(or, why "monsuta" by jan Usawi goes so fucking hard)
here is one of my favorite toki pona songs, "monsuta", by jan Usawi. before you continue reading, you should probably have a listen.
youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DVC7iJLgWs
bandcamp:
https://janusawi.bandcamp.com/track/monsuta
all done? good. let me talk about why this song fucking rules.
i think toki pona has a reputation for being a cute sweet language, where everything sounds adorable, and you can only talk about good nice things, and happy emotions, and raccoons.
i know plenty well that's not true- i edit and contribute to a halloween horror zine exclusively in toki pona, after all. but few things demonstrate the falseness of this perception, that toki pona is exclusively soft and sweet, more viscerally than this song.
the way jan Usawi screams, the animalistic feeling in their voice, the distortion, the bass, it grabs you by the senses and pulls you into a hungry, toothy abyss of emotion
even if you don't speak a word of toki pona, you probably felt how powerful this song is. but it's not just the musical performance that's incredible, have a look at the lyrics below (i've provided a translation).
mi wile ala lili
mi wile ala suwi
mi wile ala olin
mi wile alasa
i don't want to be sweet
i don't want to love
i want to hunt
translation note: ala/alasa
there is word play on these verses- usually, every line except the last starts with "mi wile ala [verb]". the word "ala" means not, but the word "alasa", meaning hunt or gather, also starts with "ala", producing a bait-and-switch effect on the last line.
mi wile ala sewi
mi wile ala nasin
mi wile ala pona
mi wile alasa
i don't need to follow a path
i don't need to be good
i need to hunt
translation note: wile
"wile" can mean both "want" or "need." i have translated some wile's as want and others as need, depending on what i think sounds more visceral in the context
monsuta
ni li tenpo pimeja
lon insa pi lawa sina
toki ike lon anpa
this is the night
inside your mind
cruel words deep down
translation note: monsuta
like the english word "terror", "monsuta" can mean both "monster" or "fear". really, either meaning works here, and the ambiguity is intentional- who is the terror? the singer? or the person being sung about? or the emotions around it all?
sina monsuta
e mi la mi utala
sina ike a
sama kala suli la mi alasa
then i'll fight like one
you're fucking awful
i'm going to hunt like a shark
translation note: monsuta (again)
"monsuta" when used as a transitive verb can mean both "scare" or "make into a monster", so "sina monsuta e mi la mi utala" could also have been translated as "if you scare me, i'll fight back". both meanings work in this context imo, so take your pick.
this phenomenon of context-dependent, contradictory transitive meanings is actually a very common feature of transitive verbs in toki pona, known by toki pona grammarians as the "monsutatesu" behavior (from english "monsuta test")- see here (article in toki pona) for more information.
mi wile ala lete
mi wile ala kute
mi wile ala nimi
mi wile alasa
i don't need to listen
i don't need to to be named
i need to hunt
translation note: nimi
"nimi" can mean both a word or a personal name. "mi wile ala nimi" could have been translated as "i don't need to use words", which i also love quite alot.
mi wile ala kiwen
mi wile ala lape
mi, mi ken ala moli
mi wile alasa
i don't need to sleep
me? i can never die
i need to hunt
monsuta
ni li tenpo pimeja
lon insa pi lawa sina
toki mi li lon anpa
it's nighttime
inside your mind
my words deep down
ilo ala
tomo ala
lipu nasin ala
a, kalama ni li seme a?
sijelo moli, kon jaki
telo loje taki
sina wile weka
taso ken ala pali
no shelter
no map
wait- what was that sound?
dead body, dirty smell
sticky red blood
you want to get away
but can't do anything
translation note: taki
"taki" is a rare neologism (coined in 2020, mentioned as a word by 14% of speakers surveyed in august 2022) meaning "sticky, magnetic; bond, attract, attach, clip".
if you are just starting out with toki pona, you probably shouldn't use rare words like "taki" in most contexts, because most people won't understand you, and it can atrophy your ability to discuss this concept without relying on neologisms.
luka sama soweli
uta sama akesi
kon sama seli suli
sina ken ala lawa e mi
lawa sina
pilin sina
sijelo sina
o tawa ala
anu sina wile la o tawa
ni li ante e ala
mi ken tawa wawa
a, ale sina li mi
reptilian jaws
breath like a raging fire
you can't control me
your head
your thoughts
your body
don't go
or if you want to, then go
that doesn't change anything
i can run faster
your everything is fucking mine.
translation note: kon
"kon" can mean a lot of things- breath, gas, air, spirit, essence, meaning, something unseen. so another good translation of "kon sama seli suli" would be "spirit like a raging fire." i went for the more draconic imagery.
mi wile ike e sina
mi wile kama wawa
mi wile musi taso
mi sona ala
mi alasa
i want to get strong
i just want to play
i don't know
i'll hunt
monsuta
ni li tenpo pimeja
lon insa pi lawa sina
toki ike lon anpa
it's nighttime
inside your mind
cruel thoughts deep down
mi monsuta
e sina la o weka
anu la
ni li tenpo alasa
then run away
otherwise
it's hunting time
translation note: monsuta (yet again)
note the alternate use of "monsuta e", as referenced in an earlier note. this line might in theory also be translated as "if i make you into a monster, then run away" but that doesn't make a lot of sense to me, so from context i it's clear that here it means "to scare."
these lyrics go fucking hard. they are visceral, primal. i hated even translating it into english because they are so masterful in toki pona, they sound incredible in toki pona, and a lot of the nuance in meaning is lost in translation.
the music and the vocals and the words themselves combine into such an incredible feeling. like just thinking about things like "mi ken tawa wawa / a, ale sina li mi", "i can run faster / your everything is fucking mine" can make my hair stand on end.
this song plays on one of my favorite quirks of toki pona- the double meaning of the word monsuta. i've always been loved the philosophical implications that it refers to both the thing being feared, and the fear itself, that it can mean to scare, or to turn into a monster. could it be that these are the same thing?
in a state of unterminating fear, it's so easy to become depersonalized, to become closed off from others, to experience the psychology of the archetypical monster, and in doing so become one. the monster is queer, the monster is hurt, the monster is traumatized, the monster is exploited, the monster is cut off, the monster lives outside of power, the monster is afraid.
lots of marginalized people relate to and identify with the monster. we are treated as monsters by society, and many of us embrace it, reclaim it, say "fuck it, i'm a monster then. if youre going to make me into a monster, i'll fight like one."
when i listen to "monsuta", i feel a sense of empowerment, of freedom, of breaking out, of taking back. it gives me an outlet for all the rage i feel at the world, at the powerful, at the cruel. i so rarely have a way to coherently experience and process these emotions and this song gives me that.
i think i'm too exhausted to say anything else about this song, but if you want to give this wonderful artist money, here is their bandcamp
thanks for reading