Sept.

1,2009
Opinion/Commentary
Website For Cebuano Songs And Lyrics Needed
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.
Do our Cebuano/Visayan musicians, composers, singers and music lovers aware of
the pitiful situation that in the internet there’s no active website for all kinds
of Cebuano/Visayan songs and lyrics of the past and present? But the Tagalog
people of similar fascination and inclination in music and songs have their
various websites accessible in the internet for all kinds of Tagalog songs. The
Americans, British, Australians and other white men who are equally great
musicians and singers and composers have theirs in plentiful in the internet. You
can ask for the songs or the lyrics of your favorite singers or bands by typing
inside the box being provided for your search. Mostly, you can get what lyrics or
songs you want.
Personality backgrounds of your favorite singers or bands are also made
available by typing their specific names prior to clicking the search menu. Can we
do the same thing if we want to know the songs and backgrounds of our
Cebuano/Visayan singers, whose songs we have been listening in the past years? No,
we can’t! And no lyrics either.
On the other hand, we are fond of singing numerous Tagalog and English songs,
but we can rarely sing our very own indigenous song compositions.Why? Mainly
because lyrics of these Cebuano/Visayan songs that we used to sing in the past
have been forgotten. And we have no immediate guide to re-learn its wordings and
tunes since there’s no proper venue to get it.
The availability of Cebuano or Visayan songs in record stores particularly in
small places are only a various collection album commonly one or two kind. Names
of singers in each selected song were not even mentioned. Most music lovers,
particularly the young, know the singers of the songs that they’ve sang, whether
English or Tagalog. Ironically, when it comes to local talents, they hardly know
anybody. Except Max Surban and Yoyoy Villame whose antics and humorous songs
tickled their senses. But rarely, if they ever knew of Jaime Salazar’s antics and
funny songs that will also equally tickle their senses.
But for Visayan singers of standard love songs and ballads, the young
.generation of music lovers or even some old ones, could hardly mention some local
singers. Why can’t we have a display of individual albums of various popular
Cebuano singers, among others, like that of Taks Suguete,Al Commendador, Sergs De
La Peña,Pauline Sevilla,Nora Hermosa, Carmen Camancho,Jaime Salazar,Dos Compadres,
Diomedes Maturan,Pelita Corrales, Nora Aunor’s original English songs, Victor
Wood,Dulce de Amor,Gina Morales, the young popular Cebuano singers of the 1970s,
l980s,1990s and the current popular singers. What I’ve mentioned here are the
singers of yesteryears favorite Cebuano songs. Theirs are the songs that we want
to have it heard always from time to time. Its compositions of songs are
irreplaceable and timeless. If the songs of these singers were pleasant to hear in
the past, the same kind of pleasantness has remained until this very day. The
taste in its melodies will not dissipate. Songs are ageless-whether it is Cebuano,
Tagalog, English, Ilocano, Bicolano, Waray-waray, Hiligaynon, or other regional
songs in the Philippines. As a music lover myself since my childhood days, I still
love to listen now to some songs that I heard in those days, whether it be
Cebuano, English or Tagalog.
If concerned Cebuano musicians and composers lack the influence in convincing
the recording companies in Metro Manila to make Cebuano/Visayan songs be made
available in individual albums of the past popular Cebuano singers, then it would
be much better that people in the music industry in the Visayas and Mindanao
should join hands in establishing our very own recording companies in Cebu City,
Mandaue City, Davao City, Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City,.Ozamis City,Bohol and
in Dumaguete City.. Like what the Tagalogs and the English people are doing to
promote their various countless songs in albums, we in the Cebuano-speaking
regions should also patronize our very own songs by buying it and playing them
regularly in all radio stations in the Visayas and Mindanao side by side with
Tagalog and English songs. Our discs jockeys, particularly FM stations have a
great role in this kind of musical promotion to achieve success, including our AM
radio stations.
Again musicians and composers should start educating and informing our young
generation of music lovers by exposing them to Cebuano songs and music thru the FM
and AM stations in the Visayas and Mindanao. It would be too strange and
ridiculous if we can easily sing Tagalog and English songs but find it hard to
sing our very own native songs. We must remember that our original Cebuano song
compositions are not inferior to English and Tagalog if we want a comparison. Even
the adaptation songs of Jaime Salazar, Pauline Sevilla and other Cebuano singers
for instance, are also pleasant to listen to. Theirs should be played side by side
on the airlanes with the bisrock’s new raw, crude and seductive Cebuano lyrics
composed by the current breed of amateur Visayan composers who still need to learn
from the professional composers.
The only thing that varies is the creation of tunes, melodies and the kind of
wordings use by the composers to fit for the tunes of such songs. For a fact, some
of our Visayan songs have a national and international appeal, the reason why some
Cebuano songs’ tunes were adopted by some Tagalog composers with Tagalog lyrics.
Example: “Kasadya Ning Taknaa”,(Ang Pasko Ay Sumapit); “Sa Kabukiran”(The same
title for Tagalog song) and other Cebuano songs. Our “Matod Nila” song composed
and sang by Ben Zubiri is being sang by many Ilocanos.When I asked an Ilocano
while I was living in Metro Manila during the past years, he said that he was so
fascinated by its melody even though he do not understands the wordings. And a
Tagalog composer who obviously likes it too has adapted the Matod Nila’s tune and
wrote Tagalog lyrics. It was sung by Sharon Cuneta.
As I have said earlier,Cebuano songs comprising the classical love and ballad
songs, some antic songs and even various adaptations songs of the past popular and
current Visayan singers must be given equally ample time to be played in a round-
robin scheduling. This will give every Cebuano song be heard regularly for
recognition via regular playing of various songs in all FM and AM stations in all
Cebuano-speaking regions. By letting Cebuano songs available in all recording
companies and by playing regularly throughout the whole year side by side with
English and Tagalog.The inculcation of our kind of music to our old and young
generations of music lovers must be pursued until it will reach the climax of
appreciation to the very hearts and souls of every Cebuano-speaking Filipinos.
The consideration of this noble idea must be put into practice now by those who
have the means and the capability to execute this remedial measure. The
realization of our objective is that Cebuano songs be elevated onto the pedestal
of recognition and appreciation equal to what the Tagalog and English songs have
achieved in the hearts of young and old Filipino music lovers. We have to sustain,
cherish, nurture and patronize our songs written in our respective mother tongues
in order to achieve a strong multicultural foundation in our Philippine
archipelago as our distinct identity as Filipinos.
The plight of Cebuano songs and lyrics under the perspective of internet
links,
is similarly applicable to that of the Waray-Waray songs and lyrics which also
needs a website availability to cater to its internet-user music lovers in some
areas of
Leyte and Samar Islands. Waray-Waray is the predominant language in most of the
municipalities of Samar and Leyte Islands with Cebuano as the second language.
WE hope that there are music lovers in Cebu City, Mandaue City, Davao City,
Cagayan de Oro City, Iligan City, Ozamis City, Tagbilaran City, Dumaguete City and
other places in the Visayas and Mindanao who are literate in computer programming
or B.S. Information Technology graduates who will build websites in areas that I
have mentioned for this purpose. (Copyright 2008 by Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)