Don't Think I've Forgotten: Cambodia's Lost Rock and Roll (2014) - full transcript

When we were young, we loved being modern.

At the Central Market,

there were many sophisticated people
dressed beautifully.

Then Pol Pot took over Phnom Penh in 1975.

I was a singer.

Everyone was forced to leave the city.

The singers and musicians were separated.

After Pol Pot, we returned to Phnom Penh.

Those who didn't return were considered dead.

(Don't Think I've Forgotten)

(Cambodia's Lost Rock & Roll.)



I grew up in the 1950's

when Cambodia was prosperous

in culture, art and music in particular.

I stress that because
our royal government in the 50's

had a policy to encourage music.

I belong to a family that loves the arts.

My father was a musician.

He was a saxophonist and flutist

My mother is the director of the ballet.

Since I was a child,
my father encouraged me to play music.

The forests, the ancient temples

that I love

I will never forget them

Oh, enchanted forest



where my heart is

There is no other forest like you.

When I was young, I admired our King a lot.

He sang a lot of songs that touched me,

that stayed with me.

I wanted to be a singer like him one day.

One priority of our government
was culture and arts.

His Majesty Norodom Sihanouk ordered
all the ministries to form orchestras.

It was very popular.

I sing of hopelessness

I hear thunder but there's no rain

The earth is dry and barren

My heart is broken

There is no hope

of your return.

Our orchestra escorted the King all over Cambodia
to work with the people.

His Royal Majesty was the father of the nation

and the arts.

To me he is a unique man.

His focus wasn't just on music.

Norodom Sihanouk and the Cambodian people

fought for independence in 1953.

The French left Cambodia peacefully.

So things went very well between France and us.

The former Protector and Protectorate.

My brother, His Majesty,

Norodom Sihanouk,

had a vision.

After independence,
we developed under Norodom Sihanouk's leadership.

He modernized the country.

He developed every industry,

from film production to agriculture, everything.

Phnom Penh

The sacred city

A place where people come together

With modern buildings and roads

A beautiful Royal Palace

Filled with arts and culture

A flawless city

Cambodia changed greatly.

The people's will pushed the country

towards modernization and development.

The taste of modernity was new
and it was just the beginning.

The sound of rain mesmerizes

Soothing us both

Whispering to us, telling us

that this love is our destiny.

He was a pioneer.

He was an example to other professional singers,

that singing modern is like this.

Unlike a boat that floats away with the tide

You're my true love

You keep me so happy.

Sinn Sisamouth was born in 1935.

He was easy-going.

We always went around together.

In those days he was a medical practitioner.

My younger brother came to Phnom Penh
to study medicine.

At that time he was 17-years-old.

People in our village were surprised
that he could sing.

A medical student, how can he sing?

When you turned on the radio
you'd always hear him.

It was one song after another
and there were always new songs.

There weren't radios in every home like today.

Cyclo drivers use to gather
outside the radio station.

They broadcast through a speaker
so that everyone could hear the music.

After work, they rested outside the station

and listened to the songs of Sinn Sisamouth.

My father became so popular that Her Majesty,

Prince Norodom Sihanouk's mother

invited him to work in the palace
for the Royal Ballet.

He learned traditional singing

which influenced his music.

He wanted to embody all different styles of music.

When it came to singing technique,

Sinn Sisamouth was king.

His voice was so beautiful

and he wrote very sweet songs.

A flower blooming so beautifully

will never wilt

with me by your side

waiting to care for you

If your tears were to fall,

I will comfort you

and kiss your tears, kiss your tears dry.

I won't let them fall to waste.

We could visualize what he sang.

We could see coconut trees and the sun shimmering

on the water like diamonds.

It was the Cold War.

On one side, you had the Soviet Union and China,

the Eastern Bloc.

On the other side, you had the United States.

Prince Sihanouk wanted to stay neutral

between the two blocs during the Cold War.

A friend came home for vacation
while studying in France.

