Genjer-genjer (Muhammad Arief), Sung by Bing Slamet
1960s recording of 'Genjer-genjer' (song by Muhammad Arief) sung by popular entertainer Bing Slamet (2:42, one track from a 29-track compilation on the Internet Archive). Shows the song's mainstream popularity before it was banned and tied to the PKI and the Lubang Buaya slander after 1965. Audio description only.
Genjer-genjer (Muhammad Arief), Sung by Lilis Suryani
1960s recording of 'Genjer-genjer' (song by Muhammad Arief) sung by popular entertainer Lilis Suryani (2:45, one track from a 35-track compilation on the Internet Archive). Shows the song's mainstream popularity before it was banned and tied to the PKI and the Lubang Buaya slander after 1965. Audio description only.
Berita Yudha, 19 October 1966
Berita Yudha, 19 Oktober 1966. Issue dominated by Subandrio's Mahmillub trial; a short Gerwani item on p. 2, with a Yogyakarta feature on villagers hearing the trial by radio opening with 'Genjer-genjer'.
Suara Merdeka, 26 June 1968, p. 1: Genjer-genjer trainer at Lubang Buaya arrested
Suara Merdeka front page, 26 June 1968: an Antara/Pendam V Jaya report that four alleged PKI members were arrested in Jakarta, including Titi Suwarti, said to have joined training at Lubang Buaya and taught Genjer-genjer. Shows New Order framing of women's alleged role at Lubang Buaya.
Genjer Genjer, Hip-Hop Version (2009)
Anonymous 2009 hip-hop version (4:33, MP3) of 'Genjer-genjer', the Banyuwangi folk song by Muhammad Arief that became associated with the PKI/Gerwani milieu and was banned under the New Order. Shows the song's afterlife in contemporary youth culture. Description only; no lyrics transcribed.
Tempo, 31 January 2011: Gerwani in choreography ('Tjap Merah')
Tempo review (31 Jan 2011) of 'Tjap Merah', a dance piece by Yosep Prihantoro Sadsuitubun (grandson of K.S. Tubun) at GoetheHaus, Jakarta, closing the exhibition 'Indonesia and the World 1959-1966'. It stages the stigma on Gerwani women (Lubang Buaya dancing and castration myth, 'ET' label, Genjer-genjer); he says most
Genjer-genjer, the song feared by history (Tempo, Ika Ningtyas, 2015)
Tempo feature (8 June 2015; IPT 1965 repost) on 'Genjermania', a Berlin live-music project by Tomi Simatupang raising funds for the son of Genjer-genjer composer Muhammad Arief, killed after 1965; traces the song's Japanese-occupation origin and its 1965 stigma.
Audio track (6:04) from the 2016 album 'Dunia Milik Kita' by Dialita, a choir of 1965 survivors and relatives; guest artist(s): Kroncongan Agawe Santoso. The album records songs written by women political prisoners and former Gerwani/leftist circles in the 1960s-70s, newly arranged (Yes No Wave YESNO083). The title ref
Merdu yang Dipaksa Sunyi: Arman Dhani's Introductory Essay to Dunia Milik Kita (2016)
Seven-page liner essay by Arman Dhani, issued with the free download of Dialita's album Dunia Milik Kita (2016), framing it as hearing again voices silenced by 'collective sin' after 1965 and introducing the ten songs and their young arrangers. A guide to the women's choir's repertoire.
Dunia Milik Kita: liner and production notes (Dialita, 2016)
Release page for Dialita's free album Dunia Milik Kita (17 Aug 2016, Yes No Wave): ten songs, most written in prison camps (Bukit Duri, Plantungan, Ambarawa, Salemba) or by Lekra composers, arranged by young indie musicians. Documents the choir of women ex-prisoners.
Breaking the silence with music (Anett Keller, 2019)
Anett Keller's 2019 südostasien feature (German) on music breaking silence about 1965: Genjer-genjer and its composer Muhammad Arief, Lekra composer Subronto Atmodjo, New Order policy, and post-1998 projects. Context on music and memory.
