Hello. Renxkyoko Iglesias here.
I’ve been reflecting on what I wrote on my previous post. Am I regretting it ? No, not at all. I needed to vent…. either that, or I’d burn my computer table. j/k No more political rant, okay ? Promise. I’ll just sing ! ! !
First things first…. A MILLION THANKS TO THE MY DEAR READERS WHO HAD GIVEN SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO POST VIDEOS HERE ! ! YOU ‘RE AWESOME ! WHOOH !
Now make it worth my agony and distress by clicking the videos. Ha ha ha ! C’mon. ~_~ You will click them, right ?
Anyway, I’ve been watching some Philippine music videos on YouTube and find them so interesting I feel I need to write about it, and I’m going to call this Philippine Music 101. Let me tell you though, there’s no such thing as Filipino “language”. Tagalog has been designated as the official national language, but the truth is, it’s only one of the many dialects Filipinos speak. What’s so fascinating about this is, Filipinos speak dialects that are , shall I say, as different as Greek from Italian. I can understand Tagalog, which is the lingua franca in Manila, the capital of the Philippines, but the dialect spoken in Pampanga, a province that is just less than a hundred miles from Manila, is like Greek to me.
Now, some of the music videos I saw on YouTube are sung in different dialects, but they have become my favorite songs to sing nowadays, even though I don’t understand the language.
Here’s a sample of a Tagalog song, sung by an American . The facial expressions of the guy in black shirt are perfectly attuned to the lyrics, as if he understands the words. lol ( I’ve memorized the lyrics myself ) The accent is okay, except that ” t ” sound which we Americans pronounce as ” ts” ( sort of ) The song is IKAW ( You ). Loving this song. ( sounds karaokish to me,though. he he ) Listen to all the songs here full volume to appreciate them more.
This next one is a favorite. I don’t understand the lyrics. The dialect is Chavacano, ( ” bastardized “Spanish ) spoken in Mindanao, the second biggest island in the Philippines . The title is Porque ( Because ? ) Loving this, too. I’ve memorized the lyrics and singing it as I’m typing here. The girl singing is Filipina, the guy is American. You know what , the girl kinda looks like me. * scratches head * ( But then , people of same race do look alike, ha ha ha )
Though the Philippines is in Southeast Asia, the culture is very distinctive , even in music. I’m sure it’s the influence of 333 years of Spanish rule . The sound is definitely very different compared to say, Chinese sound or Indian sound.
Here’s another old, old Tagalog song, sung again by an American choir. I saw more than a dozen of this song sung by American choirs. Dahil Sa ‘Yo ( Because of You )
Perfect accent guys. ( except that explosion of t’s , he he )
Next is an ancient Philippine folk song in Waray dialect. This is sung by a Russian choir. If there’s a Russian reader here, don’t hate me, but this is an awful version. I think they lost control of the song. LOL ! Cringe -worthy, but fun to listen to. The title is Waray, waray. Filipinos who live in that region are called warays, and it’s sung by a woman who says waray women are tough as men and can fight to the death , who cares what happens, and so what if we look like thugs ,our kisses are as sweet as wine.
The next is another ancient Philippine folk song, Ayayay, O, Pag-ibig ( Ayayay, Oh, Love ) sung by a German Choir . Okay, at the end of the song, the all-male German choir raised their hands and said HEY… and I was like , O_O, ( I thought I heard Heil ! Sorry, sorry, just kidding !!!!! ) but that’s the way it’s sung, actually….. at the end of the song, Filipinos raise their hands too, and say ‘ Hey ! ”
Here’s another version of Ayayay sung by a Korean choir, and listen up to the end. It’s a nicer version. Seriously.
It does seem choirs all over the world like to sing Filipino songs, especially ancient folk songs, because , I guess, the melodies are catchy and choir material ? There’s this song Rosas Pandan that has been sung by literally hundreds of choirs all over the world, like, it’s supposed to be part of their repertoire. If you’re a choir, you have to sing this.