He had a new record with him.

And he said,
"If you want to listen, I'll give it to you."

And of course I was very happy.

I had goosebumps

and I learned how to sing it straight away.

Anything that was modern or French
I would take immediately.

Back then, my house was near Central Market.

There was a record store nearby named Panabou.

It was the first store
with vinyl records in Cambodia.

I started buying records then.

First I bought French songs.

French music came to Cambodia in different waves.

My mother sang Tino Rossi,

Charles Trenet

and Edith Piaf, of course.

And then there was the 60's:

Sylvie Vartan,

Johnny Hallyday.

Johnny's rock & roll was popular.

Souvenir, Souvenir.

The song is still stuck in my head.

Cambodia was greatly influenced
by Afro-Cuban music.

Cambodians, especially musicians,

were interested in cha-cha-cha.

Most of the records came from Cuba,

France and South America.

I was poor

and didn't have a record player
to listen to foreign songs.

I listened to other people's radios.

Sinn Sisamouth's songs were good enough for me.

Back then, you had singer like Sinn Sisamouth,

who played for adults.

And then you had the youth,
what was called the teenagers.

In the late 50's, guitar bands started.

Before anyone else, there was Baksei Cham Krung.

A great band.

That was our band.

We were like The Shadows and Cliff Richard.

CLIFF RICHARD.

How The Shadows played, how they turned.

It created such an echo inside us.

The Baksei Cham Krong audience
were the young ones,

the young boys and girls.

The first time we played at Sisowath High School,

we attracted many kids.

It's been so long I've waited for you, moon

You were still young

not a full moon yet

Now darling, you are a full moon.

On the full moon
we would turn out all the lights and play.

We heard the footsteps of the dancers,
it was wonderful.

In 1965,

I quit Baksei Cham Krong
to play in the music halls.

I formed the Bayon Band with my brothers.

If there was a wedding, a party or a ball,

Bayon Band was always there.

When something new
was on the radio, television or records

we learned to play it straight away.

We introduced all kinds of modern music here.

There was an A Go-Go period.

Sinn Sisamouth wanted to sing on A Go-Go song.

He asked my brother to write songs for him.

There was a new trend

so he needed to play with young musicians.

Sinn Sisamouth always wanted
to adapt to modern times.

The musicians and singers were all so close.

Wherever you would go
you would see the same people

at the same restaurants, the same places.

At 2 a.m. we were still in the clubs,

and after that we'd have rice porridge.

It was the tradition,
we would all go eat at the market.

Phnom Penh was called

The Pear of South East Asia.

It was the hub of
where bands from the countryside met.

It was safe,

there was no war.

Next door,

in Vietnam, there was a war.

We'd been at war with our neighbors
throughout our history.

We didn't want a war in Cambodia,

so we strived to be neutral.

Our neutrality is not ideological,

it's conceived
according to our geographic situation

and keeping the balance

between the antagonistic forces in this region.

The first studio was the National Radio.

All the bands and orchestras
were invited to do recordings there.

The singers were very serious, very proper.

After all, it was the National Radio.

Hello dear listeners.

For the next 30 minutes

you'll be hearing music from the National Radio.

Love brings great joy but also great sadness.

Love is the essence of life.

A mother cries, a mother screams

A mother calls, promising her love

She waits, and waits

She'll always wait for her child's father.

Huoy Meas was so beautiful when we were young.

Her voice veered toward melancholy songs.

She influenced her time

and touched a lot of people.

Please stop asking about your father

He's a womanizer and an embarrassment

This is our karma from our past lives

It's just something you'll have to accept.

Cambodian songs are often sad.

They are about break-ups, deception, despair.

There's a lot of drama and tragedy in our songs.

Cambodian songs have their own style,

manner and rhyme.

Insinuation was used in the songs before

the main point, such as love, was made.

Many points were made subtly.

