Show Lo’s new song is a hit with Thais
Thais love a good tune they can party hard to. And just this week, two grannies in their 60s nearly fainted after they partied harder than Thai teens do. So when Taiwanese singer Show Lo released his new dance song with a Thai twist, it took Thai social media by storm.
Here’s what the song means in Thai and what netizens had to say about it.
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Taiwanese song with Thai puns
Plenty of young Thais are looking to learn Mandarin with big Chinese businesses expanding into the country. As a result, locals are also consuming Chinese content more than before. So when Show Lo’s new music video featured him as a kathoey with lyrics that can be understood in both Mandarin and Thai, netizens quickly ate it up.
The song is called 買冬瓜 (mǎi dōngguā) which means “to buy melons” in Mandarin. But of course, as the translated lyrics in the MV show, in Thai this sounds like ไม่ต้องกลัว which means “don’t be scared”.
Other phrases that have a meaning in Thai are: 買米 (mǎi mǐ, to buy rice) which sounds like ไม่มี (do not have), 買菜 (mǎi cài, to buy veggies) which sounds like ไม่ใช่ (no), and 刷我的卡 (shuā wǒ de kǎ, swipe my card) which sounds like the iconic greeting สวัสดีค่ะ (Sawasdee ka).
Netizens quickly saw the song’s potential in this being useful in learning Chinese.
Netizens dub it the next new year dance hit
The video quickly went viral in Thailand. Unsurprisingly, many find the song fun to dance to.
Translation: Don’t be afraid of ghosts. It’s a very fun song and Thai parties must have this song. This is good song, it will be hit. Thank you so much for your support of the Thai language.
While others chimed in that the song is an earworm and they can’t seem to get it out of their heads.
Cross-cultural music done right
The viral hit is a great showcase of cross-cultural music. Show Lo has unquestionably managed to pique the interest of his Thai fans as well as gain new ones by appealing to Thai language, Thai aesthetics, as well as Thais’ love for fun.
Surely in the coming weeks we will see Thais covering this song on social media and being played during year-end parties countrywide.
Cover images adapted from (Clockwise from Top Left): Show Lo’s Official Channel羅志祥官方專屬頻道, Show Lo’s Official Channel羅志祥官方專屬頻道
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