'If I had a million dollar' by Barenaked Ladies, a Canadian "classic".

Salah satu hal tersulit dalam mempelajari bahasa asing adalah arti atau pesan terselubung yang hanya dapat ditangkap melalui pemahaman kultur dan lingkungan. Hal ini terlihat cukup signifikan melalui perbedaan humor. Sebagai contoh, suatu lelucon yang lucu di Kanada belum tentu lucu di Indonesia dan begitu pula sebaliknya.

Kami terkadang merekomendasikan murid-murid kami untuk mendengarkan lirik dari lagu-lagu populer di Kanada untuk dapat memahami berbagai "nuances".

Salah satu lagu yang cukup populer adalah If I had a million dollar oleh Barenaked Ladies. Konsep judul tersebut cukup universal, semua orang di dunia kami yakin cukup senang menerima uang sebanyak itu. Namun, karena lagu tersebut adalah lagu humoris maka yang menarik adalah lirik yang mereka tuliskan yang penuh dengan referensi terhadap kultur Amerika Utara.

Berikut adalah presentasi lagu tersebut yang kami ambil dari YouTube. Setelah itu, baca lirik yang ada dan coba temukan referensi kultural dalam lagu tersebut.

Ada pun lirik lagu tersebut yaitu:

If I Had a Million Dollars

If I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you a house (I’d buy you a house)
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
I’d buy you furniture for your house (maybe a nice chesterfield or an ottoman)
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you a K-Car (a nice reliant automobile)
And if I had a million dollars, I’d buy your love

If I had a million dollars I’d build a tree-fort in our yard
If I had a million dollars you could help, it wouldn’t be that hard
If I had a million dollars maybe we could put a little tiny fridge in there somewhere.

“You know, we could just go up there and hang out.”
“Like open the fridge and stuff, and there’d all be foods laid out for us like little pre-wrapped sausages and things. They have pre-wrapped sausages but they don’t have pre-wrapped bacon.”
“Well can you blame them?”
“Yeah.”
If I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you a fur a coat (but not a real fur coat, that’s cruel)
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you an exotic pet (yep, like a llama or an emu)
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you John Merrick’s remains (all them crazy elephant bones)
And if I had a million dollars I’d buy your love

If I had a million dollars we wouldn’t have to walk to the store
If I had a million dollars we’d take a limousine ’cause it costs more
If I had a million dollars we wouldn’t have to eat Kraft dinner
“But we would eat Kraft dinner.”
“Of course we would, we’d just eat more.”
“And buy really expensive ketchups with it.”
“That’s right, all the fanciest Dijon ketchups.”

If I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Wel I’d buy you a green dress (but not a real green dress that’s cruel)
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you some art (A Picasso or a Garfunkel)
And if I had a million dollars (If I had a million dollars)
Well I’d buy you a monkey (haven’t you always wanted a monkey?!)
And if I had a million dollars I’d buy your love

If I had a million dollars; if I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars; if I had a million dollars
If I had a million dollars… I’d be rich!

Dapatkah anda menemukan referensi kultural yang ada? Apakah anda memahami referensi-referensi tersebut?

Kami juga menemukan link menarik yang dapat membantu anda memahami referensi kultural dalam lirik di atas. Sebagai contoh, apa yang dimaksudkan dengan Kraft Dinner dan juga apakah Dijon ketchups atau tree-fort? Lalu yang lebih penting lagi, mengapa referensi-referensi tersebut dianggap humoris dalam lagu ini?

Klik disini untuk melihat penjelasan referensi kultural yang ada dalam lirik lagu ini.