The waterfall hits the rocks

It sounds like music blessing us both

Look,

nature is surrounding us

Trees are starting to fruit, some are blossoming

It's so astonishing

I love, love only you

Like a bird, a bird loves its nest

You're the one who brings me peace,
forgetting my worries

The water flows to the ocean

like the pure love of our hearts

flows together.

In South Vietnam, the U.S. is engaged in a war.

For many years now,

Cambodia is in the situation

of a house miraculously spared

in the middle of a village on fire.

My feelings about this war are not optimistic.

When two big elephants fight, who suffers?

It's the grass that takes the hit.

This song will hypnotize

The melody

so heavenly.

When she went to the fields to plant rice,

she always sang.

In Battambang she was called Little Rey (cicada).

Singing, performing, the sounds summon your soul

Gives you hope that when you look,
you'll see heaven

Beautiful pools, temples in Rachana style

Women, flowers all are fragrant

A song to hypnotize your heart.

My sister, Ros Serey Sothea was born in 1948.

She had a gift for singing since she was small.

Once she could speak, she could sing.

Our father abandoned our mother.

He didn't provide for us

so our mother let her be a professional singer.

People praised her singing.

She was so happy.

She would never have to plant rice again.

When my younger sister left

for Phnom Penh to sing,

she was 17.

She went with a traditional music group.

People heard her voice and offered her a job

at the National Radio
in the sound recording department.

She met Sinn Sisamouth
when he came to record there.

Sinn Sisamouth's personality was similar to hers.

He had a very gentle laugh.

My sister Ros Serey Sothea

started singing in bars.

She sang in the Mekong Night Club.

I was in Battambang then.

My sister sent us money

to grow and sell rice.

From 1964 to 1965

she started dating the singer Sos Math.

My sister was very young then.

They were married in Battambang.

Come dance with me

beautiful girl dance the saravan.

He took her everywhere in his Volkswagen.

One night she sang at the club Lotus D'Or.

She sang a song called

What Are You Angry About?

I'm angry you've forgotten your promise

My darling, oh my love

My darling, oh my love

We can't stop arguing, talking into the air

All night till morning, I miss you

and I dream of the love of my life

Stop being angry with me, darling

Stop being angry with me, darling

A drunk in the crowd yelled in response,

I am not angry with you, my dear!

When Sos Mah heard this he became very angry.

At the set break they had a big fight.

He hit my sister and split her lip.

I took my sister home to Battambang.

She was beaten so she got a divorce.
She moved back home.

Sinn Sisamouth follower her

to my house in Battambang.

He guaranteed her safety

so she would sing again

and record with him.

He called her his little sister.

Ever since then,

Ros Serey Sothea was loyal to Sinn Sisamouth.

Every time I see you you're more beautiful

Your sweet works make me forget the world

If your love was far away, like a distant star

I would perish.

Excellency, recently 14 Communists
were sentenced to death here.

Why?

We have a strict law

against subversive activities,

against treasonous activities.

We have to keep our country's peace, at any price.

America's 7th Fleet was in the South China Sea.

They would transmit beautiful English songs.

I'd play along on my guitar.

We learned to sing American songs.

The U. S. soldiers in Vietnam brought over music.

It was a big influence on us.

We sang foreign songs, but with Khmer words.

We made it Khmer.

We'd play electric guitars in the countryside.

People danced barefoot. Right in the dirt.

Barefoot.

Little by little, we adopted all kinds of music.

In music and songs

there are no borders.

I believe the Cambodian nation
will never disappear

if we don't fight each other.

It's over for Sihanouk here.

It's a page that has turned.

We must face

Vietnamese aggression in Cambodia.

It's a very clear problem.

Supposedly, they deposed me

because...
because I allowed foreigners in Cambodia.

It's a comedy that's unacceptable.

You traitor

You have betrayed me

You pretend not to know me

But I still remember your promise

Not to betray me

And now my heart is broken

You traitor

We teased each other.

Your pants are so long they're sweeping the dirt.

What a great time. The girls wore sexy clothes.

