(In which there’s a tune for the memory.)
***
Aside from the traditional battle for the walls, (I don’t know if it’s prohibited now.) campaign periods are also made more colorful by music. It is believed that a good campaign jingle helps a lot in a candidate’s victory. That’s why most of them were performed by famous singers and bands to attract more interest. As they believed, if these artists have hit the local charts, being hit with the masses won’t be a tough job.
The following are some campaign ads that have been on television. There are more than four presidential candidates but so far, these are the ones whose musical strategies are somehow making it big.
Check out the campaign ad of Manny Villar that had tons of people suffer from LSS and flood Facebook and Youtube with spoofs and comments. It even has a Japanese version and oh, one of the academy’s students has learned to sing it, too. Who knows if he owes topping the survey to this song?
It’s catchy, alright. I just hope that when this Villar gets to be the President, these kids won’t have to “bathe in a sea of garbage” or “spend Christmas in the streets” or sing for a campaign ad for some cash anymore.
Now here’s one with a really mellow approach, and with the Asia’s songbird as the singer. In one of his ads, he swore, by the legacy of his parents, that he will never, ever steal. To which my parents just replied with a chuckle.
This one has a fresh strategy for an ad, with the new Rivermaya performing. It's a new jingle since Gibo Teodoro stopped using the one which obviously sounds like Rico Blanco’s song “Posible” after the latter asked the politician to. Actually, this new song has a good beat – very Pinoy.
The first time I heard this, I didn’t think it was a campaign jingle. I thought it has a nationalistic, apolitical message of moving the Filipinos to have initiative and motivation for a better nation because I wasn’t looking at the TV screen. But when I read the signature lines, I was fooled no more. But anyway, Gloc9 did a good job with the song. When everyone just edited the lyrics of songs and retained the melody just for the sake of coming up with a jingle, Gloc9 and others composed. And when asked why he accepted this politician’s offer despite so many others offered higher, he answered that he believed in the person. Talking about artistry and truthfulness to one’s self.
Music really has its own way of making things and people memorable. But when the future of a nation is in question, it takes more than a good video or a famous or a talented musician to be bases of good judgment. I hope that as much as Filipinos love music, they wouldn’t be so easy to fall for false promises and images presented with staves and guitar chords.
