Ka Ka Ka (กา กา กา): meaning and key lines
Palmyปาล์มมี่
What the song is about
กา กา กาgaa gaa gaa, “Ka Ka Ka (Caw Caw Caw)”, is a T-pop song by Palmy (2011). Palmy's bouncy 2011 song tells you to stop moping after a break-up, link arms and dance like a vulture and a crow. An easy song in clear, everyday Thai: it teaches arms and legs, to stretch, to shout, lonely, free, why bother, two fun idioms, and the sound a Thai crow makes.
Free, no sign-up: learn the key lines and words with audio, then sing along.
Song facts
- Artist
- Palmy
- Released
- 2011
- Style
- T-pop
- Level
- A2 (elementary)
- Mood
- carefree, bouncy, defiant
- Views
- about 4.5M (Oct 2026)
- Video
- GMM GRAMMY OFFICIAL (the label's channel)
- Lyrics
- Key lines quoted; the full song is in the video
Key lines, explained
Tap a line to hear it. Once the video is playing, lines jump to their moment in the song.
- จะ jàมัว muaกังวล gang-wonกัน ganไปทำไม bpai tam-mai
Why waste your time worrying?
กังวลgang-won = to worry, to be anxious. มัวmua + verb = to keep doing something and lose time over it: มัวแต่เล่นเกมmua dtàe lên geem = to do nothing but play games. Verb + ไปทำไมbpai tam-mai = why bother …?, what's the point of …?: ซื้อไปทำไมsúue bpai tam-mai = why buy it? On its own ไปทำไมbpai tam-mai can also just mean 'why go?'. จะjà … ไปทำไมbpai tam-mai turns it into a friendly telling-off, and กันgan means all of us. - ไม่รู้ไม่ชี้ mâi rúu mâi chíiไม่ mâiคิด kítไม่ mâiแคร์ kaeอะไร à-rai
Know nothing, think nothing, care about nothing
Before it she sings about being on your own. ไม่รู้ไม่ชี้mâi rúu mâi chíi, literally 'not know, not point', is an idiom for keeping out of things and acting as if you know nothing: เขาทำไม่รู้ไม่ชี้kǎo tam mâi rúu mâi chíi = he played dumb. Palmy keeps the pattern going, ไม่mâi + verb again and again: ไม่คิดmâi kít = don't think, ไม่แคร์mâi kae = don't care. แคร์kae is the English 'care', said with a Thai mid tone. อะไรà-rai after a negative = anything: ไม่กินอะไรmâi gin à-rai = I'm not eating anything. - ยืด yûuetแขน kǎenยืด yûuetขา kǎa
Stretch your arms, stretch your legs
Easy body words: แขนkǎen = arm, ขาkǎa = leg, both said with a rising tone, and ยืดyûuet = to stretch. Thai needs no 'your': ล้างมือláang muue = wash (your) hands. A เสื้อยืดsûea-yûuet, a 'stretch shirt', is a T-shirt. - มา maaเต้นแร้งเต้นกา dtên ráeng dtên gaa
Come on, dance like vultures and crows
มาmaa + verb = come and …, let's …: มากินข้าวmaa gin kâao = come and eat. เต้นแร้งเต้นกาdtên ráeng dtên gaa, word for word 'dance the vulture, dance the crow', is an idiom for jumping about for joy: in this song, dancing like nobody's watching. เต้นdtên = to dance, แร้งráeng = vulture, กาgaa = crow. - มัน manอยาก yàakตะโกน dtà-goonออก àwkไป bpaiว่า wâaกา gaaกา gaaกา gaaกา gaaกา gaa
I just want to shout it out: caw, caw, caw, caw, caw!