Women's resistance through writing in the albums Dunia Milik Kita and Salam Harapan (Saraswati and Subono, 2021)
2021 article by Saraswati and supervisors on Dialita's albums Dunia Milik Kita (2016) and Salam Harapan (2019), arguing songs by women prisoners are 'penulisan perempuan' and a form of resistance, with an account of Dialita's origins. Companion to the 2022 thesis summary.
The Act of Singing: Women, Music and the Politics of Truth and Reconciliation (Weintraub, 2021)
Andrew Weintraub's 2021 study of the Dialita choir from 2018-21 fieldwork with members including Njoto's daughter Irina Dayasih, arguing collective singing is critical remembrance and memory activism where legal routes are blocked. Substantial English-language study.
Tempo, 2 October 2021: Song of the alarm (Umi Sardjono in Bukit Duri prison)
Tempo feature (2 Oct 2021, Riky Ferdianto and Mustafa Silalahi) on Umi Sardjono in Bukit Duri prison (detained 20 Oct 1965, solitary cell as category A, 'Senayan cluster' with Dahliar, Mudigdio, Salawati Daud, Kartinah Kurdi). Witnesses Mudjiati, Utati, Nani Nurani Affandi describe forced confessions of Lubang Buaya da
Dialita: Collective Memories of Former Women Political Prisoners in Java (Lestariningsih and Sunarti, 2022)
Memory Studies article (2022) on the Dialita choir of former women political prisoners and relatives as a vehicle for identity and 'cultural reconciliation', drawing on interviews with Uchikowati, Utati and others; co-author wrote a book on Plantungan Gerwani prisoners. Key study.
Women's voices in the songs of the Dialita choir (Saraswati, 2022)
2022 Universitas Indonesia gender-studies thesis summary analysing five Dialita songs (Lagu untuk Anakku, Ibu, Salam Harapan, Tetap Senyum Menjelang Fajar, Ujian), written by women prisoners at Ambarawa, Bukit Duri and Plantungan, as feminine writing in Cixous's sense. Lyric analysis.
Mohammad Arief, santri's son who composed Genjer-genjer (Historia preview, 2022)
Historia.id article (preview only, 2022) on the song Genjer-genjer and its composer Mohammad Arief, countering the film's claim that Gerwani and Pemuda Rakyat sang it by saying it reflects Japanese-occupation suffering and that Arief was a santri's son. Partial text.
Tempo, 20 November 2022: Dialita's bold voice (Akademi Jakarta award)
Tempo report (20 Nov 2022, Dian Yuliastuti and Seno Joko Suyono) on the Dialita choir winning the 2022 Akademi Jakarta award. Formed 2011 by daughters and women ex-prisoners (including Utati and Mudjiati, Bukit Duri and Plantungan), it sings songs composed in detention, such as 'Salam Harapan' and 'Taman Bunga Plantung
Tempo.co, 11 December 2024: Human Rights Day - how Dialita fights the stigma of the 1965 tragedy
Tempo.co report (11 Dec 2024, Ihsan Reliubun and Reza Maulana) on the Dialita choir at Human Rights Day and Mia Bustam's book launch. Chair Uchikowati's mother Hartati was a Gerwani member; her parents were arrested on 1 Nov 1965 (mother freed 1973). Dialita was founded in 2011 by ex-prisoners from Bukit Duri, Ambarawa
Dialita (Indonesian Wikipedia, accessed 2026-10-13)
Indonesian Wikipedia article (retrieved 13 Oct 2026) on Dialita ('Di Atas Lima Puluh Tahun'), the Jakarta choir formed 2011 by Uchikowati Fauzia of women ex-prisoners and relatives, trained by Buru ex-prisoner Martin Lapanguli, performing songs composed in prison. Encyclopedic summary.
Genjer-genjer (English Wikipedia, accessed 2026-10-13)
English Wikipedia article (retrieved 13 Oct 2026) on the folk song Genjer-genjer by Muhammad Arief: 1942 Banyuwangi famine origin, 1963 peak on TVRI/RRI, and its place in the Lubang Buaya myth that Pemuda Rakyat and Gerwani sang it while mutilating the generals; banned until 1998. Encyclopedic summary.