Here’s another version by grown – ups.
Russian choir not far behind.
This is all for now. I’ll have a Part 2 next time.
And check out my anime/manga blog
http://2megaworthitwordpresscomblog.wordpress.com
Again, a BIG THANK YOU !! You just saved me.
.,
Am a Molecular Microbiology student, love to read books, and I play the violin. 
dreamsending
renxkyoko
renxkyoko's space 
Posted by Peter Wells aka Countingducks on March 19, 2016 at 8:35 pm
Just for a second I thought you were going to show us a tape of you singing your national songs, but still the tapes were really interesting. Like you, I love music, and from every culture and background, so this was nice to hear. 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on March 19, 2016 at 8:46 pm
I know the sound of Indian, Chinese, and other Asian songs and Filipino songs sound really different, especially the ancient folk songs, don’t they ? I was surprised myself. My parents said even the composers are unknown. Have you listened to all ?
Posted by Thys on March 30, 2016 at 8:11 am
I was thinking the EXACT sake thing! So, Renxkykoko, uhm .. the fans have spoken! 😉
Posted by renxkyoko on April 3, 2016 at 9:45 pm
Ahahaha ! No way ! * runs off *
Posted by Ompong on March 20, 2016 at 2:50 am
I like it a lot every time a foreigner sings a Tagalog song. Though it is quite hilarious at first, I feel their sincerity on how much they love our culture. 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on March 20, 2016 at 3:55 am
I chose the ones sung by non-Filipinos so readers can relate.
I know, we can hear the t’s and the ks and bs, pronounced the American way. I do that, too, though I can check my pronounciation right away. Over-all, their accents are perfect.
Posted by Ompong on March 20, 2016 at 4:01 am
… And they got the tune near perfect… 🙂
Posted by A. Blake on March 20, 2016 at 3:43 am
Wow, you have so many videos in this post and I’ll be honest and admit that I didn’t watch them all, but will return later this week to do so. Thank you!
Posted by renxkyoko on March 20, 2016 at 3:58 am
Did you watch Porque ? I love that song. Oh, please comeback, okay ?
Posted by aysabaw on March 20, 2016 at 9:27 am
LOL on this post Ren, i don’t even know some of the songs ha ha 😀
Posted by renxkyoko on March 20, 2016 at 10:03 pm
Well, before I started looking, I didn’t know about these songs. None. I chose the ones sung by non- Filipinos so others can relate.
Appreciate your own, sis. They are beautiful songs. ( At least the ones I had chosen , he he )
Posted by aysabaw on March 21, 2016 at 4:15 am
Lol…yes yes…appreciate our own…though the songs you picked are really old and I’ve never heard of them till I saw this post haha except for Ikaw…i just wonder now if these songs are thought in schools…these can be considered as classics…
Posted by renxkyoko on March 21, 2016 at 6:39 am
My Mom said they had a subject in Music in Elementary school. It wasn’t like they studied the mechanics or whatnot. She said they just sang stupid songs, ha ha ha.
Posted by aysabaw on March 21, 2016 at 6:44 am
Wahahaha…..yeah we did learn some folk songs too…the common ones…they let us sing these songs while wearing kimonas or Filipinianas hahaha
Posted by renxkyoko on March 21, 2016 at 8:13 am
So you’ve never heard of the songs I posted here ? I can understand why they choose Philippine folks songs. They’re very fast, and very catchy. * Tigiding , tigiding, tigiding ” I wonder what that means…. is that the sound of hopping and dancing ? The dialect is Waray, and it’s about a girl dancing and hopping wildly, while the guys are looking and , cough cough, drooling. I wonder if the singers know what the song is all about….. bahahahahaha…. The lyrics has the word “laway” in it, which means ” drool”, right ? Aaaargh. OMG, he he
Posted by aysabaw on March 21, 2016 at 8:26 am
Wahahaha…yeah because these folk songs are really old i guess….yeah but they are catchy…i thought tigiding is the sound of galloping horses hahahaha…i think the singers were at least informed about the meaning of the songs lol…yeah laway is drool hahaha
Posted by kira0130 on March 20, 2016 at 10:47 am
Wow, it’s nice to know that people from other countries can sing Filipino songs really well. If not for the t’s, i might’ve thought the Americans (@ the 3rd video) were Filipinos. Haha. It’s such a shame that i only know the first two songs though, even as a Filipino. Not really a fan of folk songs.. Porque is the newest among all this songs so i know it. 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on March 20, 2016 at 10:04 pm
Oh, right about the 3rd video. I included the folks songs as a historical concept.
