahasa Jawa,
but he's crap at games.
Then there's King Agus
who looks down from his roof.
He thought bules13 were crazy
and now he has proof.
And we can't forget Tom
because he wrote this stuff,
and could go on forever...
But enough is enough!14
chorus.
People say there are classes
but we don't know where
People say there are classes
but we just don't care
People say there's a uni they call UGM
Well, if they want to go there
then that's up to them
1Soda because tonic water was harder to find
2Cheezy Cheese. A rather nasty cheese flavoured processed cheese found in Indonesian supermarkets
3Toilet djins are not uncommon in Indonesia. The first we met lived at Madison's kos (boarding house)
4A Kuntilanak ghost that lived in the kapok tree opposite my house.
5This refers to the cheap sweet red wine Orang Tua, which may be translated as 'parents' or simply 'old man'.
6The common Indonesian beer is Bintang (star) beer.
7Most people had motorbikes. Nobody had a car.
8Kretek, the aromatic clove flavoured cigarettes that go so well with Bintang.
9Pronounced Ooo Gay Em
10Lisa amd Madi's favourite card game, otherwise known as Shithead. If it has I polite name I don't know it.
11All the following facts about ACICIS students are true.
12Friend of Agus, real name Posman.
13White people.
14Yes it is.