Sa alaala ng ngiti mo, lumiliwanag ang mundo

Over the last few months I've had the privilege, perhaps more than ever in my life, to be able to read books for leisure, and every time I finish another exhilirating adventure, I can't help but get the idea that in all those stories, love is just happenstance, just another subplot to provide our hero with just another inconvenience on his way to winning his ultimate prize. It doesn't define him, because he's much too great to be affected by something so petty. He is destined for greatness.

And love is so pedestrian.

It's the least common denominator, the common dreams that the unwashed masses strive for to prop up their sad little lives, which is why all these banal pop songs and teledramas and pulp literature push love down our throats.

Love is so pedestrian, I end up thinking to myself.

Which is why it's such a comfort to go to a Bayang Barrios gig, like I did last night at the Conspiracy Cafe. When she starts singing beautiful songs about love (yes, love!) like Joey Ayala's "Walang Hanggang Paalam" or "Malayo Man, Malapit Din" (the theme of Pinoy Abroad), you'd have to convince me that angels weren't the least bit involved. Something so divine couldn't merely be pedestrian, right?

As a bonus, Mike Villegas (Bayang's husband and former Rizal Underground guitarist) was goaded by the small crowd into singing the Rizal Underground hit "Bilanggo." He prefaced the song by saying, "I wrote this ten years ago for Bayang, nanliligaw pa lang ako sa kanya... hindi niya ako sinagot."

Labels: music

- posted by jaemark @ 7/11/2005 02:31:00 AM