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Complete Text and Lyrics
of the Pamphlet for the CD
Poetry in Songs |
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POETRY in SONGS
The lyrics of all 15 songs in the album come from the poetry of the
outstanding Filipino patriot and revolutionary, Jose Maria Sison.
Thirteen poems are taken from Prison and Beyond, the book that
won for him the Southeast WRITE Award for poetry in 1986. This
award is sponsored by the national writers unions of Southeast Asia,
the royal family of Thailand and other institutions. Two other poems
were written more recently and recited by him in international poetry
festivals in The Netherlands.
PERFORMERS
JOSE MARIA SISON the singer is best known as a Filipino revolutionary
and a poet. He is the founding chairman of the Communist Party of
the Philippines. He is internationally recognized as a poet. That
he loves singing is a relatively unknown facet of his. As with his
earlier albums, Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa (love of motherland) and
the video cd version of three songs in that album, recorded and
released in 2004 by Kodao productions, an alternative multi-media
outfit, we invite you to listen not only to his uniquely powerful
and charming way of singing but also to the meaningful messages of
the songs.
Prof. Sison is an international authority on Southeast Asian studies
and on revolutionary theory and politics. He is chairperson of the
International League of Peoples' Struggle. The portal
have various websites containing his
works as well as information about his works and activities.
ARIES CACES, the well-known concert pianist provides the accompaniment
for every song in this new album. He also provided the accompaniment
for Rica Nepomuceno in two albums, Songs of Love and Struggle: from
Andres Bonifacio to Jose Maria Sison and Songs of Struggle and
Liberation. Aries who is based in Vienna, Austria is one of the
most outstanding and most versatile Filipino concert pianists.
Aside from being an accomplished chamber musician and repetiteur,
he is also a conductor. Caces has performed solo recitals and concerts
in the Philippines, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany,
Spain, Switzerland and the USA.
LYRICS
1.
THE BLADED POEM
Music by Danny Fabella
Behold the bladed poem
Tensile and razor-sharp
Cold and glinting silver
In the light or dark.
See how the blackbird
Of a hilt flies
Bedecked with pearls
on the firm mobile hand.
Look at each face
on the leaf of steel,
The virile subtle flames,
images of incised gold.
On one face are toilers
Varied with pike and ore,
Crucible, hammer and anvil,
Water and whetstone.
Plow and carabao on soil,
The oyster in the sea,
Carving and etching tools,
Bowl of acid on a table.
(Repeat the above stanza)
On the other face
Are the same workmen massed
Upright and poised to fight
Behind the radiant flag.
The uprising completes
The figures of labor
And urges another surge
With the well-versed weapon.
(Repeat the above two stanzas)
Grasp well the bladed poem
And let it sing in your hands.
This kampilan is a talisman
Of the people in red headbands.
(Repeat the above stanza)
March 1982
2.
THE COMING OF THE RAIN
Music by Danny Fabella
gathered by the oppressive heat
heavy clouds darken all beneath
but thunder and lightning proclaim
a new season of growth in the rain,
in the rain.
the wide wind and deepening stream
race from the mountain to bring
the message in a more intimate way,
the coming of the rain to the plains. (2x)
the trees raise their arms to the sky
and dance in a movement so spright
the bushes raise and blend their voices
with the trees in song and laughter.
(Repeat above 3 stanzas)
the wind sweeps away the fallen leaves
and fans the spark on the stubbly field.
the flames leap and whet the thirst
of the earth so eager for the water thrusts.
The coming of the rain (3x)
To the plains.
15 June 1978
3.
A COOL BREEZE
Music by Danny Fabella
A cool breeze blows into prison
It refreshes the body and warms the soul.
It caresses, kisses and whispers,
'In prison, there is worthy struggle'.
The breeze carries the scent of the red flowers,
It is part of the great irresistible wind
Of struggle sweeping all the islands.
Everywhere the message is to fight and win.
(Repeat the above 2 stanzas)
Everywhere the message is to fight and win.
Win, fight and win.
14 December 1977
4.
THE FOREST IS STILL ENCHANTED
Music by Tony Palis
The fickle-minded spirits and fairies
Have fled the old trees and groves,
Dark caves and mounds in the shadows,
Mossy rocks and whispering streams.
The gnarled balete and the blackbird
Have lost their intriguing power.