Older people were unhappy with me.

Get a haircut. You look like a zombie.

American culture was everywhere in Phnom Penh.

Hippies were from San Francisco.

Hippies wore beads,
carried guitars and sang on the streets.

We were like hippies, having fun.

The Drakkar Band was our name.

We played songs by the Beatles
and the Rolling Stones.

We learned from them.

I promise I'll never do you wrong again.

They said I was a fierce guitar player.

When he played,
our drummer Ouk Sam Art ripped off his shirt.

When you go to hard rock,
it's hard for most Cambodians.

They cannot accept only the young people.

Ros Serey Sothea was number one.

But I loved Pen Ran more.

She danced when she sang. She wasn't shy.

Pen Ran was a big star.

My mind has gone blank

Oh! My body is twitching

My mind has gone blank

Oh! My body is twitching

My face and lips feel like they're on fire

They've become so sensitive

I've got goosebumps

I'm in a daze!

Pen Ran understood

the desire of the kids.

In the 70's there was another change.

I had a nephew named Yol Aularong.

Aularong was a phenomenon.

Cambodian soul.

Cambodian funk.

He wrote comical lyrics about everyday life.

It was original. There was nothing like it then.

I'm in class number one

I'm the best student

I help out with chores like watering the flowers

Navany, that's me

I'm in class number one

I win awards

every single month

I'm on book number 40

Navany, that's me.

He wrote about reality.

Riding on cyclos. Women in maternity dresses.

Go left, go right.

Riding a cyclo

To Central Market

Checking out girls

Wearing maternity blouses

Those maternity blouses.
Thought she was knocked up

But she's not

It's just a popular new style

Everyday I ride on a cyclo

and check out girls.

If this makes me poor,

that's all right.

When we sang, people danced.

They had lots of energy.

They loved the music.

The female singers in our band
were me and Pen Ram.

The male singers
were Thet Sambath and Yol Aularong.

Aularong didn't care about fame.

We were very close.

I told him to take care of himself.

He would say,

"You're a Prince. I'm not."

"But we all die."

"Let's have a drink."

It's true we were enemies.

But they told me I wasn't their real enemy.

They always admired my patriotism.

At this time there was a big change in the music.

There were no more love songs,

only nationalistic songs.

I was working at the National Radio
with other musicians.

They gave us one month to write new music.

We were forbidden to broadcast music
from the 60's.

It was a time of war. People had to be patriotic.

We had to fight the enemy.

My friends.

Don't be afraid to kill.

Chase and slaughter

Pick up a weapon now.

Because I was a musician

I had to join the army to avoid arrest.

We were musicians. Our job was to play music.

Ros Serey Sothea was in a special unit.

Ros Serey Sothea learned how to parachute.

When Sothea jumped
we could see her one white glove.

They interviewed her on the ground,
wearing a helmet.

As the war intensified

the Drakkar Band became separated.

I didn't become a soldier.

I kept my job at the National Radio.

I had my own radio program.

The new government let us record foreign songs.

I played the original, then the Khmer one.

It wasn't a competition.

We showed we can do this, too.

Please close your eyes and clear your mind

And think of me

And then I'll be close to you.

Winter, spring, summer or fall,

all you have to do is call.

And I'll be there. You've got a friend.

They dropped bombs constantly.
For 200 straight days.

Many of my relatives in the countryside died.

Cattle were killed, houses destroyed.

All we knew was that Americans were dropping bombs

and our people were the victims.

The Khmer Rouge incited the poor to take up arms.

To rise up and fight the rich.

The bombings fueled the fire
burning within the people

that was raging against the Lon Nol government.

It couldn't be stopped.

It was dangerous.

A bomb exploded near my house.

My friends and relatives abroad

asked me why I didn't leave.

I thought about it.

I had rings, bracelets, earrings.

I sold them to buy a ticket to France.

People were stuck in the city.

All the bridges were destroyed.

The war surrounded Phnom Penh.

