Badai Pasti Berlalu (song)

"Badai Pasti Berlalu" ([ˈbadai ˈpasti bərˈlalu]; English: "The Storm Will Surely Pass") is an Indonesian song written by Eros Djarot and released in 1977 as part of the soundtrack of Badai Pasti Berlalu. It was originally sung by Berlian Hutauruk, but has also been covered by Chrisye and Ari Lasso. It has been declared the third best Indonesian song of all time.

"Badai Pasti Berlalu"
Single by Berlian Hutauruk
from the album Badai Pasti Berlalu
Released	1977
Genre	Pop
Length	3:35
Label	Irama Mas
Songwriter(s)	Eros Djarot
Producer(s)	Yockie Surjoprajogo
Audio sample
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Conception

"Badai Pasti Berlalu" was written by Eros Djarot and arranged by Yockie Surjoprajogo. It was used in the soundtrack for Badai Pasti Berlalu.[1]

Teguh Karya, the director of Badai Pasti Berlalu, disagreed with the choice of Berlian Hutauruk. He considered her voice screechy, saying "What is this voice...sounds like Kuntilanak."[lower-alpha 1] and insisted that Anna Mathovani, with her smoother vocals, should be the singer. However, when Eros Djarot threatened cancelling the entire soundtrack, Teguh Karya gave in.[1]

Themes

"Badai Pasti Berlalu" is seen as a dark and gloomy song about being optimistic when suffering, as shown by the refrain:[1]

Indonesian Kini, semua bukan milikku Musim itu telah berlalu Matahari segera berganti Badai pasti berlalu, badai pasti berlalu

English Now, nothing is mine That time has passed The sun will soon change And the storm will surely pass, the storm will surely pass.

Covers

"Badai Pasti Berlalu" has been covered twice, by Chrisye in 1999 as part of a rerelease of the original album, and by Ari Lasso as part of the soundtrack to the 2007 remake of the original film.[1]

Legacy

Rolling Stone Indonesia selected "Badai Pasti Berlalu", as sung by Berlian Hutauruk, as the third best Indonesian song of all time in their 2009 list "The 150 Best Indonesian Songs of All Time." They called it Eros Djarot’s masterpiece and noted that it had become Berlian Hutahuruk’s signature song.[1] The covers were considered inferior because

"lyrically [Badai Pasti Berlalu] is about a woman who is constantly suffering. It feels awkward and weird when it was sung by a man, even though Chrisye and Ari Lasso tried to sing it as expressively as possible."[lower-alpha 2]

"Badai Pasti Berlalu" has also become part of popular culture. During the 1997 Asian financial crisis, then-president Soeharto quoted the title of the song to reassure the people.[2]

Notes

1. Original: "Suara apa ini... seperti suara Kuntilanak."
2. Original: ". . . secara verbal lagu ini bertutur tentang seorang wanita yang didera derita. Jadi terasa janggal dan aneh jika lagu tadi dinyanyikan seorang lelaki, walaupun Chrisye maupun Ari Lasso telah berupaya menyanyikannya seekspresif mungkin"

References

1. Sakrie, Denny. "150 Lagu Indonesia Terbaik Sepanjang Masa: 3. Badai Pasti Berlalu." Rolling Stone Indonesia. December 2009. p. 37. (Indonesian)
2. Abdullah, Taufik. Indonesia: Towards Democracy Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. 2009. p. 529.