The Love Songs of Burma

This week I continued my journey into The Best American Nonrequired Reading book. I read a commentary called Rock the Junta by Scott Carrier. It’s about the only band in Burma, Iron Cross.
Apparently, it’s the only, and the most popular (no way) band in Burma, and the people are obsessed with the lead guitar player, Chit San Maung. According to Carrier, some teens and young boys walk around town with guitars to be like Maung…even if they don’t play it.
This initially caught my attention because I have a friend (*cough*Mattie*cough*) who goes to Burma a lot to help out at an orphanage. So after reading about this band, I asked her if she knew anything about it. She said she didn’t.
But the band itself kept me reading the piece. It reminded me of American metal bands from the 80s and 90s. It was just their story that clicked in my head as deja-entendu: Rebellious, chaotic, and loud. Carrier even compared them to Hendrix who shredded the “Star Spangled Banner” on guitar at the Woodstock festival in 1969. Yup. He described them as that revolutionary. The band’s timeline even reminded me of the States: the lead singer, rebellious Lay Phyu, broke off and released some solo music himself. Of course, Phyu’s album freaked the government out and he was banned from performing…. But nevertheless, to this day he remains a model rebel for the fans. Sound familiar? Sort of… So back to the Americanism of it all, I went on to read that Carrier actually went to meet the famous guitar player (Maung) to interview him and ask some questions. What he found was that it was much like American celebrities : body guard, filtering questions, and vague (if any) answers. That crushed the band’s Hendrix-like image. In reality, they’re controlled by the government and really aren’t giving much if they’re soaking all the fame up. Yea, they act all revolutionary, but they let the government pretty much re-write the lyrics into love songs….what? Where’s the revolution? Where’s the real push back against the totalitarian government? Where’s the individuality? The secrecy? Carrier’s point: The Burmese, if they want more individual rights need to step up to the plate and hit the ball. (Bush, this does not mean go invade…not us, them.) Quite frankly I agree with Carrier. They have numbers and motivation (to some extent), and I think it would be beneficial if they got some national pride and stood up for themselves. YAY! But then again, its their country. We can’t impose our ideas on them like that. They can do what they want.
Overall, this piece was thought-provoking.