Myanmar: The Day the Music Died

“We have to get rid of this military dictatorship. Otherwise the whole country and the coming generations will be in a really troubled situation.” Mun Awng, born in 1960 in Myitkyina, Kachin State, Myanmar, is a renowned Kachin singer, songwriter, and pro-democracy activist. He grew up in a modest family — his father was a teacher and headmaster, and his mother was a nurse. His childhood in northern Myanmar was shaped by the ongoing conflict between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army, and his family often prepared trenches to shelter from fighting. Growing up amid such instability, Mun Awng found solace in music, singing in church and learning by ear from what he could catch on the local radio. “We only had shortwave radio that I could listen to, so that was my main source of knowledge about music,” he notes. Western pop and rock — particularly The Beatles — inspired him, even though such influences were condemned under General Ne Win’s regime. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Mun Awng began performing publicly, playing at community events and church fundraisers. His band, The Rhythm, gained a following for performing original songs rather than copying Western tunes with Burmese lyrics, which was the norm at the time. In 1984, with the support of his family, he released his debut album 8/82 Inya, which became widely popular among university students. The album featured collaborations with several notable musicians, including Lieutenant General Rukhkyawng Hkawng Lum of the Kachin Independence Army, who played bass guitar. Despite strict censorship and government suspicion of musicians, 8/82 Inya marked a new chapter in modern Burmese music. Mun Awng’s growing success coincided with a period of political repression. Censors demanded that artists include songs about religion or national pride in every album. Lyrics were reviewed line by line for political content, and anything critical of the government was deleted. Over time, Mun Awng became disillusioned with the system. He famously failed his final university exams deliberately so he could devote himself to music. By the mid-1980s, he realized that true artistic freedom was impossible under the dictatorship, which viewed musicians as dangerous or subversive.