Music Lesson, No 1: รักต้องเปิด (แน่นอก)

In the past week or so, a new song, รักต้องเปิด (แน่นอก) or Rak Dtawng Bpeert (Naaen Ok), has exploded across Thailand, forming an army of satisfied fans while angering some more conservative Thais. In this lesson, I thought I'd go over the lyrics to the song so you know what all the fuss is about. Before we go into more detail, watch the video and see how much you can pick up.

If you couldn't guess from the video, the lyrics contain some subtle innuendo which is considered quite raunchy for the normally conservative Thailand. I've included the lyrics below, with transcription and translation so that you can understand what's going on.

Verse 1 

สิทธิผู้ชายสมัยนี้ อยู่ไหนก็ไม่ทราบ

Sit-ti puu-chai samai-nii / Yuu nai gaw mai saap

Men’s rights these days / I don’t know where they are

ไม่ว่าเรื่อง จะเปิดจะปิดนะ เสร็จผู้หญิงเค้าราบคาบ

Mai waa reeuang / Ja bpeert ja bpit na / Set puu-ying kao raap-kaap

No matter / It’s open or closed / Women are still calm

ผู้หญิงเปิดเผยเนี่ยะดูดิ ใครๆ ก็พูดว่าดูดี

Puu-ying bpeert peuy nia duu dii / Krai-krai gaw puut waa duu dii

Women wear revealing clothes and look good. Everyone says they look good

ผู้ชายลองเปิดมั่งเซ่ ได้โดน

Puu-chai lawng bpeert mang see / Dai doon

If men try to wear revealing clothes, they get hit

Pam Pam Pam Pam

Verse 2

แค่เธอขยับ ฉันก็ เขยื้อน แค่ตากระทบ ใจก็ กระเทือน

Kaae teer ka-yap  / Chan gaw / Ka-yeeuan / Kaae dtaa gra-top / Jai gaw / Gra-teeuan

You move and I move. If you blink, my heart trembles

เธอมาทีไร อะไร กระเพื่อม (oh ตู้ม ตู้ม Girl)

Teer maa tii rai / A-rai / Gra-peeuan (Oh dtuum dtuum Girl)

Wherever you go, everything surges (Oh, boom, boom, Girl)

แค่เธอขยับ ฉันก็ เขยื้อน แค่ตากระทบ ใจก็ กระเทือน

Kaae teer ka-yap  / Chan gaw / Ka-yeeuan / Kaae dtaa gra-top / Jai gaw / Gra-teeuan

You move and I move. If you blink, my heart trembles

เธอมาทีไร อะไร อะไร ก็ ตู้มตู้มตู้มตู้มตู้มตู้ม…

Teer maa tii rai / A-rai / A-rai / Gaw / Dtuum dtuum dtuum dtuum dtuum dtuum...

Wherever you go, everything, everything goes boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom…

Verse 3

ขอดูเธอหน่อย ฉันเองอ่ะเปิดละ

Kaw duu teer noi / Chan eeng a bpeert la

Can I please see you? I’ve opened myself.

ใจเธอยังไม่เปิด oh oh oh

Jai teer yang mai bpeert / Oh oh oh

Your heart still isn’t open. Oh oh oh

ขอใจเธอหน่อย ฉันเองอ่ะเปิดละ

Kaw jai teer noi / Chan eeng a bpeert la

Can I please have your heart? I’ve opened myself.

แล้วเธอจะเปิดมั้ย (x3)

Laaew teer ja bpeert mai (x3)

And will you open yourself? (x3)

Chorus

มันแน่นอก (Yeh!) ก็ยกออก (Yeh!)

Man naaen-ok (Yeh!) / Gaw yok awk (Yeh!)

I’ve got a lot on my chest (Yeh!) I'll take it off (Yeh!)

ให้แบกเอาไว้ นานไป เดี๋ยวใจถลอก

Hai baaek ao wai / Naan bpai / Diiaw jai ta-lawk

I’ll let you carry it for a while before my heart gets scratched

มันแน่นอก (Yeh!) ต้องยกออก (Yeh!)

