Ebiet G. Ade - The Singer/Poet

I first came to know of the Indonesian singer/poet, Ebiet G Ade by chance actually ... I was in Form 4 way back in 1980 when Sweet Charity, the rock band from Singapore came out with the hit song "Camelia". At that time, I thought the song was originally "owned" by Sweet Charity not knowing that it was a "cover version" of a song by the same title by Ebiet G Ade - the only difference is that Sweet Charity's version is the rock version of "Camelia".

There was one fine day that I bumped into a cassette entitled "Camelia" (1979) by the original singer, Ebiet G Ade and since then I never look back but falling in love with his songs.

Ebiet G Ade was born as Abit Ghoffur Aboe Dja'far on 21 April 1954 in Wonodadi, Central Java. He is the youngest son of Aboe Ja'far and Saodah. A singer & song writer who writes his own lyrics which often allude to social issues and current events in Indonesia.

He had produced abundance of hit albums such as the "Camelia" albums i.e. "Camelia" (1979), "Camelia II" (1979), "Camelia III" (1980), "Camelia IV" (1980), "Zaman" (1985), "Menjaring Matahari" (1987) and "Seraut Wajah" (1990). This is not to mention his later albums such as "Kupu-Kupu Kertas" and "In Love: 25th Anniversary" which was produced in 2007 to commemorate his 25th year wedding anniversary.

Among his hit songs are of course "Camelia", "Menjaring Matahari", "Kupu-Kupu Kertas", "Elegi Esok Pagi", "Berita Untuk Kawan", "Titip Rindu Buat Ayah" and of course my favourite song "Lagu Untuk Sebuah Nama"..

It is worthwhile I believe to reproduce the full lyrics of "Lagu Untuk Sebuah Nama" to understand and get the feel of who Ebiet is ...

The lyrics go like this:

"Lagu Untuk Sebuah Nama"

"Mengapa jiwaku mesti bergetar
sedang musik pun manis ku dengar
mungkin kerna ku lihat lagi
lentik bulu matamu
bibirmu dan rambutmu yang kau biarkan
jatuh berderai dikeningmu
makin mengajak ku terpana
kau goreskan gita cinta.

mengapa aku mesti duduk di sini
sedang kau tepat di depanku
mestinya aku berdiri berjalan ke depanmu
ku sapa dan ku nikmati wajahmu
atau ku isyaratkan cinta
tapi semua tak ku lakukan
kata orang cinta mesti berkorban.

mengapa dadaku mesti berguncang
bila ku sebutkan namamu
sedang kau diciptakan bukanlah untukku
itu pasti tapi aku tak mau perduli
sebab cinta bukan mesti bersatu
biar ku cumbu bayangmu
dan ku sandarkan harapanku."

I could only say the song, its lyrics and the music composition are brilliant indeed.... Just grab any of the albums which I mentioned above and listen attentively to the songs then you would understand why Ebiet G Ade to me is the most brilliant singer/poet this "Nusantara" ever have ....

Enjoy the songs ......