9. Sampaguita – Sa Diyos Lamang
July 14, 2008
A day after we picked up Tatay at the Manila International Airport, we went to Cherry Foodarama on Shaw Boulevard.
I remember listening to Freddie Aguilar’s Anak in the cab on the way home and staring at Tatay’s hair that was long by Martial Law’s standard. Because of his job as a seaman, my sister and I practically grew up without a father. He’d be with us only from two to three months after his ten to twelve months of working overseas.
Of course, we were excited to see Tatay. We missed him every time he went away. But we were also excited about his pasalubong – a Sony 3-in-1 Stereo System (an FM/AM tuner, cassette and record player). We were quite sure it was something that the other households didn’t have. Our neighbors had the huge, cabinet type record player that was the in thing then (to compliment the Hitachi or Radiowealth cabinet-type TV). What our Tatay brought home was the compact record player (this in the days when stereo component systems were still an idea).
I don’t recall what other grocery items we got from Cherry Foodarama but we sure did spend an extra time at the record bar. Surely, we got Ka Freddie’s debut album. We also got Sampaguita’s eponymous self-titled debut album.
I’d heard Sampaguita on the radio then although I was not conscious about the singers or the artists. My excuse probably would be my age – I was not yet in Kindergarten.
Like all our other records from our measly collection, we played Sampaguita (the album) to death that we had memorized not only the lyrics but also the nuances of the songs like the exact length of the silences between particular tracks, the various colors of legendary drummer Edmond ‘Bosyo’ Fortuno’s syncopation.
During this time, Bonggahan and Tao (a track that I will forever associate with the highway going to Abra) had also been enjoying heavy rotation in major radio stations. I also loved (still do) Sayawan, Kumadre, Easy Pare and the poignant blues instrumental - Sampaguita Theme. If you have the chance, listen to that track for it is guitarist Gary Perez’ masterpiece. It has to be, at least to me, one of the greatest Pinoy Rock songs.
The other one is Sa Diyos Lamang, an almost 8-minute epic where Sampaguita sings her soul about a heartbreak and then a devotion to a god that turns out not to be the god that we Roman Catholics grow up believing. In this track Perez’ melodic solos compliment Sampaguita’s husky supplication that fades out with a choir chanting praises to Krishna and Rama.
Here’s the lyrics and the link to the streaming music:
Dati-rati, pag-ibig ay laruan lamang. Ngayon ay hindi na. Kasintigas na ng bata ang puso ko.
Bakit kaya, bakit kaya nangyayari ito.
Kung sino pa ang minamahal mo. Siya pa ang hindi tapat sa ‘yo.
Dapat lang kaya na ikaw ay masisi ko, Mahal. Sinabi ko noon sa ‘yo na huwag mo naman akong paglaruan.
Kasalanan ba, kung ika’y mahalin, Hirang. Sinabi nga noon sa ‘kin, baka lamang ito’y pagsisihan sa hulihan.
Bakit kaya, bakit kaya nangyayari ito.
Kung sino pa ang minamahal mo. Siya pa ang hindi tapat sa ‘yo.
O Pag-ibig, bakit kay lupit mo sa tao. Ngayon ay nakita ko ang tunay na damdamin ng puso ko. Naririto.
Sa diyos lamang. Hindi na masasaktan.
Pag-ibig ng diyos lamang. Sa diyos lamang.
Click Sampaguita – Sa Diyos Lamang to listen to the song.
