Ratu - Teman Tapi Mesra

Today's objet d'art of interest is a group called Ratu from Indonesia. They are comprised of two ladies, Maia Ahmad and Mulan Kwok. Their song, "Teman Tapi Mesra", is reigning the airwaves in Indonesia, and sales of the album is reportedly more than 200,000 (Source: Sony Malaysia website).

Apparently, Mulan Kwok's a replacement of a former bandmate (Pingkan Mambo), who left because of pregnancy problems. I don't really know much. I found a page dissing celebrities and there were some tidbits thrown in here and there. The politics of the band arent apparent, but some quarters (yes, I Googled) say that Maia Ahmad's vocals dominates the album.

Of note is that Maia Ahmad is married to Ahmad Dhani, lead singer of Dewa (rock group).

Click to visit Who Do You Think He Are @ Blogspot

The video looks good, though :-) I like it. The phrases are nuanced by panting ("heh, heh") which are reminiscent of Pussycat Dolls' "Don't Cha", and to a lesser extent (thankfully) Britney Spears' "Slave 4U". The girls dance nice, but unfortunately the poles and the moves as the girls move up and down resemble certain sleazy locations.


(Or just click here to get to YouTube's page for the video))

Here come the lyrics to the song...

Teman Tapi Mesra
+++++++++++++++++++++

Aku punya teman
Teman sepermainan
Dimana ada dia selalu ada aku

Dia memang manis
Dan juga baik hati
Dan dia slalu ada waktu
Untuk membantuku

Namun aku bingung
Ketika dia bilang cinta
Dan dia juga katakan
Tuk ingin jadi kekasihku

Cukuplah saja berteman denganku
Janganlah kau meminta lebih
Kutak mungkin mencintaimu
Kita berteman saja
Teman tapi mesra

Aku memang suka pada dirimu
Namun aku ada yang punya
Lebih baik kita berteman
Kita berteman saja
Teman tapi mesra

What's the lyrics mean? Here's a crude attempt at understanding Indonesian.

I have a companion
A playmate
And s/he is always with me

S/he is sweet
and good hearted
And s/he always has time
To assist me

But I feel curious
When s/he talks of love
And s/he says
S/he wants to be my lover

(Chorus)
It's enough to be friends with me
Please don't ask for more
I could not possibly love you
We'll just be friends
Friends but intimate

I really like your person
But I already have someone
It's better that we be friends
Just friends
Friends but intimate

Some guy made an attempt to write out the tablature for this song:

Tabs for "Teman Tapi Mesra"

I don't know if the key (E major) is right, but I assume it is. But some listening of the song tells me that the chords are probably (according to Kevin Koo)

Riff - E A E A

1st Verse - E F#m B E
2nd Verse - E F#7 B E

Bridge - C#m F#m A B E

Chorus
E F#m B E B
E F#m B A Am

Riff - E A E A

Verse - E F#m B C#m
Bridge - C#m F#7 A B E

Chorus
E F#m B E B
E F#m B Am E

E E

Guitar Solo (No singing)
E F#m B E
C#m F#7 A B E

Chorus
F# G#m C# F#
F# G#m C# F#

La la la.. (Clap hands...)
F# G#m C# F#
F# G#m C# F#

I like it, the chord movement is nice and strong. It may not be I-IV-V but it's close enough, I-ii-V-I (hey, perfect cadence, too!). Bridge is to be expected, and the chorus is a big singalong one. The use of IV-IVm sounds very Brit-pop (Oasis comes to mind).

++++++++++++++++++++

This second video is from happier times, a little jazzy ditty that launched Ratu's career -- "Di Dadaku Ada Kamu". And we get to see Pingkan Mambo.


(Or just click here to get to YouTube's page for the video)