Last week, on Wednesday, 8/4/2020 – one of my favourite Indonesian musicians passed away after battling with meningitis. I did not know the news, until about midnight when my husband told me: “Have you heard that Glenn Fredly passed away?” I was nursing my baby girl, stopped for a few seconds, tried to digest what I just heard. And then I said: No, dryly. I was in a total disbelief.
The next morning, I sat down quietly at 5am, had my cereal in a dim-lit room and read the news. I was lost.
I love his music, as I grew up with his music throughout the final year of high school and university years. I bought his CD, memorize his lyrics and sang his songs out loud. But what I did not realize was the emotion that sticks so deep in me. It is not merely about Glenn Fredly as a person, it is not about his songs per se, but about how his music connected to me, to my soul.
I did not bother or care about his personal life. He has his right to steer his life, because for me Glenn was a musician after all. And his music was the universal language among a lot of Indonesian youngsters.
I remembered one time when I had to visit Medan, North Sumatra for a short working visit. As I arrived at the airport, I was picked up by a good looking man – the husband of my good friend. My friend was still in Jakarta as she had to look after her sick child. But she told me to get along with her husband, whom I only met on their wedding day, a few years earlier. Awkward, as you could tell.
But we went along. We had dinner at one huge open space in the centre of the city and he started to told me stories. Love stories about my friend and their relationship. He mentioned that there was no girl like my friend who would support him everywhere he went into (for work, as he is a civil servant). For him, my friend was his whole world. He admitted that he could not express it because he was not the romantic type of person, but he loved her. And he admitted that in front of me, a stranger.
At the end of the story, he told me that his most glorious moment was when he surprised her with Glenn Fredly’s concert in Bali, a few years earlier. It was his most glorious way of saying how much he loved his wife, my friend.
When I got back to the hotel, I called her immediately. And she asked me straightaway, “What did he talk about?” I told her, “Nothing else, but you” She thought I was lying. Until I mentioned about Glenn Fredly’s concert as a surprise. She was crying on the phone, because she never told anyone. But I knew it from her husband.
You know, Glenn has been a symbol of love and relationships for million of Indonesian people. Like my friend and her husband, and me. My favourite song was “My Everything” circa 2005 as the soundtrack of “Cinta Silver” movie. I fell in love with the character of Cecilia Ariyani (yup, same name!) played by Luna Maya (I love that beautiful lady since I watched her in this movie). Cecilia was portrayed as a girl who loves to write, fell in love and the classic love story went on. That movie and the song caught up in me.
Rest in Peace, Bung Glenn. May God bless your soul, pour His love for your wife and your little girl. And may you will be remembered as one soul embedded in a million love stories!
My Writing Paper 