The fickle-minded spirits and fairies.
The uncertainties of the past ages
No longer lurk to exact awe and fear.
In the forest throbs discreetly
A certainty above the certainties
Of chopping wood, hunting boar and deer,
Gathering fruits, honey and even orchids.
The uncertainties of past ages are gone.
But the forest is still enchanted.
There's a new hymn in the wind;
There's a new magic in the dark green,
So the peasant folks say to friends,
A single fighting spirit has taken over
To lure in and astonish the intruders. (Repeat last 2 lines)
The forest is still enchanted,
Yes, the forest is still enchanted.
(Repeat above 2 lines)
June 1981
5.
A FURNACE
Music by Danny Fabella
When it was December
I compared my cell
By midnight to a freezer
And by midday to an oven.
Now that it is summer
I compare it to hell.
But because of its smallness,
I also call it a furnace.
'Tis a seething furnace
For tempering steel.
'Tis a seething furnace
For purifying gold.
(Repeat 3rd stanza)
'Tis a comforting metaphor.
(Repeat all)
15 March 1978
6.
THE GIANT OAK
(Tribute to Comrade Mao Zedong)
Music by Levy Abad, Jr.
In the bitterness of winter
The giant oak stands erect,
A hundred years old,
A tower of countless seasons.
The mayflies of summer
Are no match to the oak
And the merciless cold.
He who has departed
But whose spirit lives on
And can't be exorcised
By all sorts of sorcerers
Is sometimes carved out
From a branch of the oak
In the image of his foes
For rituals to steal
The magic of his name.
There are the kisses of betrayal
On the parchment,
Droning incantations of sacrilege
And myths of infamy
Against his great memory.
Hmmm…
When foes are haunted
By his thoughts and deeds
They are in mortal fear
Of the living force inspired
For the bigger battles ahead,
As the light and darkness
Clash in the horizon
And the best and the worst
Are driven to define themselves.
Hmmm…
(Repeat last two stanzas, with the last line repeated
26 December 1993
7.
GOLD
Music by Aldeem Abroguena Yanez
In the dark bowels of the earth,
Under the mountain of pressure,
That gathers the heat of the sun,
Gold is trapped and imprisoned
But gleams with collected fervor.
The miner cannot reach the ore
Without making a deepgoing shaft,
Without exerting painful labor,
Without a longlasting lamp
Through darkness under pressure.
Fiery furnace and acid bowl
Remove dross and refine gold.
Then the fashioning tools turn
To make the crown of triumph
That is the lofty glory of the nation.
(Repeat 2nd stanza)
(Repeat 2 x 1st 4 lines of 3rd stanza)
to make the crown of triumph
That is the lofty glory of the nation.
(Repeat the last line)
12 April 1978
8.
THE GUERRILLA IS LIKE A POET
Music by Danny Fabella and Jose Maria Sison
The guerrilla is like a poet
Keen to the rustle of leaves
The break of twigs
The ripples of the river
The smell of fire
And the ashes of departure.
The guerrilla is like a poet.
He has merged with the trees
The bushes and the rocks
Ambiguous but precise
Well-versed on the law of motion
And master of myriad images.
The guerrilla is like a poet
Enrhymed with nature
The subtle rhythm of the greenery
The inner silence, the outer innocence
The steel tensile in-grace
That ensnares the enemy.
(Repeat 1st stanza)
The guerrilla is like a poet.
He moves with the green brown multitude
In bush burning with red flowers
That crown and hearten all
Swarming the terrain as a flood
Marching at last against the stronghold.
An endless movement of strength
Behold the protracted theme:
The people's epic, the people's war. (3x)
1968
9.
IN THE DARK DEPTHS
Music by Danny Fabella
The enemy wants to bury us
In the dark depths of prison
But shining gold is mined
From the dark depths of the earth
And the radiant pearl is dived
From the dark depths of the sea.
We suffer but we endure
And draw up gold and pearl
From depths of character
Formed so long in struggle.
(Repeat 1st stanza 2x)
(Repeat 2nd stanza 2x)
Formed so long in struggle. (2x)
10 April 1978
10
IN PRAISE OF MARTYRS
Music by Levy Abad Jr.
We praise to high heavens
And for all time
The heroes who die
In the hands of the enemy,
In the battlefield,
In the torture chamber
And against, against the wall.