Posted by Hardpen on March 20, 2016 at 3:21 pm
Nice one Ren! When is Part 2 coming out? It’s nice to hear people from other countries sing Filipino songs. Despite the minor slips in the enunciation of some sounds their renditions of the songs sound lovely. I’ll be showing my students here in South Korea that video where their countrymen are singing Ay Ay Ay O Pag-ibig.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 20, 2016 at 11:50 pm
Its coming out soon.
Also I saw at least 5 youtube vidoes of Korean choirs singing Filipino songs. Check them out.
Posted by Malcolm Greenhill on March 25, 2016 at 4:04 am
I love the Brown University performance too. My daughter has spent years in a great choir so I have learned to appreciate choral music in a way I never did before. A very interesting post about the various dialects in the Philippines.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 25, 2016 at 6:00 am
Do you know there’s another version that’s even better ? I don’t know why the person who uploaded this thinks it was the greatest version. I think the one from a Chicago university is better.
Yes, it’s weird that the Philippines, a small country ( California is larger than the Philippines ), has so many dialects. About a hundred, in fact.
Posted by Peng Garing on March 25, 2016 at 12:59 pm
Tigiding! You surprised me with this collection. I didn’t know some of them, like “Porque,” and “Rosas Pandan.”
Tigiding or tigidig mimics the horse’s shoed gallop. Many of our folk songs, specially those sung by kids are spritely and playful but non-sensical. I think culturally we simply like to play with sounds. Most of these songs figure out in kid’s plays.
I’d like to listen to them all! Thanks, a lot, renx!
Posted by renxkyoko on March 25, 2016 at 4:19 pm
You’re welcome, Peng Garing.
I love Porque ! It seems it’s gotten into my head, and I can’t help but sing it all the time, anytime, anywhere. The family’s getting annoyed. Ha ha ha
Posted by Ste J on March 27, 2016 at 9:37 am
Interesting, so little music from other parts of the world seems to encouraged over all the throwaway pop and dance that infects the airwaves and such. I am amazed that anything gets communicated with so many dialects. I only know one word from that way on…maganda, I wonder if that is enough to claim speaking a language on Facebook.
Posted by renxkyoko on March 27, 2016 at 10:58 am
Ha ha Yes, maganda means beautiful, pretty…. it describes a female or inaminate objects , like flowers, but is not used to describe a man, lol. The word used for males is guapo.
It’s indeed amazing that such a small country has so many dialects, and mind you, they are entirely different from one another. I guess the dialect Tagalog is the unifying language over there. Everyone can speak it, even the person living in the remotest part of the country. Oh, wait, it’s like English and Welsh, lol.
Posted by Ste J on March 28, 2016 at 9:33 am
I was taught Maganda by a couple of females which led to much teasing on my part of their obvious vanity.
Over here we may have the same language over the British Isles but some of the dialects are impenetrable without careful listening even to us and then we all seem to have our own colloquilisms that befuddle people, even if they only live an hour or twos drive away. It is strange how language evolves.
