Of Juno, Tree Hugger, Koto and cabbage

If you watched Juno last year, the quirky teenager who from a bond with the future adoptive parents of her unborn child, you probably notice the remarkable soundtrack and among them, the happy tune tree hugger by Kimya Dawson and Antsy Pants:

I had an unhealthy obsession with that song for a long while. Sure the video is awesome and the tune is catchy but I could not get out of my mind for weeks. I could not really pinpoint why that song had such an effect to me until recently.
It was not the simple chords, nor was it the eco-friendly lyrics. It was not the oddly amusing French lyrics thrown in in the middle of the songs:

“Et le chacalot a dit:
“Je voudrais être un yéti
Pour voler dans la nuit
Et m’envoler loin d’ici”
Mais le yéti a dit:
“Je veux être un monstre marin
Pour pouvoir sauter dans la mer
De tous les requins”

I was none of all that. It was because 25 years ago, one afternoon in elementary school @ ESCA, we were supposed to have sports education. Unfortunately, the rain came down hard and we had to go to plan B in the music room and learn a new song for kids. The song was called “O ry Koto, Ebeso tsara ny laisoa” (spelling ?), literally it translates into: “Koto, make sure you watch over the lettuce”
It goes like this (in Malagasy):
“We ask the dog to watch over the Koto,
but the dog did not want to watch over Koto,
we asked Koto to watch over the cabbage,
but Koto did not want to watch over the cabbage,
And the cabbage did not want to be watched over by Koto,
Koto, make sure you watch over the cabbage”.

And you can make a neverending song if you keep adding a verse to the song by adding an animal to watch over the latest watcher. It makes no sense at all but it is nonetheless an extremely fun song to sing. Moreover, it songs a lot like “Tree Hugger” and the chorus with the flower and the cactus is a dead ringer for “Koto and the cabbage”.

So there you go, Tree Hugger is a great tune but more importantly, it bridges me with my childhood and my North American experience with the culture I identify to.

That’s how you get obsessed with cabbages.
If you want to give for Kamba:
GIVE TO Zazavavy !