(Refrain 2x)
(And) In these bloody places,
The struggle is sharpest
And the meaning of one's life
Is tested in one crucial moment.
Hmm… and for all time
Hmm… in the hands of the enemy
Hmm… in the torture chamber
And against, against the wall.
(Repeat Refrain 2x)
Courage to the last breath
Makes the martyr live beyond death.
(Repeat above two lines)
Makes the martyr live beyond death.
9 December 1977
11.
THE NORTH STAR IS ALWAYS THERE
Music by: Empiel Palma and Chickoy Pura
Whatever the part of the day,
Whatever the part of the year
The North Star is always there.
No matter how dark the night,
We can trust the light
Of the North Star, our guide.
No matter how thick the clouds,
These are froth ephemeral,
The North Star scatters and floats. (2x)
Wherever we are, in the woods,
On the plains or at sea,
By the North Star, we see the route.
In the archipelago, come what may,
We have our sure compass,
The North Star is always there.
(Repeat from 3rd stanza)
The North Star is always there. (2x)
March 1979
12.
POEMS AND REST
Alternative Title: My Poems Are Militant
Music by Danny Fabella and Jose Maria Sison
Since a long, long time ago
Incantations and prayers
Have been a comfort
To those who suffer.
Lying down at night,
I recite my poems
Until my throat runs dry
And fall asleep in comfort.
But my poems are different.
They appeal to the people.
I put my trust in them
And in their firm struggle.
Ah…
My poems are militant.
They appeal to the people.
I put my trust in them,
And in their firm struggle.
Ah…
While at rest I am sure
That the struggle goes on.
And when my rest is over
I will do what I can.
Solitary confinement
Is torture so vicious
But the poems I compose
Are my ardent companions.
But my poems are militant.
(Repeat 2nd to 4th lines of 4th stanza)
My poems are militant.
They appeal to the people.
I put my trust in them, (3x)
And in their firm struggle.
10 May 1978
13.
ROSE FOR A WAKING WOMAN
Music by Empiel Palma
From the green red-blooming bush
Fix a fiery rose in the grim grip
Mudcaked of the woman waking
On the bed of pebbles and clay by the roadside.
Let fragrance burst and burn in
Her swollen nose, swollen face and swollen body
Battered and raped by a vague night beast.
Let her rise with the red rose,
Walk her, young man, with the rose
Blooming with fixed fire stemming
From soil of palm flesh with knuckle-palisade;
Hold the wrist drunken with bloody fire;
Then walk with her awake
Watching ascent of a bright sun and scent.
(Repeat 2nd & 3rd stanzas)
(Repeat 2nd stanza)
Let her rise with the red rose. (3x)
Red, red rose!
1960
14.
SOMETIMES, THE HEART YEARNS FOR MANGOES
Music by Danny Fabella
Original Music in Dutch: Jos Linnebak
Sometimes, the heart yearns
For mangoes where there are apples,
For orchids where there are tulips,
For warmth, where it is cold,
For mountainous islands,
Where there is flatland.
Far less than the home,
And the flow of kith and kin,
Unfamiliar and now familiar
Things and places trigger
The pain of sundered relations,
Of losses by delays and default.
Direct dialing, fax machines,
Computer discs and video casettes
And visitors on supersonic jets,
Fail to close the gap
Between rehearsed appearances
And the unrehearsed life at home.
There are colleagues and friends
That make a strange land loveable.
But they have their routines,
Their own lives to live,
Beyond the comprehension
And pertinence of the stranger.
Those who seek to rob the exile
Of home, kith and kin,
Of life, limb and liberty
Are the loudest to mock at him
Who is helplessly at sea,
Uprooted from his soil.
(Repeat 3rd stanza)
The well-purposed exile continues
To fight for his motherland
Against those who banished him,
The unwelcomed exploiters of his people,
And is certain that he is at home
In his own country.
He's at home in the world.
30 March 1994
15.
WHAT MAKES A HERO
Music by Danny Fabella
it's not the manner of death
that makes someone a hero.
it is the meaning drawn
from the struggles against the foe.
there is the hero who dies in the battlefield,
there is the hero who dies of hunger or disease,
there is the hero who dies of some accident,
there is the hero who dies of old age.
whatever is the manner of death,
there is a common denominator
a hero serves the people
to his very last breath.
