Sunday, December 2, 2018
Bato sa Buhangin - Lyrics & English Translation
Kapag ang puso'y natutong magmahal
Bawat tibok ay may kulay at buhay
Ngunit kung ang pagsuyo'y lilipas din
Bagay kaya ang bato sa buhangin?
When the heart learns to love
Every beat has color and life
But if affection would only fade
Is a pebble suited for the sands?
Kay hirap unawain
Bawat damdamin
Pangakong magmahal hanggang libing
Sa langit, may tagpuan din
At doon hihintayin
Itong bato sa buhangin
How difficult it is to comprehend
Every feeling
I promise to love until death
In heaven, there's a place for us
Wait there
For this pebble among the sands
Kay hirap unawain
Bawat damdamin
Pangakong magmahal hanggang libing
Sa langit, may tagpuan din
At doon hihintayin
Itong bato sa buhangin....
How difficult it is to comprehend
Every feeling
I promise to love until death
In heaven, there's a place for us
Wait there
For this pebble among the sands...
------
Notes
This is an old song and it has quite a few renditions. Most recent is the one by Glaiza De Castro as used for the film "Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral". Honestly, it sounds amazing (both the original and the one by Glaiza) but I'm at a loss as to how I could really interpret this song..
The translation I did could probably not encompass half of what this song is meant to convey, I'm sorry for being stupid lol.
Here's my take though: The person singing probably feels out of place? Either in life, or in love (when it comes to the person they're in love with?) and yet they vow to keep loving and if that love is returned - in death, and even past death (in the afterlife?? heaven??), the person will remain loyal and loving and so their partner must wait for this "pebble" so that they may be together again. Damn, I'm really bad with this stuff. I used to be able to interpret things much better but idk, age is catching up I guess :)))) I've been wracking my mind for months now, about what "bato sa buhangin" could ever mean?? I even asked an old person but they just gave me the english translation (stone in the sand??? lmao) without any context...
Feel free to correct me though!
*** UPDATE: I found this: https://joeam.com/2016/09/06/a-short-analysis-of-bato-sa-buhangin/
and learned a lot about this song. My comprehension of the song is very bad, I'm so sorry!
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Its meaning also bothers me though.
ReplyDeletei also got curious after hearing the song again now, as an adult.upon looking at idioms related to sand, i found this "be built on sand" which means it has no strong foundation and likely to fall apart. it also relates to a story in the bible to someone building a house in sand and the other building a house made of stone. So "Bato sa Buhangin" seems to me is "Bato as compared to Buhangin". So it says LOVE should be built by stone not in sand in order to withstand anything not even time(fading affection) and even death cannot break this apart. Because even afterlife, there is still a place for 2 lovers to continue their love for each other if they built it by stone.
ReplyDeleteThat made a lot of sense! Thank you so much. Reading your comment made me like the song even more :)
DeleteThe expression, "Bagay kaya..." in this context is more about a comparison between love/passion and 'bato sa buhangin', not about the suitability between a stone and sand, which refers to a different usage of 'bagay'. Another way of saying this in Tagalog is "Natutulad ba ang pagsusuyo sa bato sa buhangin"? The proper translation would be like, "is it (desire, love) like a pebble in the sand"? Sand is simply 'smaller pebbles' that have been tossed and turned over longer
Deletedistances and time. Pebbles are 'bigger sand' that will become sand over time. The writer wonders if we should look at a grand love, represented by the pebble, as just another love that will be among the countless other loves (countless like sand) that have been experienced by humans in the eternal passage of time. But then after pondering on this seeming insignificance and ephemerality of romantic love in the bigger scheme of things, he still notes the mystery of human emotions, especially on the intensity that promises to love until death. So while on earth, love becomes part of universal human history, the power of love is such that this mere 'pebble' can still find expression in the other world, in heaven.
I'm confuse... i want to know what is the genre of this song? Can you answer me?
ReplyDeletekundiman.
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