•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

The first time I heard about a man named Iwan Fals, I was just a kid whose notion of culture was defined by Japanese cartoons like “Doraemon” and “Saint Saiya.”

Entering my teenage years, I learned that Iwan, whose last name ironically means “out of tune,” was a renowned musician. Revolutionary, champion of the people and legendary are just some of the terms that have been used to describe the guitar-strumming singer.

But I didn’t initially take a serious interest in the musician — he was born in 1961 and I considered myself too young for his crooning-for-a-cause genre of music.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended his live performance at an album launch held in the backyard of his green, spacious house in Cimanggis, Bogor. It was the first time I had ever really listened to his songs.

Iwan, who no longer has the long hair I saw in my younger years, was wearing a tucked-in, black T-shirt and a pair of light jeans. His band, however, looked like a hard-core metal band. Together, they were like Bob Dylan meets Guns N’ Roses.

As soon as Iwan took to the stage with “Kuda Lumping,” a song named after a traditional Javanese dance, the audience erupted, jumping up and down and chanting the song as if it were the national anthem. I began to wonder what about Iwan inspired such exhilaration.

Throughout his performance there were hints of country, rock, dangdut, folk, the list goes on. At one point, he even sounded like a poet accompanied by Metallica.

Iwan is not a musician who suffers from an identity crisis. He is a universal performer who disregards genre barriers. His songs are light, breathing an air of simplicity. Far from being over the top, his music eschews mainstream pop-ness, but it resonates widely.

The father of two has bagged scores of awards, including from MTV Indonesia, Anugrah Planet Muzik and Anugerah Musik Indonesia, where he received a Legend award in 2003.

Rolling Stone Indonesia recently released its list of “Indonesia’s 150 Greatest Songs of All Time,” with Iwan’s “Bongkar” (“Dismantle”) topping the list. Two more of his songs made it into the top 10.

During the concert, the lyrics he sang were colloquial, conversational and catchy. Iwan knows exactly what he’s trying to do: He wants to express something important, and he wants it to be heard and understood easily. Iwan’s greatest contribution to society is the powerful messages contained in his melodious crooning and gentle strumming.

The magazine Time Asia has recognized Iwan in its Asian Heroes series, where he joined such figures as Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi, Tibetan religious leader Gyalwa Karmapa and East Timorese resistance hero Xanana Gusmao. Time Asia’s Jason Tedjasukmana wrote of Iwan: “[H]e has been a thorn in the side of those who would abuse their power.”

During the 1987 general elections, Iwan released a song called “Surat Buat Wakil Rakyat” (“A Letter to the People’s Representatives”), which urged the government to stop distancing itself from the people and to stop falling asleep — literally and figuratively — during assemblies.

Taking on the big issues hasn’t always gone smoothly for Iwan. In 1984, he was arrested and interrogated for 14 days because of one of his songs was deemed an insult to the then-first lady, Tien Suharto.

Many of his songs are inspired by real events and people: the infamous 1981 Tampomas II accident, where a passenger ship caught fire and sank in the Java Sea claiming between 400 and 600 lives; a schoolboy who sells newspapers under the Pancoran Monument in South Jakarta; a thug who was killed by Petrus — the secret anticrime unit established during the Suharto years and accused of executing criminals.

The middle-aged artist is still as passionate as ever, evidenced by his new album, “Keseimbangan” (“Balance”), whose songs address social and environmental issues.

Becoming acquainted with Iwan and his message-laden songs is unlikely to really change my listening habits. But at the same time, it’s comforting to know that in an age where young musicians are singing songs about being online and seeing ghosts, there’s still an artist out there who uses his voice and guitar to educate and enlighten people.



Armando Siahaan is a features reporter for the Jakarta Globe.