As the University of the Philippines (UP) celebrates its 100th year on June 18 (Wednesday), allow me to analyze two centennial-related songs – UP Ang Galing Mo! and Isang Daan.
The first was commissioned by the UP administration in time for the year-long centennial celebration which started last January 8. The second, on the other hand, is the official UPLB centennial theme song, having won the UPLB 19.09 Musicfest in September 2007.
Let’s start by analyzing the lyrics of the upbeat rock song UP Ang Galing Mo!
UP Ang Galing Mo!
Narito kami nagpupugay
Sa unibersidad ng aming buhay
Ikaw pa rin ang binabalikan
‘Di pa rin malilimutan
Ikaw ang UP naming mahalSalamat sa iyong mga guro
Salamat sa inyong pagtuturo
Taglay n’yo ang kahusayan
Taglay n’yo ang karunungan
Hinubog n’yo kami sa kabutihanSandaang taon na tayo
Lagi ka pa rin sa aming puso
Kaya’t kami sumasaludo
UP ang galing mo!
UP ang galing mo!Wala nang iba pang maihahambing
Sa talino mo’t angking galing
Daanin man sa siyensya
High tech man o kahit ano pa
Ikaw UP ang nangungunaSa iyong mga dugo ang kasaysayan
Dumaloy sa pag-unlad ng ating bayan
Sagisag ka ng kagitingan
Bandila ka ng kalayaan
Pag-asa ka ng mamamayanSandaang taon na tayo
Lagi ka pa rin sa aming puso
Sandaang taon na tayo
UP ang galing mo!
UP ang galing mo!Sandaang taon na tayo
Dangal ka ng Pilipino
Sentro ka ng pagbabago
UP ang galing mo!Sandaang taon na tayo
UP ang galing mo!
UP ang galing mo!
The music and lyrics effectively capture the euphoria surrounding UP’s 100 years. The beat and genre appeal more to the youth crowd. In the process, some UP students can’t be blamed for liking the song. However, I’ve noticed that the more discerning ones are not that receptive, and for good reason.
If you know your basic Filipino grammar, you would immediately notice what’s wrong with a particular word that can be found in the title no less: Instead of “ang galing,” it should be “kay galing.” That the former is commonly used in conversational Filipino does not make it grammatically correct, at least for now. However, you should know that continuous use of the ungrammatical could result in its acceptance in the future.
Don’t you find some lack of creativity in the second stanza where the guro (teachers) are thanked for their…pagtuturo (teaching)? It’s a given that teachers teach. While the intention is to commend teachers for properly shaping their students, there should have been a more creative way in writing this. One cannot be blamed if he or she suspects that the composer simply ran out of words in deciding what rhymes with “guro.”
I also don’t think that UP being first when it comes to “high technology” is true. UP may have the best minds in the country, but the common lament of most students (and professors for that matter) is the lack of basic facilities. And in the context of social relevance, shouldn’t we have an inherent bias for appropriate technology instead of the state-of-the-art?
What about our excellence in non-natural science disciplines like literary arts and media? Kindly refer to the line “High tech man o kahit ano pa.” As a faculty member of the university’s College of Mass Communication (CMC), I guess I belong to the “kahit ano pa” crowd. (Should I be thankful for this?)
There is also something awkward about the use of dugo (blood): History is said to be in our blood, and that the latter flows as society develops. What does this mean? Another important point in grammar: Dugo is already a collective noun so it becomes redundant to use mga as modifier.
As regards the singing style, I am uncomfortable with the singer’s pronouncing unibersidad as YU-NI-BER-SI-DAD. This reminds me of rock singer Ramon Jacinto’s tendency to use American twang in some of his songs in Filipino (Sinasabi ko sa yow/Na wala ekong daramdamin…). While having an accent in using a foreign language is understandable, a Filipino speaking his or her own language should learn proper pronunciation of simple words like unibersidad.
Now that we’re through analyzing this rock song, perhaps we should take it “slow” by analyzing Isang Daan which has, quite predictably, a slow tempo.
Isang Daan
Isandaang taong pagsisilbi sa bayan
Isandaang taon ng kagitingan
Ginising ang ating puso’t isipan
Mula sa pagkakatulog ng kamalayan* Isang daan tungo sa karunungan
Isang daan tungo sa kagalingan
Daan na tinuro ng ating pamantasang hirang
Inilaan para sa ’ting mga anak ng bayanDumating man ang hangin ng pagbabago
Iskolar, huwag patitinag itaas ang kamao
Kasing lawak at ‘sing taas ng langit
Ang abot ng isipan mo(Repeat *)
Magbago man ang panahon
Pamantasan nati’y ‘di patatalo
Iskolar ng bayan noon at ngayon
Laging angat sa ibaIsang daan tungo sa karunungan
Isang daan tungo sa kagalingan
Isang daan tungo sa karunungan
Isang daan tungo sa kagalingan(Repeat *)
Notice that the words sandaan (one hundred) and isang daan (one way or one road) are used creatively and convincingly by the composer.
Even if it won a contest at UPLB and is thus the theme song of that particular constituent unit, this is a song that can be embraced not just by the entire UP system but also other 100-year old state universities (e.g., Philippine Normal University) whose students are considered “scholars of the people.”
The reason for this is simple: Unlike UP Ang Galing Mo!, Isang Daan does not make any direct reference to UP, and there was also no allusion to the things that make UPLB distinct and distinguished like agriculture, forestry and development communication. I think this is a welcome move as the composer had the liberty to focus more on UP’s orientation and its tradition of excellence.
There is also an attempt to be socially relevant as the scholars of the people are called upon to continue raising their fists (a sign of militancy), the wind of change notwithstanding. That UP also helped raise the students’ consciousness was also mentioned right at the first stanza.
The lyrics, however, can still be improved. In the first stanza, strictly speaking, the word sandaang should have been used instead of isandaang. (If you don’t believe, look at the P100 bill.) In the refrain, the line “Daan na tinuro…” should have been “Daang itinuro…”
These weaknesses notwithstanding, Isang Daan is a fitting tribute to UP and other state universities especially at a time of government’s very limited subsidy to education.
If you want to have MP3 files of UP Ang Galing Mo! and Isang Daan, you may search the Net or you can opt to just contact me.
Much as I want to, bandwidth limitations prevent me from uploading the two MP3 files. In any case, I’ll be more than happy to share mine with you via email, should you want to.
That’s all for now. Thank you for reading.
Update (June 17, 3:45 p.m.): I found on YouTube the “unofficial music video” of the “official version” of Isang Daan.
In terms of sound quality, it is better than the original acoustic version which, from what I know, is the entry to the September 2007 contest.
That I prefer the acoustic over this official version is just a matter of opinion: You might like the official version if you’re not familiar with the song “We Are the World” which, for some reason, came to mind as I watched this video.
Since it was uploaded only last June 4, only a few people (149 views as of this writing) have seen this video which I took the liberty of embedding for your enjoyment.
I hope you won’t get easily distracted by the smiling faces and totally unrelated gestures as they sung a serious and solemn song. Give the students a break: It’s their moment of glory, after all, and they have every reason to be proud of their work.