gusto mo bang sumama?

one in the morning. one of the rare moments i got through three chapters of my humres book, albeit haphazardly. after indulging my senti mood with doses of d'sound and julia fordham, i decided to finally break the seal of my week-old eraserheads anthology cd.

i bought the newly-released 2-cd compilation despite already having copies of my two favorite eheads albums. i figured, since i won't be buying the latter albums unless someone twisted my arm, this would be a opportunity to have a good cross sample of their songs. the first cd contains the hits of the first three albums, which were the most popular ones. the second cd took off from fruitcake, the thematically-cohesive but commercially-panned christmas album. it featured songs so divergent, a testimony to the varied musical styles and techniques the eraserheads employed in their later work.

starting off with the first cd, i skipped ligaya and pare ko and eventually landed on my favorite eraserheads song: alapaap. then it hit me. as the song progressed, several things came to mind.

1. i missed playing in a band. notwithstanding the fact that i'm not a really good bass player (well, not as good as buddy zabala anyway), i can coast through a few songs without sticking out like a sore thumb. and although guitar was really my first instrument (after piano of course) i'm more used to thinking in terms of playing bass. well, having my own bass guitar does help.
2. my favorite songs are usually the ones with kick-ass bass. kama supra (eraserheads), in the blood (better than ezra), this love (maroon5), aeroplane (red hot chili peppers), bullet with butterfly wings (smashing pumpkins), tea in the sahara (the police), it's my life (no doubt), are you in? (incubus) are some of them. i get more inspiration to play the really groovy songs although they're quite a challenge to learn.
3. buddy zabala is brilliant. (tagal ko nang alam 'to.)
4. did i already mention i missed playing?

sometimes when i think of what-ifs and what-might-have-beens i inevitably go back to this non-talent of mine. i wonder what would happen if i had been more industrious in learning, if i bothered to take lessons, if i wasn't oido-deaf. one of my brods has a never-ending struggle with songwriting; he's luckier than i am because at least he can compose songs (although they're all incomplete). it all goes back to my perennial problem of being a "jack of all trades, master of none". at times i wonder why i wasn't given one thing to really excel at, rather than having several things that i'm able to do but never be good at. maybe it's just my lot in life. or maybe i just needed to push myself a bit more.

i don't care what other people say about this song. a song is a song is a song. and this is a great song.

may isang umaga
na tayo'y magsasama
haya at halina
sa alapaap
o anong sarap

hanggang sa dulo ng mundo
hanggang maubos ang ubo
hanggang tumulo ang luha
hanggang mahulog ang tala

masdan mo'ng aking mata, 'di mo ba nakikita?
ako ngayo'y lumilipad at nasa langit na
gusto mo bang sumama?

'di mo na kailangan na magtago't mahiya
'di mo na kailangan nang humanap ng iba

kalimutan nang muna ang lahat ng problema
huminga ka ng malalim at tayo'y lalarga na
handa na bang gumala?

pa-parap-pa-pa (gazillion times)

ang daming bawal sa mundo
sinasakal nila tayo
buksan ang puso at isipan
paliparin ang kamalayan

masdan mo'ng aking mata, 'di mo ba nakikita?
ako'y lumilipad at nasa alapaap na

gusto mo bang (gusto mo bang) (7x)
gusto mo bang sumama?

-- eraserheads, alapaap