SEMANGGI KEHILANGAN SATU DAUNNYA
The clover loses one of its leaves.
1902
Kardinah gets married.
KARTINI
1902.
Dear Stella,
Forgive me for just getting back to you. Our youngest sister, who we love so dearly, Kardinah, received a proposal last month and is leaving us early.
NARRATOR, KARTINI, RUKMINI
Kardinah…
(Kardinah walks down the aisle with the groom.)
KARTINI
She walked off at a distance beautifully in her wedding dress. Our eyes dry and expressionless as though drained of its last teardrop.
NARRATOR, KARTINI, RUKMINI
One clover leaf is lost…
KARTINI
One thing has been gnawing at my brain as I am reflecting and as my heart is aching— I worry for Kardinah… As you know Java…
IBU DEWI (NARRATOR)
THAT’S THE WAY THE STORY GOES,
EVERYBODY KNOWS
TRADITION THAT RUNS DEEP…
WHILE THE REST OF JAVA IS ASLEEP…
KARTINI
My true birth mother is not of royal descent. Father met her when he was not even Regent of Jepara yet.
(Kartini and Rukmini exit stage left)
IBU DEWI (NARRATOR)
We go back in time to 1870 in the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch government brought upon a new policy called The Cultivation System. This policy required the Javanese to devote their lives to exporting their crops. Hence, most of Java became a Dutch plantation.
One day, a man from up the hierarchy visited the sugar factory and fell for a commoner named Ngasirah. He pursued her although she was a married woman of four children– she was powerless against the man in the uniform. So the man took her home and she left behind the life that she knew.
Eventually, she learned to love him and they started their own new family. He was promoted as Regent of Jepara and as quickly as the flame of lust between them ignited, it extinguished just like that. He pursued a new woman, a noble one, Lady Moeryam. Polygamy had been conventional among Javanese aristocracy for centuries before Islam was even introduced in the country. So, even the Dutch had no say against it.
Ngasirah’s name was erased from the history books. She was a commoner, a girl, overlooked.
Meaning and Intention
This song is about Kartini feeling like she needs to choose between her parents. She expresses her deep empathy for her mother and disagrees with the way her father treats her. Yet, Kartini can’t help but acknowledge her father’s love and support for her— it felt like a double-edged sword. The question of who is right or wrong to pick isn’t the message of the whole song, but the cruelty of even needing to pick in the first place. The question ‘How could I?’ is almost rhetorical. There is no right answer. Kartini was born into the life she lived, she had no control over the polygamy of her parents.
Compositional Choices
The catchy melodic arpeggio came to me one day when I was in the NYU Tisch building waiting between classes. I immediately fell in love with it. It was sad but sweet. You could feel the love in the song but there was also a sense of loss.
Retrospective Assessment
the Gamelan pélog scale is Balinese, I wonder how the song would sound if I experimented with the sléndro Javanese scale.
Sheet Music Sample
How Could I?
by Kartini
VERSE 1
I see her lonely gaze,
Although she looked down to hide it
I see how her eyes long for love,
But she won’t put up a fight
Her hair is full of secrets,
And her smile hides her truth
Underneath that tight kebaya,
It’s hard for her to breathe
CHORUS
How could I turn a blind eye?
When the truth it stares back at me
And I stand silenced as I’m forced to be
(How could I?)
But to fight for her,
Is to fight against him,
He who has given me all that I am,
my own Father,
Or my own Mother,
How could I?
VERSE 2
I hear her stifled voice,
Although Father overlooks it
I heard the way she had no choice,
When he said he had fallen in love
With another woman
Another woman
Oh
CHORUS
How could I turn a blind eye?
At what cost am I looking away?
Am I fighting for women,
Or is it just something I say?
(How could i?)
But to fight for her,
Is to fight against him,
He who has given me all that I am,
my own Father,
Or my own Mother,
How could I?
