Bengawan Solo is a famous Indonesian song about the Bengawan Solo River, which flows through central and eastern Java, Indonesia and is that island's longest river. The song describes the legendary river in a poetic and nostalgic way, that it is surrounded by mountains, its sources are near the city of Surakarta, that it ends in the sea, and that the merchant class always makes use of it. Written in 1940 by Gesang Martohartono, it is in the local kroncong style, a popular folk style with influences from Portuguese. The Japanese, who occupied the country during World War II, brought the song with them to Japan after returning from the war. There, and also in the rest of Asia and later worldwide, the song became very famous. The song's widespread popularity began soon after its composition, and locally it is strongly associated with the period of war occupation and the society of the times. In 1940 Gesang, then a young, destitute and untrained musician, composed the song on a bamboo flute and began to sing it at local functions and gatherings in his hometown of Surakarta. It soon became well-known and liked among the local Javanese community; the song then achieved national acclaim after it was broadcast to a wider audience by various radio stations. The melodies of the song also appealed to both the occupying Japanese soldiers, and the non-Indonesian prisoners (mainly Dutch civilians) in the internment camps. The song was taken back to Japan by the returning soldiers, where it (with the lyrics translated to Japanese) gained great popularity after various singers such as Toshi Matsuda released recorded versions of it which became best-sellers. The song has become almost synonymous with the perception of Indonesian music in Japan. In 1991, a group of appreciative Japanese war veterans arranged for a statue of Martohartono to be erected in a park in Surakarta. Gesang himself was still resident in the city, now a nationally renowned figure[1]. Very many artists have recorded the song, among whom are Waldjina, Toshi Matsuda, Anneke Grönloh, Rebecca Pan and Frances Yip. "Bengawan Solo" is a popular name given to restaurants and businesses, in reminiscence of the song.
Song lyrics
Indonesian
Bengawan Solo, riwayatmu ini
sedari dulu jadi perhatian insani
musim kemarau, tak seberapa airmu
di musim hujan air meluap sampai jauh ...
mata airmu dari Solo
terkurung gunung seribu
air mengalir sampai jauh
akhirnya ke laut ...
itu perahu, riwayatmu dulu
kaum pedagang s'lalu naik itu perahu
English translation
"Bengawan Solo, this is a song of your history.
People have been fascinated with this great river since ancient times,
In the dry season, your water is little, and in the rainy season, your water overflows till far,
Around the source of the Solo River, there are a thousand mountains,
And the river flows all the way to the sea.
There are always many merchants on board ships going up and down the river.
These ships also show your history."
TOKYO (AFP) - Top Japanese energy company Inpex Holdings plans to invest some 500 billion yen (4.22 billion dollars) to develop a natural gas project in Indonesia, a report says. With production expected by 2015, it could help meet Japan's gas needs after Russia recently halted work on the Sakhalin-2 project, developed by British-Dutch oil giant Shell along with Japanese firms Mitsui and Mitsubishi Corp, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun said. Inpex has confirmed a deposit capable of generating three million tons of liquefied natural gas a year in an eastern Indonesian field in the Timor Sea, the newspaper said without citing sources. It will start test drilling at four locations beginning early next year to verify the reserves, then submit a production plan to the Indonesian government in 2008 for approval, it said. Inpex fully owns the project and plans to sign contracts with Japanese utility companies as well as Asian, European and US firms.To defray the risks, it will also ask major international oil concerns to participate in the development, the newspaper said.Inpex will link the field by pipeline to facility near the city of Darwin in northern Australia to convert the natural gas into LNG, which will then be shipped to Japan and other countries, the Nihon Keizai said.