People were stressed out.

They needed a release. They needed some fun.

There was a curfew at night

so nightclubs opened during the day.

They opened at 2 or 3 p.m.

and closed around 6 or 7 p.m.

When we were playing

we heard bombs exploding.

We would stop.

We always played in fear.

It bothered us because

we only played for the military.

People stopped coming because they were afraid.

It wasn't good for us at all.

YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND

We welcomed the Khmer Rouge trucks
entering the city.

Everyone cheered. No one understood the situation.

We thought the Khmer Rouge
had liberated us from war.

I saw people dressed in black
entering the radio station.

They took over the National Radio.

They said they had to reorganize the city,
that the Americans might bomb.

They said, "If you leave now,

you'll return soon."

I was a musician with long hair.

I cut it because I had was scared.

I cut it once.

Then I heard they were killing people
with long hair.

So I cut it again.

We left.

We left forever.

When I traveled out,

I walked by many corpses.

I crossed the bridge to Kdey Takoy.

A friend told me

that Sinn Sisamouth
was evacuated to Champa Pagoda.

I went there with my husband and children.

My brother-in-law Has Salon came with us.

Sinn Sisamouth also came with us.

I've heard that the Khmer Rouge officials

asked my father to return to Phnom Penh
to write songs.

They said they wanted musicians to compose music.

My sister wouldn't let her husband go.

I wouldn't let my husband go either.

Sinn Sisamouth went back to Phnom Penh.

I traveled from the city to Battambang.

My living conditions were terrible, so terrible.

I had absolutely nothing.

We bathed in the same water as the cattle.

We washed in craters made by B-52 bombs.

We lived like simple farmers.

Like slaves.

People recognized me as a singer.

They told me, "Don't say anything."

I covered my head with my scarf.

I wondered if I would survive.

As for me, I was fortunate.

The reason I survived was because

I knew how to play music.

At their meetings there was a traditional band,

with the khem, tro and takhe.

I memorized the music

so I could play with them.

I had to play for them every day.

I was an artist but I was just a child.

We were like a blank piece of paper.

When they tell you to sing, you just sing.

We were children.
We didn't understand what was happening.

The Khmer Rouge used art to serve their politics.

When we hear it, we knew it wasn't art.

The day is hot and dry

Smoke is coming from the earth

but we can take it

We are resilient

We serve Angkar until results are produced.

The bright red blood

Spilled in towns and fields of Kampuchea

Our Motherland

The blood of our good workers and farmers

Of our revolutionary soldiers

Of both men and women

We will make our Motherland

The most prosperous, magnificent, wonderful!

This revolution
intended to abolish everything foreign.

Foreign music especially.

It was forbidden.

If they knew you had old records or cassettes,

they made you destroy them. Burn them.

You could be killed for singing the wrong songs.

So we sang secretly.

We sang alone or in safe places
with people we trusted.

Hey there, my love

Don't be upset with me

Don't look sad like a cloudy sky

I am a flower, you are a bee

If you see my crying, please console me

Meas Samon sang in the old army band.

We were from the same generation.

He was a good friend of mine.

He sang really funny songs.

My frog is scared there isn't a pond for him

He's become very skinny

My frog is scared there isn't a pond for him

He's become very skinny

If he slips into your pond

He will be reborn.

Meas Samon was assigned to work on a dam.

During a break, Meas Samon

was playing around on a chapey just for fun.

Stop. Stop.

They told him to stop playing

because he was distracting the workers.

The next day he played again.

They took him away.

He disappeared forever.

If you were a singer related to the old society

they automatically hated you.

They didn't need orders to kill you.

They asked what I did in Phnom Penh.

I told them I was a banana seller.

I lied to them.

That saved my life.

If you want to eliminate values
from past societies

you have to eliminate the artists.

Because artists are influential.

Artists are close to the people.

The Khmer Rouge killed all types of people.

They killed city people, artists, businessmen.

It was just a matter of time
before we were all killed.

