Yangon Street Songs • Sounds and Melodies Street Vendors • ရန်ကုန် • MYANMAR • Burma
Channel: Oxlaey
Date: 2016-02-07

Melodies ring through the streets of Yangon, Myanmar. From female monks giving blessings, to the singing of a street vendor selling sweet drinks, or a bus driver belting out the stops - Yangon hums with music.

Yangon Street Songs (2016) Time: 2’13” • Myanmar

MULTIMEDIA
At YouTube • https://youtu.be/YY9mbXeZZNo 
At Vimeo • https://vimeo.com/154819874 
Photos At Flickr • https://flic.kr/s/aHsktq3BjC

STORY
Many of vendors in Yangon still use an ancient tool to advertise their goods and services - their voice. This short film highlights a handful of people communicating with the public through song. Two female monks walk the streets asking in song for food. At a bus stop, a ticket salesmen melodically calls out where his busses are going. A young man cries out in quiet residential streets, offering to buy old mattresses. Then there are the songs of drinks vendors and broom salesmen.

INTERVIEW WITH RYAN ANDERSON (DIRECTOR)
“My ears perked up when I was walking through Yangon’s side streets. I kept hearing sounds - songs and calls - which have died out a long time ago in most other parts of the world. I heard the music of people communicating, selling, through song. Isn’t it odd to think that at one time, humans around the world advertised their goods and services using just with the power of their voice? In particular, the young mattress vendor, he had such a clear powerful voice. He could compete with any young person studying opera at a music conservatory. And the vendors in Yangon, they have to sing. If they were to shout all day, they’d grow horse and loose their voices. I went back to my hotel and told the receptionist about my discovery and she was like, “Oh yeah, the mattress song? I know that song. It goes like this...”.

OXLAEY MEDIA

OXLAEY is a not-for-profit project, creating short videos about up-worthy people. We focus on people expressing their local culture through work, beliefs, music, food, and tradition. We aspire to entertain while making a contribution towards documenting our world’s heritage. Our films are shot to be mobile-phone-sized windows on the world for modern explorers. 

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