Full
disclaimer here – I am a huge Joseph Gara fan.
I saw him for
the first time in a wedding party of a dear friend, unmindfully singing as
guests were entering the ballroom of a hotel. Apart from his guitar, he was
his own prop, tucked neatly at one side of the stage, almost unseen as a massive
bouquet of giant white lilies and carnations stood beside his guitar
stand. Right there and then I thought
that this guy would go places, because it was quite clear that he liked his
music, and while he sang covers of popular acoustic ballads, he seemed to claim them as his own, making the music sound fresh, and the words as if they were
freshly minted.
I am an
avid spectator of his shows – at South Palms Resort, one of our favourite staycation spots in
Bohol, where he seemed to be a regular; at the many weddings that he was
contracted to serenade; at the many cultural events in the province where he
was a part of or was the sole reason for its convening. I also follow his Spotify releases, his Youtube
sessions, and his international performances, mainly because the artist is
serious about his craft – his music-making is sincere and infectious, and his
relationship with his instrument, a guitar in one, and a ukulele in another, is
quite a sight to behold. I even hired him once in a book launch some months
ago, because what he does with his music matched the level of dedication that
the author of the book that my publishing house launched that week gave to his
written pieces.
While I am
fascinated by his singing, I am more inspired by his writing and composing songs. And in this blog post, my first for this year
at Boholanalysis, I will talk about 5 reasons why I love (and you should as
well) his songs.
1. The lyrics are delicious; they are poignantly beautiful. (Sorry Joseph, I need to
translate this to English here for my friends. 😊)
I was not surprised when he won the most recent Cebu Pop Music
Festival. Apart from the haunting
melody, the lyrics of his masterpiece, "Sugid ni Maria" are just heavenly – travelling between the terrains of emotion
and insight as the story progresses from intro to fade. He says:
Sa akong mga damgo In
my dreams
Puy-an matag Segundo I
will relish every second
Alimyon sa panit mo the
fragrance of your skin
Sinina’ng paborito your
favourite dress
Balay’ng imong gisa the
house where you lived
Kanta’ng imogan the
song that you played
Ikaw ang una’ You
are my lips’
Ni’ng ngabil ko first
kiss.
“Alimyon sa panit mo, sinina’ng paborito”. I have never imagined that
one day these will become words for a Boholano love song. We love the “invisible
person” by adoring their “visibility”.
It reminds us of the many hands that remained unwashed for days because
they were held by a god/goddess we loved.
It reminds us of the letters that we kept or the screenshots of messages
that we received. It reminds us of our uncanny habit to visit places that we
shared memories with the people we love, because it brings that inexplicable
feeling of belonging.
2. The songs speak of our ordinary
experiences in the most unordinary way.
One of the most endearing characteristics of artists is their ability to
capture the ordinary fares of the everyday in a very delicately extraordinary
way. One of my favourite painters, for
example, Johannes Vermeer, makes lacemaking an extraordinary profession with
his 16th-century canvas that features a woman so engrossed with,
what else, but lace-making. Joseph does this
kind of metamorphosis of the ordinary to greatness in, for example, the “Foodie
Song”, where he sings…
Bahala na’g manambok ta’ng duha I
don’t care if we two will get fat
Basta mangaon ta kong asa ta gananahan As
long as we eat where we fancy
Wala’y pulos ang diet taman ra estorya Diet
is of no use, all but words
Mapugngan pa ang gugma Love can be suppressed
dili gyud ang gan but not our appetite
Litson na pod, inun-onan na pod Lechon again, pickled
fish again
Maayo lang gani kay allergic ta sa seafood Good that we are allergic to seafood
Atleast aduna ta’y likay-likayan At least there’s
something to avoid
Lisod sad kaayo’g kan-on nalang tana It’s
difficult if we can eat everything
I know, I know. The translation does not do justice, but let’s settle
with it for now until a better translator comes along. But if you listen to the song, set to a tune
that’s playful and seemingly reckless, you can imagine how ordinary people go
on food dates (eating dates, who among us do not do that?) hopping between
restaurants from one day to another and getting fat along the way.
3. The music is not forced into the
song, and vice versa.
When you listen intently to a Joseph
Gara song, you can really say that a lot of “thinking” goes into its
production. The syncopated beat, the choice
of the dominant instrument, the voice quality of the singer, everything from
start to finish is very thoughtfully laid out. Joseph Gara does not rush. He lets
the song mature that the product becomes a fully-grown masterpiece. The first
runner up winner of a Boholano pop music festival some years ago sang by another
favourite performer of mine, Nabela Gudito, exemplifies this restrained
perfection. Nabela, in Joseph’s words
and music, sings:
Gugma kining gibati ko This love I am feeling
Ug unya unta tuohan mo That I hope you will believe in
Sa makausa imong duyugan One more time, you will join me
Imng habulan sa mga bukton And cover me with your arms
Ug unya unta tuohan mo That I hope you will believe in
Sa makausa imong duyugan One more time, you will join me
Imng habulan sa mga bukton And cover me with your arms
“Duyan”, the title of the
song, which literally means hammock, sounds like a Boholano lullaby, sang on the
beach, under the palm trees. You can feel the waves kissing the white sandy beach;
you can hear the soft rustles of the coconut palm leaves, caressed gently by the
wind. “Duyan”, in its acoustic version, probably the first cut of the song before
it got reconfigured for the 2014 Sandugo Pop Music, is still my preferred version.
4. His songs feature our culture as a
Boholano. It makes us proud of who we are.
Joseph Gara is a Boholano from Alicia, Bohol. In his songs, he features Bohol and the
Boholano’s way of life. One of my favourite upbeat songs, an entry to the first
Himog Huni songfest in Bohol, was “Didtong Dapita”, sang with her wife, Lizeth
Gara. Talking about his favourite things, he advised the woman in the song, not
to bring him to shopping malls but asks that….
Magisturya ta’g lami Let’s
talk about good things
Sama sa gugma ug pagkaon Like
love or food
Ug sikwate or
hot chocolate
Asa may mas lami sa Cogon ug Baluart Which one is more delicious
the one in Cogon or Baluarte?
The
song suggests that there are so many things to do in this Boholano province than spending
a day lazily at a mall. There’s the
beach, there’s the mountain, there are rivers to explore – there are far better
ways to spend a day, like immersing in the local culture. The word “didtong
dapita”, which means “out there”, is an invitation to explore, to discover,
what this place has to offer.
5. Finally, his songs sing of hope, of
a beautiful world, of the light after the darkness.
There is always sublime optimism in a Joseph Gara song, despite the presence
of heartaches (for example, the pain of unrequited love in “Friendly” sang by
Brandon Ungab), despite the agony of longing and anticipation (in, for instance,
in “Paghunas”, sung by Jayneil Enriquez). But this optimism is very loud in one
of his few English songs that debuted at Spotify in 2017.
Here goes the rain
In the early afternoon
So lay down the bed
Here’s the gentle mist you’re missing
Life, oh life, life, life
So beautiful
This world may be replete with negativity, but Joseph Gara invites us to see it with a new set of eyes. He invites us to lie down and rest and take comfort in the thought that even without our doing it, the gentle mist comes every cold Sunday morning. He invites us to see the many good things that this island blesses us with that, for the most part, we take for granted.
If you have
not caught the Joseph Gara bug yet, search for his name at YouTube or follow
him at Spotify. And do tell me what you
think.
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