#using the official mandarin tl + misc. amis > chinese resources

[wutaijiemei]

謀殺石蓮 // murder echeveria

natsuko's commentary on the song:

I just get a little frustrated sometimes, because every time I write lyrics in Amis or include some kind of easily identifiable indigenous element in my songs, 70-80% of responses mention dancing and celebrating, contentment with life, laughing away one’s troubles, and so on, even if the lyrics are dark and serious. It’s to the point where even if I’m candidly describing the pain of loss and grief, I’ll still get cheerful responses. I carry the skeletons of my people through my work and watch the audience consume their cries like a black hole, swallowing up all traces of sound. Like viewers in front of a blockbuster exploitation film, or a movie with a charming white male savior, or a popcorn flick about defying authority, emotions are stirred while people are in their seats, and once they leave the theater, their hearts can be at ease. Issues of gender, race, ethnicity, class, etc. all resolve themselves neatly. Everyone forgives, everyone departs. Everyone returns to their daily lives. But the real world is no less free of suffering, suffering which has seen no end, no resolution, no compensation, no atonement. Suffering that has yet to be directly faced, or even acknowledged. I continue to live in an endlessly broadcasting horror movie. I am blamed by outsiders for not performing enough, or performing too much, and I blame myself even more. The weed that looks like a flower lived well in its natural state. Only once forced to submit to the will of government and economic circumstance, once “she” has been pulled up by the roots and replanted in a plastic flower pot, does she attempt to fit this new appearance. But her captors just hold the pot in their hands and degrade her without end, because, after all, a weed cannot become a flower. At the start of the film Nope, the flying, man-eating monster that is Hollywood and mainstream society throws down a nickel from the sky, killing the figure of the Black cowboy erased from Western film history. What do you want from me? What else will it take to satisfy you?

lyrics, pangcah/amis -> english:

tayniay cangra midateng to semot no mako they came to pick the weeds from my land, ikor to i, ’afas han nangra ko tireng no mako then they took my body.

caayay ka piliyas cangra they never left.

nengneng han kora semot hato hana the weed that looks like a flower mapitpit ko ‘adingo nora hana has had its soul plucked from its stem

o rihaw iso hato ngiha ni Alikakay your voice is as hoarse as a ghost's mana tomangic kiso? why are you crying?

aya, mahecaday to hana a semot ah, the weed that looks like a flower ‘enoc sa to kahengangay a odax has swallowed the red candy cengawen ko mata, mana caka co’a’angen iso? open your eyes, why resist? samaanen ako? what would you have me do?

malafaliay ko mi’ang’ang no mako my cries became the wind malahedaway to i kana sawad a tokay disappearing into the overgrown city mapatayay to kora tahada’ocay a fu’is a star long dead mafolfol koni langdaway ka’oripan a cikiw shattered this blue planet malao’raday to ko losa’ no mako my tears turned to rain malakoliay to koni ki’etecay a kikay and froze into ice-cold machinery samaanen ako na madodo’ ko faloco’ iso? what else would you have me do?

lomowad a ma'orip nai patay rise from the dead nai to’emanay a kakarayan from the dark expanse of space

(ecce Deus ex machina)

malacidal ko keter no mako, my rage has become the sun matodoh nira ko sahekalan it will burn its earth to ash o ci’edilay a kowang a gun emitting beams of light o kimad no kikay the myth of a machine

nengneng han kora semot hato hana the weed that looks like a flower （you are approaching the truth） （they will steal it from you）

hawikiden ko ataneng no kalokawas carries the wisdom of the gods （now pick up your laser gun） （till the smoke erases the sun）

cowa to tanotireng kako hatini i am no longer alone （so aggressive, so rude） （they are gonna murder you）

caay to ka palit iso ko tireng ako you cannot imprison me again （my dear, my dear little echeveria）

aya, mahecaday to hana a semot ah, the weed that looks like a flower （you have witnessed the truth） （they can’t take it from you）

hawikiden ko ’icel no kalokawas carries the strength of the gods （drop your smoking laser gun） （there is no more place to run）

cowa to tanokamay kako i am no longer defenseless （so aggressive, so rude） （they are gonna murder you）

taniwaniway sa tahira i tolas no kakarayan wandering to the ends of the universe （my dear, my dear little echeveria）