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Featured music (Mahnee Cabase) and lyrics (Sat A
Villarino)
of "Carmen" including guitar chords are found in Jaime's
Harana Website click here
Because we were unable to find any information about
Visayan poet, lyricist, composer Saturnino A. Villarino,
we interviewed Philippine Megastar Amapola who had
the opportunity to call Villarino "Uncle", as she grew up
watching Villarino and her father Mahnee Cabase
collaborate on songs that are now considered Visayan
Classics. Their collaboration gave us the Visayan
standards: "Unsa-on Ko (Matag Buklad sa Bulak);
"Patayng' Buhi"; "Guihigugma Ko Ikaw" and many more.
VisayaNet Interview, November 29, 2002
VisayaNet: Fort Lauderale, Amapola: Orlando, Florida.
VisayaNet: Amapola, tell us what you remember
of
your "uncle" Saturnino A. Villarino, one of Visayas'
most acclaimed lyricist, poet and composer?
Amapola: I don't remember Uncle
"Toting" NOT working.
He and my Dad were always busy. I remember dressing
up for school before eight in the morning and I could
hear their voices downstairs at the breakfast table. I'd
go to school all day and when I came home they were
still at it, until they finish what it is they set out to do. It
was always a lot of fun seeing them work.
VisayaNet: We heard that you sang a lot of
the songs
that they created, even before they were released?
Amapola: Yes! At first I resisted because
after school
I wanted to hang out with the kids in the neighborhood.
But I was the only singer they could ask at a moments
notice to try out what they had finished so far. I recall
singing and looking out the window and getting antsy
to finish the song as quick as possible. Then slowly, I
began to enjoy what they were doing as time went on
and was stuck like glue to them. Finally, one day, they
asked me to go out and play!
VisayaNet: In your opinion, what made
Villarino's
lyrics exceptional?
Amapola: I found his lyrics easy to sing.
That was the
reason they often asked me to try their new creations.
Other artists came and tried their songs too and together
my Dad and Uncle would discuss why a certain word
would be too difficult to sing, like vowels and consonants
along with a certain note. I was much too young to
understand the gravity of the decisions they had to make,
in their collaboration, but now after all the years past,
their songs are some of the easiest and most poignant
to sing. Uncle Toting's lyrics are just simply beautiful.
VisayaNet: What was he like as a person?
Amapola: He was energetic and always postive
about
his musical endeavours. His energy was contagious. When
most people at the end of the day would probably wilt after
hours and hours of creativity, Uncle Toting thrived on it. Like
I said, when I came home from a full day of school, they were
still at it, creating, composing, writing and often getting more
intense as day turns into night. Dad had to work every night
and so the pressure was always on to finish something. I
remember Uncle Toting picking me up by my elbows and
throwing me up in the air. That was his signature hello and
goodbye. He was a lot of fun.
VisayaNet: Do you think there are present day
lyricists that
are as good as the lyricists you remember during your days
in Cebu, the Philippines?
Amapola: I hear new Visayan songs all the
time when I DJ my
weekly show: Radyo Bisaya ng Amerika which broadcasts every
Monday on PhilRadio International. There are some very talented
new breed I enjoy listening to. One of them is Jimmy Borja. I
enjoy his music and lyrics a lot.
Just like everything else, visayan lyrics has metamophosed into
something more "pop" and thus there are many poignant words that
are now obsolete and are replaced with the more modern cadence.
We are truly blessed because we can sing and listen to both
lyrical worlds.
VisayaNet: We thank you for this brief
interview Amapola. In
closing, what would you like to say to our readers about
Saturnino A. Villarino?
Amapola: I wish he wrote more lyrics and more
music. He
was so gifted that he could write Visayan, Tagalog, English
and even Spanish lyrics and poems. If he were alive today,
he could corner the market in Visayan prose and poetry. But,
he is alive in all the lyrics we sing to this day. For the readers
of this column, please visit Lyrics within this website and witness
Saturnino A. Villarino's gift of prose.
Visit Amapola's website at
http://www.filipinastar.com
or http://www.amapola.net
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