sing me to sleep

Leny lent me a copy of Chin Chin Gutierrez' "Uyayi" while I wait for my copy on order. Some amazing arrangements of songs on there from some very well established Philippine artists. "Sa ugoy ng duyan" with its saxophones made me weepy and had me humming the song all evening.

What's truly amazing about the set is that it's 2 CDs. The first, a new arrangement of 17 lullabies, the second nearly 33 lullabies and songs sung by the original contributors! Plus a short movie about the process she took in meeting and talking with these people in the journey of making this CD.

It's fascinating! I was listening to the 2nd CD when I heard a familiar tune, "Oh my darling Clementine!" But when I checked the song notes, it was a Maguindanao song called, "Papanok." The woman had learned this song from her grandmother. I doubt the words were translatable to "oh my darlin' clementine." Hmm...I'll have to ask someone who might know what she's singing about. It would certainly put this woman's grandmother at the turn of the century, when the Americans had made their way through Mindanao and made it to areas where even the Spanish had dare not go.

Filipinos copy, but they also make it their own. So, when they make something their own, is it still a copy? (Boy, that's a question a few people will be debating about in their dessertations for a while.)