Hounen Ondo

Another song on ETC Works 2 is Hounen Ondo, which translates as the "Dance of a Fruitful Year". I haven't really gone over the lyrics to know whether dance is for having a fruitful year, or a fruitful year was just had. I like the idea of the latter more than the former, but that is not really here nor there.

I've been trying to figure out the history of the song, and so far, all I can really say is that it is a traditional Okinawan song. Google.jp has been supremely unhelpful, though it seems likely I'm just typing in the wrong keywords.

I've looked up some videos to show how the original song sounds, and this is by far the most professional and least grating, so enjoy!



It's interesting to me that the Monpachi version is so heavy and punkish. They seem to like taking Okinawan music and then almost completely divorce it from its traditional context, and then put punk song into a traditional Okinawan mold. This wasn't so evident in the first two albums. By Momo, however, they added one track as a hidden track that sounded more traditional. Then, in Daniel, they hinted lyrically. It's somewhat more evident in ETC Works musically, and then it disappears almost completely in eight-hundreds.

Honestly, I don't know what all of that means, though I'd like to think there is a narrative in there that can be found.