Just before it comes a line in English. ตะโกนdtà-goon = to shout; ตะโกนออกไปdtà-goon àwk bpai = to shout it out, away from you. ว่าwâa brings in the words: ตะโกนว่าช่วยด้วยdtà-goon wâa chûay dûay = to shout 'help!'. มันman, 'it', is a filler here: it makes me want to. A Thai crow says กาgaa, which is also its name; everyday speech calls it อีกาii-gaa. - ก็ gâwอย่า yàaไป bpaiเหงา ngǎoทำ tamใจ jaiให้ hâiว่าง wâang
So don't go feeling lonely; clear your mind
The second verse is about life without him. อย่าไปyàa bpai + verb = don't go and …, a softer อย่าyàa, don't: อย่าไปคิดมากyàa bpai kít mâak = don't overthink it. เหงาngǎo = lonely. ทำtam + something + ให้hâi + adjective = to make it so: ทำใจให้ว่างtam jai hâi wâang = to make your heart free, empty, to clear your mind. ว่างwâang = free, empty, also 'not busy': ว่างไหมwâang mǎi = are you free? ก็gâw = so, then.
Words you'll learn
- กังวล gang-won
anxious, worried (about a situation)
- ไม่รู้ไม่ชี้ mâi rúu mâi chíi
to stay out of it, to play dumb (idiom)
Literally 'not know, not point'.
- ขา kǎa
leg
- เต้นแร้งเต้นกา dtên ráeng dtên gaa
to jump about for joy (idiom)
Word for word 'dance the vulture, dance the crow': to jump about for joy, without a care for how it looks.
- ตะโกน dtà-goon
to shout, to yell
- เหงา ngǎo
lonely
- ว่าง wâang
free (not busy); empty, vacant
- กา gaa
crow
Named after its call: Thai crows say กาgaa. Everyday speech says อีกาii-gaa.
- แคร์ kae
to care, to mind (from English)
- ยืด yûuet
to stretch
เสื้อยืดsûea-yûuet, a 'stretch shirt', is a T-shirt.
- มัว mua
to keep (doing), waste time (doing)
มัวแต่mua dtàe + verb = to do nothing but …: มัวแต่นอนmua dtàe nawn = to sleep the day away.
- ไปทำไม bpai tam-mai
why bother?, what for? (after a verb)
รอไปทำไมraw bpai tam-mai = why wait? On its own it can also mean 'why go?'.
Grammar in this song
Telling someone not to. อย่าyàa + verb = don't, and อย่าไปyàa bpai + verb is softer, 'don't go and …': อย่าไปเหงาyàa bpai ngǎo (don't go feeling lonely). Verb + ไปทำไมbpai tam-mai asks why bother: กังวลไปทำไมgang-won bpai tam-mai (why worry?), with มัวmua for the time it wastes: มัวรอไปทำไมmua raw bpai tam-mai (why waste your time waiting?).
มาmaa + verb invites: มาเต้นmaa dtên (come and dance), มากินกันmaa gin gan (let's eat). ทำtam X ให้hâi + adjective makes X so: ทำใจให้ว่างtam jai hâi wâang (clear your mind). ไม่mâi + verb + อะไรà-rai = not … anything: ไม่แคร์อะไรmâi kae à-rai (I don't care about anything).
The culture behind it
Palmy (ปาล์มมี่bpaam-mîi), born Eve Pancharoen in 1981, is a Thai-Belgian pop-rock singer with GMM Grammy; her grandmother named her after a brand of soap (Thai Wikipedia). "กากากาgaa gaa gaa" came out as a single in 2011 and is the second track of her album Palmy 5, released on 9 December 2011; in January 2012 she named her concert at Impact Arena after it (Thai Wikipedia). Its words are by Itthipong Kridakorn na Ayutthaya, better known as Ta, the singer of PARADOX, who also wrote their Nong Ple; the music is by Ta and Palmy (the video's credits).
The song's advice after a break-up is to stop worrying and let go completely, and its picture of that is the crow, กาgaa. In Thai sayings the crow is the lowly bird beside the swan: someone out of place among grander people is กาในฝูงหงส์gaa nai fǔung hǒng, a crow among swans. To 'dance the vulture, dance the crow', เต้นแร้งเต้นกาdtên ráeng dtên gaa, is to leap about with glee: the Royal Society's example is children who hear they're going to the sea. It adds that the birds came later: in some regional Thai ก๋าgǎa means 'to dance', and the vulture, แร้งráeng, was added to make a pair. Palmy's song, which her label said was inspired by crows, takes the birds at their word, and here jumping for joy is the whole point.
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Written by the Learn Thai For Free team
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