blueswoman’s blues

    5 am na ako nakatulog. Hirap talaga bumuwelo…

    I just reunited with my guitar last night.  It helps to do something creative when you can’t think of something creative.

 

    Meron akong isang envelope ng songs.  Ang label sa labas ay "Songs - pop."  Gutay-gutay yung iba, typewritten yung iba. Sulat-kamay yung iba. Makikita mo yung evolution ng handwriting ko from my high school careful-not-to-be-told-i-have-an-ugly-penmanship kind of handwriting to the wala-akong-paki variety.  Then I also had pop songs that were copied by friends from college, and songs typewritten on stationeries (probably perfumed at the time, and God forbid I made them in high school… probably in elementary, or early part of high school), and others that were printed out on dot matrix printers.  There was a whole history in that envelope.

    But even I was amazed at the wide range of songs that I liked to sing in the early days.  Nakakahiya ngang aminin yung iba e.  Pero from the beautifully deep "Pride Parade" by Don McLean and tongue-in-cheek "Logical Song" (Supertramp) to the broadway songs of "Les Miserables" and "The World According to Snoopy" to the pop tunes of Madonna.  I also had some songs by Gordon Lightfoot and Peter, Paul and Mary.  Standard songs (like "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered") were there too. And I would always sing my personal anthem "Both Sides Now," "Anticipation" (Carly Simon) and "Tapestry" (Carole King). Andoon din ang "Kabilugan ng Buwan," atsaka yung isang kanta na "Tag-ulan" (gosh, who sang that? maganda yun e).  I also had some obscure songs written on pad papers and transcribed from tape cassettes.  Ang latest addition na lang ay yung mga kanta ng U2, Pretenders, Heart and Aimee Mann.  I guess I stopped playing the guitar somewhere there.

    Funny how songs can reflect the tapestry of one’s life, or maybe of one’s personality.  I always thought that people didn’t have just one side. We’re not just three-dimensional, we’re so multi-faceted and we can only show one side of ourselves sometimes with certain people.

    My high school friends (who I love dearly) don’t really know or would not probably come with me when I go to NU rock awards or gigs in Xaymaca or SaGuijo.  They don’t know I could tolerate (or even scream with) System of a Down. Some of them think I enjoy show bands or jazz (the David Benoit type). And they surely don’t see my envelope of "progressive" (radical/revolutionary) songs either. (Hindi sa impostor ako, talagang I value their company so I learned to be polite, hehehe.)

 

    I was always frustrated about playing "Summertime" on the guitar while singing it.  (Oo nga pala, nawala na yung kapo ko. kainis.)  Frustration ko talaga ang makatugtog ng blues.  Ewan ko ba pero bata pa lang ako, mahilig na talaga ako sa blues and rock.  Noong panahong nakikinig kami ng parents ko ng "Sound of Music" habang naglalaro ng scrabble, inaabangan ko rin sa radyo ang "Hello, I Love You" ng The Doors. haha!

 

    But I remember watching films that showed Africans who were brought to America as slaves. And in those old films, they always sang the blues. And I think that’s how I developed my love for the blues, the Mississippi blues and all that.  Plus I always thought I had an affinity for people who struggled because of their color.  (Sabi ng isang past life reader isa sa past lives ko ay African mother of many children.)

    Kaya kanina noong nakaamoy ako ng parang may nasusunog, ang unang pumasok sa isip ko ay i-save ang photo albums ko at ang CDs ko ng blues.  Later ko na naisip yung mga damit.

 

    I love the blues… how I wish I could have the time to master it, read more about it, and really learn it on the guitar. But I don’t believe I can REALLY sing it. A blues artist has to feel her music from the gut, and not just mouth the lyrics.

 

    Ang haba na nito.  kung saan-saan na nakarating.  Ayan, 3:00pm na. kailangan ko na talagang magsulat (i.e.,
magtrabaho)!!!!!

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 10th, 2007 at 11:27 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.