KÅNTA : PAPA' I KANDET

This is a song about a man communicating with his sweetheart by the light of the moon under her bedroom window. It's obviously a scene from our islands long ago when we had homes like that, where a girl's bedroom window was raised on haligi (pillars) or on the bodega (basement). I can think of no better village to represent that kind of old, island living than Inalåhan, which preserves many pre-war homes.

The tune is borrowed from the World War II song "Lili Marlene," popular among both Allied and Axis forces! It was originally a German song and speaks about a young woman under the lantern, she being the love of a lonely soldier in the battle field.

The Chamorro version keeps much of that imagery.

LYRICS

1. Gi papa' i kandet gi kanton guma' annai hu nanangga i guinaiya-ko.
(Under the light by the side of the house where I am waiting for my love.)

Kao ti un hungok nai chumefla yo' gi kanton i bentanå-mo?
(Didn't you hear when I whistled by the edge of your window?)

Sa' hågo ha' guinaiya-ko keridå-ho nene.
(Because you alone are my love, my beloved baby.)


2. Sikiera i anineng-mo kerida korason u fåtto giya guåho ya hu konsuelan maisa yo'.
(Would at least your shadow, beloved sweetheart, come to me so I can comfort myself.)

Papa' i ma'lak i pilan gi kanton i bentanå-mo.
(Under the brightness of the moon at the edge of your window.)

Sa' hågo ha' guinaiya-ko kerida mia korason.
(Because you alone are my love, my beloved sweetheart.)

NOTES

Kånto. A word which means "edge, side, bank." It is borrowed from the Spanish word canto, meaning "edge."

Chefla. To whistle. So as not to get caught by the girl's parents or family, he whistles to signal her that he is waiting just outside her window.

Sikiera. "At least." From the Spanish siquiera, meaning the same.

Kerida mia. Taken exactly from the Spanish "my beloved."

Korason. Means "heart" but is the equivalent of the English term "sweetheart." Sometimes people say "mames korason," literally meaning "sweet heart."

LILI MARLENE

Here's how the original song sounds like in English