(Repeat 2nd stanza)
whatever is the manner of death,
there is a common denominator
a hero serves the people (3x)
to his very last breath.
10 December 1977
IV. COMPOSERS:
LEVY ABAD, JR.
Born in August 27, 1967 in Manila. Levy Abad is a self-taught musician.
He was a member of Tambisan sa Sining (1991-1995). He is presently a
member of MusikangBayan.
His major compositions include Sana, Kahit Kailan, Awit ng Pag-asa,
Martsa ng Pagkakaisa, Awit sa Bayani, Awit ng Proletaryo (with Danny
Fabella), Awit ng KMU (with Danny Fabella), Tunggalian ng Uri,
Manggagawa Blues, Sierra Madre, Isang Araw Aanihin, Hanggang sa Muli,
You're a Terrorist, Light a Candle.
Levy believes that by composing music that serves the interest of
people is a great opportunity to contribute and be a part of the
struggle for the liberation of the Filipino people.
DANNY FABELLA
Danny is an activist poet/songwriter/performer. Most of his works
depict the life and struggle of the toiling masses. He used to be
a member of Tambisan sa Sining, a trade union-based cultural group,
for ten years.
He had won several awards in poetry, play and songs. Among his
major works are the songs Rosas ng Digma and Anak ng Bayan. He
has attended and performed in several artists conferences and
festivals in various countries such as Australia, Japan, Germany
and Belgium.
He shares his experiences by actively conducting songwriting training
and workshop in the communities, schools and factories. He is currently
a member of Musikangbayan and Sining Bulosan, the cultural arm of
Migrante International.
TONY PALIS
Tony Palis is a versatile composer, instrumentralist and musician
who fights oppressors with his music. He uses a wide range of music
styles, from modern Western music to traditional Filipino music,
including the indigenous.
His most important work is the musical album, Sion.
He has been associated with the Kalantog, a musical group based
on the Los Banos campus of the University of the Philippines.
This group has generated new musical compositions on such issues
as human rights, women workers, environment, land reform and
migrant workers. He has also worked with Artist, Inc., Umalohokan,
Inc., Pasilag, Layag and other cultural groups.
Palis is an organic agriculturist who believes that safe food and
the land that is being tilled should be available to the poor. He
is and English teacher who believes that the language should be
taught to the poor and used by the poor in hastening emancipation.
EMPIEL PALMA
Empiel Palma is a freelance multi-media artist. Aside from being
an visual artist and animator, he is also a folksinger in several
music bars in Metro Manila. He is also a sessionist musician. He
was a member of Tambisan sa Sining.
He is presently a member of Musikangbayan. He won the first prize
in songwriting category in the GAWAD KA Amado in 2004.
ALDEEM ABROGUENA YANEZ
Aldeem Abroguena Yanez is presently a member of Haranang Bayan
(People's Serenade), a singing group of ecumenical church people.
He has written songs for various churches and organizations. He
has won several songwriting awards.
He was national president of the Youth of the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente-IFI and vice chairperson of the National Council
of Churches in the Philippines. He was a founder of SILAB (Sining
Lumalaban, Fighting Art), a cultural youth group in Cagayan de Oro.
V. ARRANGER AND MUSIC EDITOR
JOSEFINO CHINO TOLEDO, whose works have been
described by the New Groves Dictionary of Music and Musicians
as "raw and powerful, fusing contemporary Western language and
a Southeast Asian aesthetic," is a professor of Composition at
the University of the Philippines College of Music and is a member
of the Executive Committee of the Asian Composers League.
An active conductor, he is the founding music director of Metro
Manila Community Orchestra, University of the Philippines Festival
Orchestra, Crosswave Symphony Orchestra Project and the chamber
vocal ensemble AUIT. His own music includes works for chorus,
orchestra, and chamber ensemble. His compositions have been
performed by well known international artists and ensembles in
various countries and have been featured in several international
music festivals.
Many of his pieces express contemporary social and political
issues, such as "For Edwin Thumboo and All of Us Who Suffer
Through English in Asia" (1986) and "Trenodya kay Lean (1990),
an orchestral elegy for Filipino activist Lean Alejandro. An
active and recognized figure in Asian contemporary art music
scene, Toledo provides leadership and inspiration to many younger
composers. ###
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