Kåntan Chamoru: Kåddon Pika

What’s your favorite Chamorro food? For me, it’s always the kåddo’ no matter the weather. So I appreciate this song, an energetic dedication to the humble but amazing kåddo. As Jay said with a chuckle, “Only Chamorros would write a song about soup with such zest.” So here are Chamorro lyrics and an English translation for the song “Kåddon Pika” by Daniel DeLeon Guerrero, hope you enjoy it!

Chamoru	English
Ai guaha bokan-måmi	Oh we have food
Ai guini na isla	Oh on this island
Desdi Yigo esta Inalåhån	From Yigo to Inarajan
Ai todus ha’ gumaiya	Oh everybody loves it
I manåmko’ ham fumanå’gue	The elders are the ones who taught us
Taimanu este mafa’tinås-ña	How this is made
Ai este na pairen kåddo’	Oh this number one soup
i ma å’ågang kåddon pika	the one they call “kåddon pika”
I siboyas matasåhos	The onion is chopped
Ai i mannok mapika	The chicken is spiced
Madaggao yan i ahos hålom gi la’uya	They are thrown with the garlic inside the pot
Tåtåtte i kechap yan i primienta	The soy sauce and ground black pepper follow
Machilegua yan i denne’ ya mana’pikaka	It’s stirred with the pepper and made very spicy
Ilek-hu, “Ai na sinen pika	I said, “Oh so very spicy
Ai este na klåsen boka”	Oh this kind of food”
An mandanña i lalåhi	When the men gather
Ya duru ai i setbesa	And oh the beers keep coming*
Siña un sodda’ este na klåsen boka	You can find this kind of food
Ai gi hilo’ i lamasa	Oh on top of the table
I siboyas matasåhos	The onion is chopped
Ai i mannok mapika	The chicken is spiced
Mana’gígigu yan åhos hålom ai gi la’uya	They are made to go with the garlic into the pot at the same time
Tåtåtte i kechap yan i primienta	The soy sauce and ground black pepper follow
Machilegua yan i denne’ ya mana’pikaka	It is stirred with the pepper and made very spicy
Ilek-hu, “Ai na sinen pika	I said, “Oh so very spicy
Ai este na boka”	Oh this food”
Pues maila’ ya ta fanhita	Then come and we will be together
Ai mañe’lu-hu	Oh my siblings
Ta fanmatå’chong på’go gi lamasa	We will sit now at the table
Ya ta fangígigu mañocho	And we will all eat at the same time
Sa’ este ha’ bai hu sångan	Because this is all I will say
Ya este bai garantira	And this I will guarantee
Ya kumu un chagi este na kåddo	And if you try this soup
Siempre måtto un gof guaiya	You will definitely come to really love it
Sa’ i siboyas matasåhos	Because the onion is chopped
Ai i mannok mapika	Oh the chicken is spiced
Madaggao yan i ahos hålom gi la’uya	It is thrown in with the garlic inside the pot
Tåtåtte i kechap yan i primienta	The soy sauce and ground black pepper follow
Machilegua yan i denne’ ya mana’pikaka	It is stirred with the pepper and made very spicy
Ilek-hu, “Ai na ginof mångnge’	I said, “Oh, so very delicious
Ai puet, ai ya bula donne'”	Oh especially oh and when there’s lots of peppers
Ilek-hu, “Ai na ginof mångnge’!”	I said, “Oh so very delicious!”
Kåddon pika!	Kåddon pika!

Notes

Interpretation Notes: My interpretation uses the passive ma- prefix rather than the pronoun ma in the chorus, to put the focus more on the ingredients. If the pronoun ma interpretation is used, it would change the meaning slightly (i.e.: “they chop the onion” rather than “the onion is chopped”). The distinction between the use of the passive ma- prefix and pronoun ma can sometimes be unclear, but I’ve found that the meaning is not always so different between the two.

*And oh the beers keep coming: This is not a literal translation of the Chamorro Ya duru ai i setbesa, but it captures the idea in English. The word duru means something is being done continuously, vigorously, or severely. In this case, in English we can understand that they are knocking back plenty of beer, or really knocking them back 😄