Lampung Boy

  

  A Reggae lament

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Why did you have to be so charming?

With your big smile, so disarming?

Where did you get such pretty looks?

I thought that was just in picture books

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy, where did you learn the art

Of breaking all the ladies hearts

Lampung boy, who taught you the skill

Of going in for the Lampung kill

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Watch out ladies, watch out girls

Don’t take Lampung boys for fools

Watch out boys, watch out men

Lampung boy is at it again

He’ll charm your wife, he’ll charm your daughter

He’ll even charm you when you oughta know better

Cos after all if you're a Lampung man

And once you were a boy of Lampung land

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

I shoulda known better, shoulda been prepared

All that anguish I coulda been spared

But when you meet a Lampung boy, you’ll understand

They just aren't like any other kind of man 

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

I’ve been to your beaches

I been to your hills

Where butterflies flap in a garden so still

I’ve been to your expo

Seen an elephant or two

But that didn’t help me to get over you

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

I’ve tasted your delicacies

I’ve drunk your wine

And while that made me feel more than fine

It didn’t kill the sweet memory

Of sitting in a kissing booth

Staring out at the sea with

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy will make your heart stop still

You can never ever have your fill

When Lampung boy gives you a smile

You might pass out for a little while
Don’t worry they will pick you up

And carry you home in a Lampung truck
‘Cos Lampung people are used to it

Girls falling down in fainting fit

Over 

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

This is my ode, this is my hymn

To a boy I once knew on a whim

Who showed me the sights of Lampung town

One of the friendliest places I’ve ever found

Home of 

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lets go back to Lampung town

See who is hanging around

Lets go down to Pasar Seni

Lampung boys you’ll find a plenty

Making music, making art

And doing all that Lampung craft

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung boy  (waka ya wakaya)

Lampung Boy (waka ya wakaya)

Oh how I miss my

Lampung boy

Text(c) Jan Cornall Lampung 2006
Paintings (c) Jumaadi, courtesy of the artist and Watters Gallery.
http://www.wattersgallery.com/artists/JUMAADI/Jumaadi.html

Below: Lampung batik by X-co Ras Mohaq, one of the guys at Pasar Seni, a craft collective in Bandar Lampung, and one of the Lampung crew I travelled with in 2006.
See all the fabulous Lampung batik on his site:
http://batiktunu.blogspot.com.au/