In modern times, young people meet at the mall or the movie theater and many other places. In the old days, when there were no malls or movie theaters, you met your sweetheart outside her house, if her family allowed even that!
Grandma was sure to be peeking behind the window curtain while you and your sweetheart were talking.
In this song, the poor guy shows up but the girl is a no-show.
Sung by Sonny Flores and Joe Norita of Saipan.
LYRICS
(On Saturday evening)
sinireno yo'.
(I was in the coolness of dusk.)
Ya tåya' bali-ña
(And it was worthless)
kontratå-ta na dos.
(what the two of us agreed.)
Si Yu'us ma'åse' nene
(Thank you baby)
pot un dagi yo'.
(for lying to me.)
Na para ta asodda'
(That we would meet each other)
gi hiyong gimå'-mo.
(outside your house.)
NOTE
Sereno. Borrowed from the Spanish language. In Chamorro (and Spanish) it means the night hours, either after sunset or right before sunrise and all hours in between.
The root word, sereno, means "serene, peaceful, quiet." In the old days, things quieted down at night. So sereno came to stand for the nighttime hours. Even a night watchman was called a sereno. Since dew forms in the night, even the dew was called sereno.
Chamorros traditionally have an aversion to the sereno. To be caught outside, especially without the head covered, in the sereno was to invite sickness.
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