Friday, July 24, 2009
A yellow ribbon for Cory Aquino
The ‘yellow ribbon’ that became the symbol for the revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship is a takeoff from Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree, a pop song by Tony Orlando and Dawn – the same group that gave us Knock Three Times. Former Talking Heads main man David Byrne noted the peculiarity of the choice during his 2005 visit to Manila:Yellow was adopted due to the song “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” which was adopted in celebration of the return of Aquino to the Philippines — the welcoming crowd wore yellow. Surreal, these pop connections — a connection between Tony Orlando and Dawn and a grass roots uprising that overthrows a dictator — it makes my head spin.
Unfortunately Ninoy Aquino was gunned down at the airport…but Cory and her supporters kept with the yellow from then on.
Before it was co-opted by the revolution, the song belonged to Cory and Ninoy, their theme song while Ninoy was incarcerated. The tune about the return of a long-lost lover helped tide the couple over during more than seven years Ninoy spent in prison.
I remember reading somewhere, I don’t know if it was an interview or a book about Cory, where she related how she felt when her husband died (unfortunately, I couldn’t find the exact quote). She said that she wished that it was her who was killed instead, so that Ninoy could live. But then, she thought to herself, why in the world would anyone care if it were just a plain housewife who died?
It was the sweetest, most heartbreaking thing I'd ever heard.
Labels: news and issues