Posted by newvideos31 on March 29, 2016 at 3:43 pm
https://newvideos31.wordpress.com/2016/03/29/blogger-recognition-awarddfor-my-followers-i-am-preparing-a-new-award/
Posted by theletteringjunkie on April 5, 2016 at 10:00 pm
Hey, Ren! Not sure if you already searched for any English translation of Porque, but I had fun reading this post and watching the videos, I thought maybe I could translate Porque’s chorus. 😀
Porque contigo yo ya escoji? / Why did I ever choose you?
Ahora mi corazon ta sufri / Now my heart is broken and shattered
Bien simple lang I yo tapidi / I only have one simple wish:
Era cin ti tu el cosa yo ya cin ti / For you to feel the same pain I felt
Tapidi milagro / I’m wishing for a miracle
Vira’l tiempo el mali hace derecho / That what was done wrong can be put right
Na di mio reso tapidi yo / And I’m praying in my heart
Era ol vida yo contigo / That our memories in my mind departs.
^_^
Posted by renxkyoko on April 6, 2016 at 7:34 am
I ‘m thinking maybe , instead of ” Era cin ti tu cosa yo ya cin ti”, it should be ” Era sentido el cosa yo ya senti ” ????? Sent and sentido are for ” feelings and felt, although it’s not conjugated. I think.
Posted by theletteringjunkie on April 6, 2016 at 8:21 pm
you know what, you’re right! i just lifted that Chavakano lyrics off the net ‘cuz i don’t speak the dialect myself. but Porque has a Tagalog-Chavakano version and that’s where I based my English translation. ^^
Posted by The Hook on April 6, 2016 at 9:53 pm
Great shares!
Posted by Initiator-Life with Tranquility :) on April 8, 2016 at 4:32 pm
Always miss you on my Blog..!
When see smiling face in Blue frame (your dress), i feel happy you remembered me..!
Stay blessed and smiley..!
Posted by Philosophical Epiphanies on April 10, 2016 at 3:11 pm
Incredible!
I started blogging this month, and it is a pleasure that I came across your blog.
It has inspired me to start my third article.
Thank you:)
Posted by Denny Sinnoh on April 20, 2016 at 6:33 pm
This may be way off topic, but perhaps you might be interested, as it relates to Philippine music.
The AKB48 Japanese idol empire is creating a new sister group in Manila — MNL48.
I am hoping that similar to the Jakarta48 — who sing the Akimoto songs in Indonesian (mixed with English) that the MNL48 will sing in Tagalog and Taglish – a mix of Tagalog and English.
I am looking very much forward to the songs in Filipino dialect!
Posted by 25pesocupnoodles on May 13, 2016 at 5:10 am
narito na ako. babalikan ko ang post na ito para pakinggan ang mga himig. ayaw gumana ng like button ko, hahaha. kamustasa?
Posted by renxkyoko on May 13, 2016 at 5:59 am
Sigue, balik ka ha ? Ikaw and Porque are my favories.
Posted by Anil on May 14, 2016 at 12:18 pm
It will be a great help if you please let me know how to post a music video in wp. 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on May 15, 2016 at 5:52 pm
Go to YouTube , then click SHARE, then RIGHT CLICK the URL of the video,as in COPY, then go to WP, Right Click again, then Right Click PASTE. You’re good to go. Cheers Anil !
Posted by Anil on May 16, 2016 at 5:33 am
Thank you so much ren, i will try & let you know. Good day!
Posted by renxkyoko on May 16, 2016 at 5:41 am
You’re welcome ! !
Posted by Anil on May 16, 2016 at 8:56 am
Ren, Cheers! Its done! Thank you so much Dear! Good day!!
Posted by renxkyoko on May 16, 2016 at 1:58 pm
You’re welcome ! !
Posted by MEGumiho on May 29, 2016 at 5:53 am
Hearing them sing Filipino songs gave me goosebumps 🙂 Nice post you have here. Followed your blog to read more from.you 🙂
Posted by renxkyoko on May 29, 2016 at 6:03 pm
I intentionally chose Filipino songs being sung by foreigners so non-Filipinos could relate. Hey, cheers and welcome.