What You Talkin' About? Lyrics

On a rainy day back in eighty-six [poetic licence for 1984],
They said someone's comin' from the sticks,
He's gonna sing me a song like I've never heard,
Low as a frog, high as a bird!

[Chorus:]
"What you talkin about?" Hoomei,
"What you talkin about?" Sygyt,
"What you talkin about?" A little kargyraa!
(Hoomei, sygyt, and kargyraa are the three basic styles
Of Tuvan throat-singing - see Quick Guide, above.)

I was askin' and listenin' and doin' my thing
For five long years and then,
Keep on lookin' for someone to tell me
Just to sing like him - couldn't find 'im!

[Chorus]

[Instrumental]

I've been playing the blues for 30 years
And I still keep doing my thing,
But my friend's got a new way that he sings
Like nobody you ever heard sing, come on!

[Chorus]

So I'm gonna keep on goin' people,
And they tell me next year,
I might go to Tuva to play my thing,
So they can hear Cher Shimjer, singin!