Thai band Dezember released their new single, Long Live the People, on Christmas Eve, and the accompanying music video on Christmas Day. The title and one of the lyrics — “จำเอาไว้เราไม่ใช่ฝุ่น” (‘remember, we are not dust’) — come from a speech by Parit Chirawak at Sanam Luang on 20th September last year. The video ends unambiguously with a falling guillotine blade, and the song’s logo resembles a modified Thai flag.
The lyrics also include “ขอเวลาอีกไม่นาน” (‘give us a little more time’), a line from Returning Happiness to the Thai Kingdom (คืนความสุขให้ประเทศไทย), a propaganda song released by the junta. Chulayarnnon Siriphol used the same line as the title of a video installation and exhibition catalogue, and it was sampled by Thunska Pansittivorakul in his documentary Homogeneous, Empty Time (สุญกาล).
Another lyric from Long Live the People, “7–8 ปีแล้วนะไอ้สัตว์” (‘it’s been 7–8 years, ai sat’), is essentially an update of the 2018 concert title จะ4ปีแล้วนะไอ้สัตว์ (‘it’s been 4 years, ai sat’). In both cases, ai sat is a strong insult aimed at the Prayut Chan-o-cha.
The lyrics also include “ขอเวลาอีกไม่นาน” (‘give us a little more time’), a line from Returning Happiness to the Thai Kingdom (คืนความสุขให้ประเทศไทย), a propaganda song released by the junta. Chulayarnnon Siriphol used the same line as the title of a video installation and exhibition catalogue, and it was sampled by Thunska Pansittivorakul in his documentary Homogeneous, Empty Time (สุญกาล).
Another lyric from Long Live the People, “7–8 ปีแล้วนะไอ้สัตว์” (‘it’s been 7–8 years, ai sat’), is essentially an update of the 2018 concert title จะ4ปีแล้วนะไอ้สัตว์ (‘it’s been 4 years, ai sat’). In both cases, ai sat is a strong insult aimed at the Prayut Chan-o-cha.
Long Live the People is an unexpected release from Dezember, as the band performed at the People’s Democratic Reform Committee rallies that paved the way for Prayut’s coup in 2014. Also, several of their earlier singles criticise Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, and they previously recorded a passionately pro-monarchy song.
Harbinger of Doom, from their 2011 album Spiritual Leader, is a scathing condemnation of Thaksin, and its music video (directed by Wassakorn Dechsutham) features footage of the 2009 red-shirt riots. (The song’s Thai title, ทรราช, translates as ‘tyrant’.) Several tracks on Spiritual Leader are reactions to the red-shirt protests and crackdown, including Justify to Satisfy (ความชอบธรรมหรือความชอบทำ), which sympathises with the soldiers rather than the protesters, and Not Caught in the Middle (ไม่เป็นกลาง..แต่เป็นธรรม), which accuses the protesters of disloyalty to the monarchy.
Harbinger of Doom, from their 2011 album Spiritual Leader, is a scathing condemnation of Thaksin, and its music video (directed by Wassakorn Dechsutham) features footage of the 2009 red-shirt riots. (The song’s Thai title, ทรราช, translates as ‘tyrant’.) Several tracks on Spiritual Leader are reactions to the red-shirt protests and crackdown, including Justify to Satisfy (ความชอบธรรมหรือความชอบทำ), which sympathises with the soldiers rather than the protesters, and Not Caught in the Middle (ไม่เป็นกลาง..แต่เป็นธรรม), which accuses the protesters of disloyalty to the monarchy.
Suck Sin, from their 2014 album Crisis, is a pun on Thaksin’s name, and in the music video for the song (directed by JimFilm) they destroy a cardboard box representing Thaksin’s head. Similarly, the Thai title of Long Suffering — ยิ่งรัก..ยิ่งแย่ — from the same album, is a pun on Yingluck’s name. The Tale (เรื่องเล่า), another track on the album, is a deeply royalist (and anti-Thaksin) song, making Long Live the People a surprising new single, to say the least.
Spiritual Leader and Crisis were both released on CD (Crisis in a limited edition of signed and numbered copies). Spiritual Leader is also available on DVD.
Spiritual Leader and Crisis were both released on CD (Crisis in a limited edition of signed and numbered copies). Spiritual Leader is also available on DVD.