Man naaen-ok (Yeh!) / Dtawng yok awk (Yeh!) 

I’ve got a lot on my chest (Yeh!) I have to take it off (Yeh!)

เรื่องใหญ่อย่างงี้ บังยังไง ก็ยิ่งกระฉอก

Reeuang yai yaang ngii / Bang yang-ngai / Gaw ying gra-chawk

Something large like this, if you hide it, it’ll spill out

Verse 4

เช็คเรตติ้งหน่อย baby ถ้าไม่เฟิร์มนะ honey

Chek reet-dting noi baby / Taa mai feerm na honey

Check your rating, baby. If it’s not firm, honey

เช็ดแล้วทิ้งเลย baby

Chet laaew ting leuy baby

Wipe it and throw it out, baby

Verse 5

 

เย็นหน่อยนะน้อง ค่อยๆๆๆๆเปิด นิดนึงพอ ดีกว่ามั้ย

Yen noi na nawng / Koi-koi-koi-koi bpert / Nit neung paw / Dii gwaa mai

Calm down, sis. Gradually opening ourselves is better, right?

นี่เธอเล่นมาหมดเปลือก น้ำใจเธอ มากไปไหน

Nii teer leen maa mot bpleeuk / Nam-jai teer / Maak bpai nai

You’re playing with everything you’ve got. You're generous but it’s too much.

เห็นหมด เห็นหมด เห็นหมด เห็นทีไรแล้วมัน...

Hen mot / Hen mot / Hen mot / Hen tii rai laaew man...

I’ve seen it all before. Whenever I see it, it’s…

UHHHHHH! หลับตาก็ยังจะ ตู้มตู้มตู้มตู้ม

UHHHHHH! Lap dtaa gaw yang ja / Dtuum dtuum dtuum dtuum

UHHHHHH! I close my eyes and it’s still boom, boom, boom, boom.

The song repeats the above verses and chorus after this, so we effectively know what it's about now. Or do we? One of the key aspects about the Thai language is its subtleties when it comes to talking about sex. You really have to read between the lines as no one speaks directly about the subject. In the above song, we have several pieces of innuendo, including:

1. แน่นอก (naaen-ok): When spoken in standard conversation, this means you have a 'lot on your chest', i.e. you've been keeping your mouth shut and holding in your feelings for so long that you just have to tell someone about it. The Thai phrase here is made up of two words, แน่น meaning 'tightly packed' and อก meaning 'chest'. Thus, in Thai slang, it can also mean a girl with large breasts especially one wearing a tight top. Suddenly the song line "I've got a lot on my chest. I'll take it off" gains new meaning.
2. กระฉอก (gra-chawk): In regular Thai, this means 'to spill' or 'to splash' and typically refers to water or some other liquid. In the song though, it refers to the singer's breasts spilling out of her top as it's too tight. As you can see, the literal meaning and what's actually written are very different indeed.
3. เรื่องใหญ่ (reeuang yai): In standard, spoken Thai, this simply means a large or important topic. Within the song though, emphasis is on the world 'large'. Since this comes before the previously mentioned word, กระฉอก, I think you can guess where this is going without me having to spell it out.
4. ตู้ม (dtuum): Typically used as an onomatopoeia for the sound of explosions, ตู้ม also has a more raunchy connotation. In Thai slang, it can be used to describe certain body parts suddenly increasing in size. This applies to breasts, backsides and certain other parts along the same lines. "Wherever you go, everything goes boom, boom, boom" suddenly has another, more playful meaning than just random explosions!

As you can see, there is much to this song that could be considered offensive and raunchy, especially to the conservative Thai. This is probably why the video is now so popular with over 15 million views at the time of writing. Whatever you think, there's no doubt that the artists will probably make a fortune off this by tapping into an audience that desires the taboo while creating the right amount of controversy at the same time.

So what do you think? Now that I've gone over the lyrics and double entendres here, what are your opinions about the song? Please let me know in the comment section below. If you have any questions or general statements about the above lesson as well, feel free to leave a message! I'll reply to each comment as they come in. Good luck and see you next time!