"Apa Salah Baliku?" ("What Did My Bali Do Wrong?"): Popular Music and the 2002 Bali Bombings

The bombing of tourist venues in Bali on the night of 12 October 2002 produced many reactions. Various reasons for the bombings were proposed, and, in Balinese performing arts, the bombings became the impetus for a range of works. In many of these works, Balinese performers put the position that reasons for the bombings were in some way attributable to the Balinese themselves - that because of high levels of tourism and neglect of religious practice, the Balinese were being punished by divine forces. In this paper, this proposition is demonstrated through reference to pop songs about the bombings, specifically songs released immediately after the bombings on the CD, Reflections of Tragedy - Tears for Motion . Through analysis of the lyrics of the songs on this CD, Balinese ways of reading the bombings as response to defilement of the Balinese world, which relies on maintaining balance between the forces of good and those of evil, are investigated.