You’ll Be Safe Here
214
(watch for that wicked high note in the end – and it’s live!)
241 (My Favorite Song)
Rivermaya is Rico Blanco on keyboards, guitars, and vocals, Mark Escueta on drums, Mike Elgar on guitars and background vocals, and Japs Sergio on bass.
Even the random thoughts of great songwriters have a lyrical quality to them. Here’s a sample from Rico Blanco’s myspace page. Anyone brave enough to quote “Bohemian Rhapsody” on his About Me blurb is pretty cool in my book.
*you don’t know me unless you really know me. even then you may be wrong.
*i write most of my songs in the morning. but i don’t think i’m a morning person.
*it’s easy for people to invent things about other people.
*i don’t smoke or do drugs. pero minsan mukha akong adik. (but sometimes i look like an addict)
*i drink occasionally. isang bote, lasing. (one beer, i’m drunk.)
*the title 241 doesn’t mean anything
*214 doesn’t mean anything as well
*having piano in a rivermaya song is nothing new, i was a keyboardist when rivermaya started out for crying out loud. and coldplay has nothing to do with it. hahaha.
*we covered shiver in 2002 to humor a friend of mine who always kept telling me the guy reminded her of me. we had no idea it was going to be big, and no plans of putting it in the live album, but some people thought it was a good idea. i didn’t.
*the comments about me being heavily influenced by bowie, gahan, sylvian, mcculoch and mercury have good foundation though. cannot deny that.
*chips and dip rock.
*i like inserting U2 songs in our gigs, i grew up adoring how bono would insert other people’s songs in theirs.
*i do not have a single pirated CD. it’s not about stealing money from us. it’s about developing a culture that says it’s alright for us to steal whenever we can get away with it. do we really want a whole generation of kids growing up to be corrupt leaders of our nation?
*i have a big mouth and i contradict myself often.
*i was and still am a durannie. i still get a high listening to the whole rio album.
*when some people ask about my evolution i tell them its probably only more obvious cos i’ve been in the business for over 13 years and people can see pics and vids from different eras (haha) side by side. but people change. everyone. do you still wear the same style of clothes you wore back in grade school? the beatles evolved, madonna, U2, etc…
*ok he evolved too, michael jackson, and he’s a musical genius but a little too unusual sometimes. cosmetic surgery for vanity doesnt make too much sense to me. like i said, count your blessings. but hey i think i won an MJ sing-and-dance-alike contest once upon a time in our barangay (town). seriously.
Update:
I chose the three songs above not just because they’re among my favorites but also because they’re sung in English and hence won’t necessitate subjecting you to my fumbling attempts at translation.
If only I had it in me to properly translate the lyrics and adequately convey the poetry, the captivating imagery, and the depth of meaning of this next song, then maybe I could make you feel how achingly beautiful this marvelous piece of music is. I can still clearly remember the first time I was sent these lyrics almost ten years ago (has it been that long?), in an age of shared innocence and idealism. I wish love and all its promises could always be this honest, and this simple.
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The song is called “Ilog” – an original Filipino folk song written by Joey Ayala, wonderfully remade by Rivermaya (featuring Kitchie Nadal) in their most recent album. It is a testament to their musicality that they can take an ethnic/folk song and re-arrange it so that it sounds ambient and rock and alternative all at the same time, while still retaining most of the original folk flavor, and all of its lyrical impact.
Word.
. . .
Here’s the original Ilog by Joey Ayala. (It’s at least the earliest recording I have.)
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Joey Ayala – Walang Hanggang Paalam
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The cover of “Ilog” is okay, but you should really hear the original version. If you get a chance, you should have a listen to Joey Ayala’s “Panganay ng Umaga” and “Magkabilaan” – preferably, the earlier recordings, which were self-produced and only available via your usual “tibak” outlets. He re-recorded them when he got signed to a major label but they didn’t sound as fresh.
It’s quite encouraging to hear these new bands performing songs that were clearly “out there” and alternative, back when being so was not “in”. I know Bamboo are currently doing a cover of Buklod’s “Tatsulok”.
(Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine Gary V., of all people, singing the lyrics “Totoy bilisan mo/ bilisan mo ang takbo/ Ilagan ang mga balang /nakatutok sa ulo mo” – as her performed it with the band on a variety show about a month ago )
Or does this indicate there was a Joey Ayala tribute album, which seems to be all the rage recently… Eheads tribute, Apo Hiking tribute, etc.
Ah, I was just about to post my Joey Ayala recording. I wasn’t aware that there was an earlier self-produced one. Now I’m not sure which one I have, but it’s likely the not-as-fresh-sounding one.
The latest Rivermaya album was sort of a tribute to the local music scene of the 70s and 80s. (And maybe some early 90s?)
There are two Joey Ayala songs in it (Padayon is the other one), Wuds, Identity Crisis, Ethnic Faces, Dean’s December, Violent Playground, Silos, The Jerks … it was the trip down high school memory lane that made me dig up some old After Image tapes.
The recordings I’m referring to only existed on cassette, AFAIK. The first release of “Magkabilaan” had an image of the shadow of Joey A. holding his kudyapi (that 2-stringed guitar-like instrument). This was the first release of Magkabilaan, and I remember Eric Caruncho reviewing the same tape in Manila Chronicle at the time.
The “Panganay ng Umaga” release I got in 1988 in UP had an orange cover, with a large sillhouette of his head surrounded by clouds. I heard that the first time this was released was in ’82, but probably not as a “sellable” product. So I don’t know if the version I had is the 2nd recording, or just a nicer-looking release, with lyrics and all.
The story I got was that *in both cases*, they lost the original recordings, so had to re-record them. Bloody hell. Or maybe Joey A. wasn’t satisfied and wanted to clean them up so he went back to the studio.
Damn, this reminds me – I should check those tapes and try to get them in digital form. I hope they still work!
So Rivermaya did Padayon too, wow. Respect!
Good thing they didn’t dare do Walang Hanggang Paalam. Some things should just be left alone, perfect as they are. =)
Ooops, didn’t notice you’d posted the recording already. Yeah, that’s the same version I have.
I have to admit that my first foray into Joey Ayala territory was from a lyrical point of view. I had read his lyrics before ever hearing his music. When I finally heard Ilog, it was quite different from what I had imagined it would sound like. Not in a bad way. Just … different. Maybe that’s why I really like Rivermaya’s version. It’s closer to what I originally thought it would be.
On the other hand, Walang Hanggang Paalam (I’ll upload it shortly) was exactly as I imagined. Or perhaps I imagined it otherwise, but the original just knocked it out of the park and completely obliterated whatever inferior version I had in my head.