number 1 track in my ipod's most frequently played list is this haunting song by the best band ever discovered outside of the cultural capital of the Philippines, ang South Border. ito iyong de facto theme song ng number one fantaserye sa atin ngayon -- Mulawin (mapapanood sa GMA 7 only. sorry mga fellow TFC subscribers, out of the loop tayo.)
yes, you read it right. fantaserye. well, kung true blue Pinoy ka, gets mo na kaagad ang etymology ng monstrosity of a word na ito. wa na pagka-explain. cheapens what already is a tawdry affair.
so when i went home recently, that's when i first saw some of the episodes of this humongously successful show. pero, kung pipilitin mo akong tanungin kong magaling nga ba talaga itong flagship show ng Kapuso network (as opposed to ABS-CBN's Kapamilya network. god, how derivative our media people back home really are.) ito lang ang maisasagot ko.
same old, same old. well, a dash of quitely arresting CGI effects here and there (in glaring contrast to the gross out flimflammery in Channel 2's Krystala) but nothing revolutionary really is going for this one. oh, some surprising Russian cinema low-ground camera effects, but nothing much really. and i am not in my bitchy cruise control mode today, mind you.
but apparently, ang buong bansa ay nata-transfix. sa latest ratings, almost 40% ng total household viewers ang nako-corner ng TV show na ito. and this on a daily basis. for those who can still remember this particular Marcos-sponsored bacchanalia in the 70's ba 'kamo, parang araw-araw ay mayroong idinaraos na Ms. Universe contest sa atin. ganyan karami ang nanonood ng palabas na ito.
pero hindi iyan ang aking kuwento. ito iyon.
noong nandoon pa nga ako sa Maynila, naririnig ko snippets of this song on the radio. flat out touched a raw nerve in me. ewan ko kung ano ba in my system that got me hooked on this song. siguro like ko lang talaga ang mga tracks na may feature na isang malinis at matining na falsetto. or maybe, i'm just a sucker for good old Pinoy ballads. kayo na lang ang lumaki sa mga bombastic ballads noong heyday ng OPM, no?
so go kaagad ako ng music store and presto got this Mulawin pseudo-soundtrack for a whistle. fast forward, download kaagad sa ipod. entonces, sa kare-repeat ng track na ito, number one siya ngayon sa aking most played playlist.
so ngayon, ako mismo ay baffled to the max kung bakit ganito na lang ba ang aking pagkahibang sa kantang ito. hate ko naman ang ibang mga kanta ng South Border sa kanilang previous albums, especially that egregiously versed Rainbow.
ang explanation ko lang sa pagka-ngayon is this. which somehow you could reduce to a simple argument about the pernicious effect of the ubiquitous TV. kasi ganito. in time for the way, way, too advanced celebration nating mga Pinoy ng Chrismas season, patalbugan ngayon ang dalawang dambuhalang TV networks sa bansa ng kanilang mga institutional ads for the holidays.
siyempre pa, carried away ako sa, you guessed it, GMA ad featuring the lead characters of Mulawin nga, sina Aguiluz at Alwina. featured sa nasabing ad ang isang probinsiyanang chimay na namamasukan sa Maynila. one night, in the depths of her kalungkutan, being away from her own family in the probinsiya and all of that kadramahan, may I appear ngayon sina Aguiluz at Alwina (in all their winged glories) at biglang tinangay itong nagdadalamhating chami back to her good old pastoral hearth just in time for Christmas.
so in summary, class, ang drama ng ad na ito ay on the wings of love sa Kapaskuhan. patok ang formula di ba? tap into the latent paganistic beliefs of the Pinoys and let it serve well sa isang ostensibly Christian event. panalo.
anyway, having lived a very cliched Pinoy expat life here in New York (what being an expat nurse and all) may I identify ako most facilely sa ad na ito. entonces number four, thus explaining perhaps why this song has risen to the top of my ipod charts.
pero, come to think of it now that i have somehow threshed out this current obsession of mine, parang more and more na nagle-lean ako to the this belief na hindi ko masyadong pinakikinggan.
na somehow this has got to do with the song itself, i mean my most puzzling addiction sa song na ito. parang organic sa song ang aking pagkalike sa kaniya. ano kaya? natagpuan ko na kaya ang the perfect original pilipino song?
uy, sorry george canseco, ha. alam kong patay ka na and parang required ako to say a token of praise sa iyong genius in songwriting. pero this one (ay title nga pala ng song "Ikaw Nga") really gets me. at least for now.
ang gulo. baka kung itulog ko kaya muna ito, baka mas lalong maliliwanagan ako. iyan kung hindi darating sina Aguiluz at Alwina at tatangayin ako pabalik ng Maynila.
Cue Handel. Aleluia, aleluia, aleeluuiaaaa.