This is the second entry for Cousin’s Kanta Corner. If you’re new to this space, I implore you to check out the first entry and read about halfway through for a background on this ongoing writing project.
Howdy kakabsat!
As I gather orbits around the fiery ball of flame known as the sun, I find my tolerance to late nights, fermented beverages, and dehydrated morning migraines vastly diminished from my younger years (an era which an old nursing instructor would label the “welwel” phase.)
And so, while attempting to piece these words together on a Sunday afternoon—a few hours removed from said headache’s peak, I fight off the urge to lie to myself and proclaim, “Never again shall I ingest such zesty, fermented beverages” because 1.) it simply isn’t true and 2.) lying is frowned upon, especially on Sunday.
However, what I shall do is share an underrated track that I feel captures the next-morning-regret feeling perfectly.
This Week’s Song:
Magbago Ka by Kulay (1996)
I love the album cover’s mid-90s energy. “What if we just show the band getting shredded in a blender?” “Why, that would be perfect because it is of course, the mid-90’s and it just makes sense.”
What do I like about it?
Radha Cuadrado’s bluesy, smooth lead vocals take center stage in this one. Her yearning pleas above the “ooh imasen” blues instrumentation almost make me want to volunteer willingly as the subject of her protests. It’s such an emotive voice that drives one to want to feel both the singer’s pain, begging for someone to change, and the listener’s guilt, receiving her impassioned appeals.
It’s tracks like these that always tempt me to reach out to some singer friends and pitch the idea of writing music like this because of how deceptively do-able it sounds to write songs about whatever is giving you the blues. But then the temptation is quickly tempered by the realization that material like this has a soul that isn’t easily replicated, especially by someone who feels another wave of nausea coming on.
Perhaps one day.
What mountain memories does it conjure?
It reminds me of waking up on a Sunday afternoon in my mid-20s while reflecting on the 3AM Good Taste stop from the previous night, slowly realizing that I’m no longer as hangover-proof as I was the last year or the year before, or the year before that. It’s the memory of the dawning awareness that it’s likely time to start easing up a bit on the fermented zesty drinks and changing it up for the liver’s sake.
Apart from this, from a music standpoint, it also reminds me of my high-school rakErZz days as Radha also features on Wolfgang’s A Matter of Time—which can also describe how soon I can expect to recover from this headache that seems to be returning with each word typed.
Who should you recommend it to?
This may be a nice track to recommend:
- To your friend who has a habit of announcing their awakening with the message ‘ayu anya nangnangyari di rabii?’
- To you, for whenever you want to scold yourself but would prefer a more soulful voice to deliver the sermons instead.
Which lyrics deserve a second read-through?
“Paikot-ikot lang tayo, wala tayong nararating
Lagi mo akong sinasaktan, pagkatapos nilalambing
Bakit pa ako umaasa?
Bakit pa tayo magkasama?
Nasa iyo ang ginhawa, ako ang kawawa
Tama ba? Tama na”
I’m so sorry, Radha. It’s all my fault, please feel free to continue singing to me about all my other shortcomings. I promise I’ll listen… and groove a little bit as well.
– Cousin
And so…
And so the second Cousin’s Kanta Corner entry is in! I know this comes two weeks after the first one but I’m still aiming to get my pace up to a weekly entry. Like mentioned before, it’s like getting back in shape and I’m still at the point where a short jog knocks the wind out of my lungs for at least two weeks.
But we’ll get there! One entry at a time.
Announcements and Matters of Cousin Interest:
– I finally received a bass I had ordered 14 months ago. (Why so long you ask? Because it is magical and it needed 14 months for it to be imbued with spells and I love it to bits and no more questions please.)
– I’m still slogging through my first book of the year because like my writing, my attention span has deteriorated to the point where I have trouble sitting and reading through entire chapters without worrying about the fate of the universe. But as mentioned, we’ll get there. One page at a time.
That’s all for now. See you manen nu next!
Be well kakabsat. Apir!