Websites For Cebuano Songs And Lyrics Needed

March 8,2010
Opinion/Commentary
Websites 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. (Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)