Young Christian composer-musician shares
why this song inspired by flashflood Sendong is far greater than the world and
the songs in it
WHEN Haiti was shaken by a
7.0-magnitude earthquake two years ago, the song ‘We Are The World,’ which was
originally written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie, was remade.
When Japan was hit by a tsunami March
last year, an album called ‘Songs for Japan’ was produced featuring the songs ‘Imagine’
by John Lennon, ‘Prayer’ by Justin Bieber and other songs by many more famous
artists.
And when Sendong, ravaged Cagayan
de Oro December last year, you may have not known it but there was a song that
with its good blend of different genres – mellow at the start, jazz and metal
rock in the middle, and rap towards the end – is a sure treat to music lovers. It’s
titled ‘Bangon CDO.’
JR Cuyam, a composer-musician in
his own right, recalls that he has a melody that has long been kept in his
mind. And when Sendong broke the silence of that fateful night on December 16,
his was broken as well. He got his pen and sought for the right words to jibe
with the melody.
What made it as easy as do, re,
mi, for him in writing the song was the fact that he volunteered day-in and day-out
for the relief operations of Kagay-an Evangelical Disaster Response Network
(KEDRN), going as far as the affected areas in Iligan City.
He has seen faces of pain. It was
a tragic incident unmatched in magnitude that he wrote ‘Katalagman nga dili masabot’ (A disaster that is beyond
comprehension).
“Nakita pud nako didto nga kato nga (I saw during that) time, there were
different people in the field that I did not expect to help. But they were
there in the evacuation centers – with all their hearts and efforts,” JR
recounts.
The bridge, which has a strong
rhythmic accompaniment, of the 4:33-minute song captures what he has witnessed:
‘Karun ang panahon nga kita magkahiusa
Magtinabangay sa usag-usa (This is the time when we unite and help each
other).’
Bangon is a Cebuano word for rise
or get up. And JR, 25, explains that “Lakip sa pagbangon is ang pagmata. Kung
mubangon ka, expected nga naa kay himuon (You should be awake the moment
you rise up. It is expected that you do something after you have risen).”
He encouraged people, during the
interview, to do something for change. This is the battle cry of the song. And
this call makes the song different from the not-more-than-50 songs, majority of
which were unrecorded, that he has written since he was 17. More than the
musical dynamics of the song, the message it conveys makes it a stand out.
The problem, he pointed out, is
that we think, at the onset, that the change we ought to make has to be
grand. We have to do something for
change even if it is as simple as picking up small pieces of rubbish, he cited.
Cliché as it may sound but true.
“A song is an urge. So the song ‘Bangon
CDO’ is an urge. This is the least of my contribution,” explains the lead
guitarist at Celebration Central Campus.
The song has long been sung
during evangelistic concerts of Celebration International Church in the Tent
City and in Brgy Macasandig. It was sung during Dayaw Mindanaw, an eight-hour
praise worship last April 7 in Pilgrim Christian College, where the composer is
a graduate of Mass Communication. The latest concert the said church had was
with the missions outreach team from Jesus Revolution Manila.
It would perhaps be unrealistic
to compare ‘Bangon CDO’ vis-à-vis ‘We Are The World’ and the album ‘Songs for
Japan.’ To do so would be like comparing a lightning to a lightning bug as Mark
Twain would put it.
It was not a product of a
collaboration of big names in the music industry. Neither Lady Gaga nor Madonna
was in it. It was recorded not in a professional music studio but in an
average-size church with the help of his band mates and was sung by his
spiritual mentor. It has not raised big funds for the flashflood victims and perhaps never will be.
But what makes Bangon CDO different
and powerful from the rest? JR shares: “I know nga maka change siya; maka-rewire siya sa mind. It can cause an action. (Because) this song was a
dictate of the Holy Spirit. And I needed to write about it.”
Check out Bangon CDO in YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NV6jtNOqtSk
