Burmese pop is the modern popular music of Myanmar: guitar-led band sound carrying singing that follows the inflections of the Burmese language. Early on it was dominated by 'copy thachin' — Burmese lyrics set to the melodies of Western hits — before developing into original 'stereo' songs and Burmese rock.

Under military rule, foreign media were restricted, yet young people longed for Western rock and pop and borrowed those melodies to sing in Burmese. This 'copy thachin' became a distinctive culture that localized Western pop while slipping past censorship. Sai Htee Saing and others won wide popularity in the 1970s.

Trying to identify which Western hit a song borrows reveals the charm of copy thachin. Pay attention to the particular texture created when the soft inflections of Burmese ride a Western melody.

Sai Htee Saing's 'Mhway' is an accessible representative of 1970s Burmese pop.

Zaw Win Htut is known as the 'godfather of Burmese rock,' still revered as the figure who planted rock music in Myanmar during the years of military rule.