Rockstarism #230: You Say Potato….. (Cantonese Version)

#230

So Rockstar has made friends and now really enjoys his Yamaha/ Tom Lee music class every Friday, conducted in Cantonese with about 10 other (local) kids and their mums. Please don’t read further into my narration below other than that Rockstar was displaying more boh liau humor; we actually especially like his teacher in this class, which is why we stick to a mildly inconvenient timing.

One of the many songs the kids had been “playing” along to cd music accompaniment in order to practice keyboard fingering is called the “Frog Song”. And so several weeks ago we learned how different frog “croaking” in Cantonese is. (Somewhere in there is an argument for babies’ cries sounding different based on the languages spoken at home). So anyway Frog Song goes “Do Re Mi Fa Mi Re Do (played on keyboard/ sung),” followed by “<frog croak><frog croak>.”

Except when they “sing in Cantonese,” it doesn’t sound like “ribbit” or “croak,” – it’s  “kuek – kuek,” almost “quack – quack”. Obviously this elicits some amusement from Rockstar, who nonetheless “kuek”s with gusto….

But then there is also a single-beat rest at the end. Because it’s “Do Re Mi Fa Mi Re Do <Rest> Kuek-kuek.” The “rest” however is not “shush” or “shhh” the way Rockstar is used to in English. It is pronounced “shi.”

Can you see it coming?

Repeatedly:

Rockstar: Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Mi-Re-Do Shit! Quack-quack!

Do-Re-Mi-Fa-Mi-Re-Do Shit! Quack-quack! HEE HEE HEEEEEE….

And here he is, ruining another shot. "SSHHhhhhhhhh...."

Oh yeah - we have matching hairbands (but I balk at bows)