When I had some time for myself middle of last week, when not busy trying to figure out the chords to May Bukas Pa, My Friends Tigger and Pooh and Little Einsteins (requests by my little daughter for our sing-along sessions), I tried to reminisce and play back the songs I composed eons ago -- although these songs I'm talking about were not exactly my old band's fare but personal compositions of mine.
Side note: Yes, I was in a band, you can read about it here.
That's the music man in me talking, of course.
When not engaged in world-delving or writing or blogging or in being a husband and father, music is another so-called artistic outlet of mine. Sidetracked for some time thanks to an inability to purchase a guitar (either due to lack of resources or willpower depending on the situation), the new spanking, black Silvertone acoustic metal twanger (pictured here) has got me rocking to music again.Of course, I expect my fret-fingers to accustom themselves again to the fret-board (bleed and then harden to calluses, most likely) and I still have difficulty with doing the bar chords (the Bs and Fs along with their flats and sharps and their diminishes and majors) but like they say, "no pain, no gain". In no time for sure, I'll be back to doing my evening-long sessions with mi gitara. Probably, singing for my wife and my daughter (aarghh, still can't find the chords to Dibo the Gift Dragon).
Lest you think I'm some kind of guitar virtuoso, let me re-wire your perception. I am no guitar guru. I don't even really know how to read tabs -- I'm a caveman when it comes to these things. I'm more of a "chords" man and my personal reason for learning to play the guitar is not to do covers or mimic a guitar hero that I idolize but more to explore my creative side.
I play the guitar to play my own songs. I play the guitar to write down my own ideals, my own aspiration, about things that make me happy and stuff that make me love. I play the guitar for my own satisfaction and if in the process of my rather narcissistic musical quests someone feels happy, then that makes me happy as well.
I write about loves, lost and found ones; about life and its ups and downs; about situations that catch my fancy or tickle my imagination; about people and about places. I write dark songs (which I did for my old band) and I write novelty-sounding songs. I don't come up with overly complicated songs that highlight my skill with the guitar and its strings as I sorely lack such talent. Instead I come up with songs that allow the poet in me to come out. I play with words and I let music accompany those words and not the other way around.
And most of the songs I write end up being in Filipino. Filipino (and thereby Tagalog), in my opinion, is a great language to use when coming up with words and lyrics as the language is witty, rich and filled with nuances that you can say things one way but mean it another way. You have your choice of words from colloquial to the deep and how you mix and match them is an art in itself that makes whatever composition come out as a double artwork -- the melody and the words themselves.
And here's a little something I crudely recorded using Audacity (a great app I previously talked about here).
A little backgrounder: I was inspired to write this song after several nights (more accurately wee mornings) of watching the then Cheri Mercado (now Mercado-Santos) doing her middle-of-midnight news broadcast program "Global News" for ABS-CBN around 1997 (or '98) and my own musings on how tough it would have been for her to stay pretty, read her lines, and deliver everything in perfect English when at the back of her mind she could have been thinking "Who the heck is watching this news program anyway at this ungodly hour?". Well, I was watching. And I was admiring her for her tenacity at doing what she was doing and those thoughts fueled this short and upbeat tune.
Lyrics below, just in case you can't understand what I am hollerin' about in this song. I own the copyright to this song, the lyrics, the tune and all. And there's no mistaking it's my voice you'll hear.
Numero_Uno_(Alay kay Cheri Mercado) - Ram Ragandan
NUMERO UNO (Alay kay Cheri Mercado)
Alas-dose y media ng hatinggabi
Nang makita kita sa TV
Namumugto iyong mata
Siguradong napuyat ka na naman ‘di ba?
O pilit na pilit gisingin
Mga mata upang basahin
Mga letrang nagliliitan
Paano mo nagagawa ‘yan?
Pinipilit na ngumiti
Kahit hikab gustong gawin ng mga labi
Ako’y iyong pinahanga
Dahil pag-i-Ingles mo ay derecho pa
O pilit na pilit gisingin
Mga mata upang basahin
Mga letrang nagliliitan
Paano mo nagagawa ‘yan?
Kaya ngayon ako’y sumasabay
Sa iyong paglalamay
Para masabi mo naman
Merong nanunuod kahit isa lang
Kahit isa lang
At ako ‘yan
Your number one fan
