I'm trying to learn the Eraserheads song "Harana." In English, this means "serenade." A traditional way of courting the beauty of your yearning, the question of romance is no question at all; singing to a girl is an Everest in the cavalier notion. Although I'm far from being fully adept in the Filipino language, I do get the gist of what's being said in the song. The guy doesn't seem like a superman but his feelings are undeniably true. With the girl skeptical of what the guy wants from her, he goes out of his to make one fine gesture of passion: a harana.
Looking for clarification of the what certain words mean in English, I asked father what "dungawin" stands for.
"Looking out the window." he says.
"What about 'humahanga?'"
"To admire."
I go on further and tell him that the line is from a song entitled "Harana." In his drunken agitation - yes, he was drunk the entire time - he immediately gets into a fierce rant about how a harana is completely nonessential and is nothing but a waste of time. He continues into how Filipino traditions like a harana drag the Philippines into the less-than-spectacular state that it is in. This is where I beg to differ.
"Traditions are what keep the Filipino people great."
It wasn't tradition for money to be the be-all, end-all and the final word. Lord knows that it wasn't a tradition to have absolutely corrupt politicians take command of your society and it sure wasn't tradition to screw your own people over just so you could be a little more wealthy. Is a harana the cause of the Philippines' current status? No. Modernism is the breaking point. The more they lose their sense of self, the more they become like all the assholes in the rest of the world.
Meanwhile, I'll be over here singing "Harana."
Well, trying too, anyways.
Ely sings pretty damn high.
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