The radio said that
Heng Samrin's troops were coming.

When we heard that, we had hopes of surviving.

And being free again.

I was one of the first to return to Phnom Penh.

They were looking for artists

and recognized me as Sieng Vanthy.

I sang on the radio for everyone.

People were scared to come back to Phnom Penh.

When the surviving artists heard my voice

they felt safe to return.

Those who didn't return were considered dead.

I pitied myself, my home, my family.

Nothing seemed crueler on this earth

than Cambodians killing Cambodians.

I heard the song "Oh, Phnom Penh" and I cried.

Oh, Phnom Penh

For three years

I never stopped missing you

We were separated

and my heart was broken

Because the enemy tore you away from me

When I was forced to leave you

Anger burned in my heart

Compelling me to avenge your suffering

To prove my faithfulness to you

Phnom Penh, our spiritual, beloved city

Despite three years of hardship you survived

The Cambodian soul lives on

Oh Phnom Penh

I meet you again

Your suffering is over

You are our nation's heart and soul

Oh, Phnom Penh.

After Pol Pot, everything was gone.

After liberation in 1979,

I realized very few artists had survived.

I heard that Sinn Sisamouth was killed here

and Pen Ran was killed there.

But nothing was certain.

Yol Aularong left the city with his mother.

I heard he died, too.

He never would have tolerated being dictated to.

He was too independent.

A free spirit.

The Khmer Rouge would have spotted him instantly.

My brother-in-law heard my sister
was killed in 1977.

But other people told me

they saw her die

at Calmette Hospital in 1979.

I don't know. It's not clear at all.

I know another singer,

Huoy Meas was killed.

She was sent to Battambang but didn't make it.

She was killed on her way there,
in Maung Chrey village.

About 30 people told me that
during the Khmer Rouge

they worked, slept and ate with my father.

But each one said he died in a different place.

It's not possible.

You can't die in 30 different places.

I don't know if I want to go back to Cambodia.

I don't care if other people live in my house now.

But not seeing my siblings, that's really hard.

People think it's fine

to accuse Sihanouk of being with the Khmer Rouge.

But they haven't suffered in their blood.

They haven't suffered in their life

because they haven't lost a parent

or a child or a grandchild

to the Khmer Rouge.

I've lost three daughters, two sons,

two son-in-laws

and 14 grandchildren.

Many of my brothers and sisters
died under the Pol Pot regime

like so many other people.

I had 12 brothers and sisters.
Now I only have seven.

During Pol Pot my wife and children died.

Only I survived, only me.

My father was killed by the Khmer Rouge.

They tied him up and drowned him in the river.

My family had five members.

I lost four of them, only I survived.

Ros Serey Sothea's children died on the road

because they had no food.

They died one by one.

I left my children with my mother-in-law.

I didn't take them with me.

I hadn't gotten far

when I heard my children were dead.

How could they commit such slaughter?

Pardon me.

I wasn't there but I'm still haunted.

I can't imagine how much they suffered.

I don't know how my family died

but I cried with them.

I am the daughter of Phnom Penh

Everything's modern there's nothing we don't have

Money, cars and houses we've already got

We're very lucky to be born as Khmer

My heart, my love, will never change

I will love Khmer until the day I perish

Oh! To all my ancestors from the past

I'm paying my respects and sacrificing

All of us are studying hard for Khmer.

I'm happy about our progress but also concerned.

As we move forward we shouldn't forget our past.

We shouldn't forget our heritage.

When I hear my sister's voice,

I feel sad about what happened to her.

I miss you

Every single day, I miss you

Is it possible to have you next to me?

A wave of emotion

A poet's love

Until I die,

I'll always wait for you.

I'm happy that her voice is still here

even though she's gone.

Don't think I've forgotten

I'll always remember you

All the things you said to me

Even after many years I'll still remember

I promise in my heart

I truly love you darling

There is only you

I'm faithful, I'm faithful

I can't forget