During the three centuries of Spanish rule of Philippines (1565 to 1898), Spanish musical forms fused with Filipino folk and laid the foundation for the development of a unique Spanish-Filipino sound. The harana is a Filipino lyrical courtship music based the Spanish/Cubnan habanera rhythm (BOOM…BA-BOP-BOP), and the kundiman, a plaintive Spanish love song, has a “triple meter rhythm” (1-2-3, 1-2-3). A song on our CD, Jocelynang Baliwag, is one of the most popular kundiman’s in the history of the Philippines.
Jocelynang Baliwag” (“Sweetest Darling”) is the Philippines’ most famous kundiman Spanish colonial-era romantic folk song). This song is from the late 19th century and was popular during the era of the Philippine independence movement. On the surface it’s a love song but in reality everyone understood the object of the songwriter’s longing to be the nation of the Philippines. Listen to this recording. The music starts 40 seconds in.
Original lyrics:
P- Pinopoong sinta, niring calolowa
Nacacawangis mo’y mabangong sampaga
Dalisay sa linis, dakila sa ganda
Matimyas na bucal ng madlang ligaya.
E- Edeng maligayang kinaloclocan Ng galak at tuwang catamis-tamisan
Hada cang maningning na ang matunghaya’y Masamyong bulaclac agad sumisical.
P- Pinananaligan niring aking dibdib Na sa paglalayag sa dagat ng sakit
‘Di mo babayaang malunod sa hapis
Sa pagcabagabag co’y icaw ang sasagip
I- Icaw na nga ang lunas sa aking dalita
Tanging magliligtas sa niluha-luha
Bunying binibining sinucuang cusa
Niring catawohang nangayupapa.
T- Tanggapin ang aking wagas na pag-ibig
Marubdob na ningas na taglay sa dibdib
Sa buhay na ito’y walang nilalangit
A- At sa cawacasa’y ang kapamanhikan Tumbasan mo yaring pagsintang dalisay
Alalahanin mong cung ‘di cahabagan Iyong lalasunin ang aba cong buhay.[/wpspoiler]
Lyrics of All Around This World’s version:
Sweetest darling who I love,
purest flower of delight
You have been the only one to give me hope in the dark of night
In the morning I adore you,
all day long my heart beats for you
Oh my darling who I love won’t you love me too?
Sweetest darling who I love,
won’t you ever love me
I will never leave you dear,
darling please believe me
For I’ve waited oh so long just to have you for my own
Oh my darling I love you one day you’ll love me too.
We are revising the AllAroundThisWorld.com site and are currently using a new (better!) site — ExploreEverywhere.com — to tell you all about our curriculum offerings and how to become one of our teachers. That said, if you were on ExploreEverywhere, you clicked to find more information about a song or lesson, and landed here, you’re in the right place! Some links may be broken and a detail or two may be out of date…but close the popup window and enjoy!
