When he attempted to read the poems of Goenawan Mohamad for the first time, Umar Muslim immediately gave up. Umar, who had created catchy melodies from Sapardi Djoko Damono and Toto Sudarto Bachtiar's poetry, considered Goenawan's verses impossible to musicalize. "It's difficult because they contain words that are not poetic," said Umar.

Umar has tried to adapt Goenawan's verses into songs since the 1990s. Only a decade later did Umar succeed in shapi