AND HOW. At a packed gig at mag:net Katipunan last October 22, Dong Abay showed everyone that, really, he never left. With the same passion that drove him and his music to the forefront of the 90's Pinoy rock scene with the now-legendary Yano, he sang new songs with enough intensity for half-a-dozen of the Top Twenty songs now ruling the airwaves (given the current Sunday- morning-middle-of-the-road-somewhere-not-necessarily-here pop trend). After a short-lived contract with BMG Records--where his post-Yano band, Pan, rubbed elbows with the Sexbombs--and the release of the brilliant Parnaso ng Payaso (2003), Dong has finally gone solo with a new independently-released album, Sampol.
Composed of eight original all-acoustic tracks, Sampol gives us songs, serious and funny, but all free from moon-June-spoon sentiments and the usual tics of popular music. The first track, "Awit ng Kambing," is trademark Dong Abay, a storyteller's rock-awit ("Halikayo magsilapit, kahit na po ilang saglit, pakinggan niyo itong awit na di na mauulit...") and a tribute to the hapless characters of tabloid news. Never have such grisly events been recounted with so light a touch.
At the peak of the Sexbombs' popularity, Dong offered to take off his clothes on tv in a bid to get more guestings for Pan. The offer was, needless to say, refused.
With "Kukote," Abay goes back to the inner world or, rather, the world as seen by the mind's eye. Like the earlier Pan song, "Kahimanawari," this one teeters on the brink of solipsism yet the urgency and undeniable validity of the experience saves it from slipping into an exercise in navel-gazing. Nothing can be taken for granted, these songs say. Life is wondrous strange and painful, and not even the rain is commonplace. The song's lullaby-like rhythm also speaks to the wide-eyed child in all of us.
According to Dong, there is very little point in making songs that do not address a specific listener. In "Perpekto," he tells the listener to accept, if not flaunt, the imperfection: "Ano ba ang epekto kung meron kang depekto?" Dong Abay's five-year "disappearance" at the peak of Yano's popularity is now part of Pinoy rock lore and, listening to this song, one gets the feeling that he is drawing from lessons learned the hard way. These are words of comfort from one who has plumbed the depths, and has returned--perhaps not unscathed but, certainly, unrepentant. There may yet be hope for us all.
At a videoke bar, Dong once sang one of his own songs and got a score of 68.
But no album, if Dong Abay had any hand in it, would be complete without commentaries on current issues. "Tuyo" goes back to ecological themes and may be directly linked to Pan's most popular song, "Dumpsite." "Ay Buhay" is a deceptively quiet song dealing with the struggles of Everyman and Everywoman. Meanwhile, the seemingly endless strife surrounding us all threatens to overwhelm the character in "WWIII." "Solb," with its surreally breathtaking chorus of "High na high sa highway/Solb na solb sa solvent" is a different take on the lives of street children. As with "Awit ng Kambing," Dong sings these songs with an odd detachment that is born of genuine sympathy and respect for the subject-matter. For all his wordplay, he never descends to clichés and the song unfolds without histrionics. It is the matter-of-factness of the telling that serves as a counterpoint to the horrors of everyday life.
Pag hindi ako kinilabutan, hindi pa siya kumpleto. Hindi pa siya kanta.
Dong's edge over most songwriters is undoubtedly his poetry. Watching certain music video channels, it is a common experience to cringe at some of the lyrics appearing at the lower half of the screen. A perfectly heartfelt ballad could be irretrievably rendered laughable by a bit of bad grammar or rickety logic. Fortunately for us, Dong Abay is primarily a poet of unusual rigor and meticulousness; that he writes songs is a boon for the greater number. From "Segundo": Kung sa isang iglap/makalimutan ng diyos/na ako ay isang/manikang basahan/at kanyang pagkalooban/ng kapirasong buhay,/hindi ko sasabihin/lahat ng iniisip,/sa halip/ay iisipin/lahat ng sasabihin./Itatangi ko ang bawat bagay-bagay/hindi dahil/lamang sa kahalagahan nito/kundi sa kung ano/ang kahulugang totoo./Ako'y matutulog nang kaunti,/mas mananaginip,/mauunawaan na sa bawat minutong pagpikit/nawawalan tayo ng animnapung segundo/ng liwanag.
"Segundo," for all its self-conflicted questioning of existence is ultimately an affirmation of love for this life. It is a fitting last track for an album that presents the good, the bad, and the ugly with affection--the latter two, as for things that have no other use but to make us stronger.
To listen to Dong Abay's songs as ordinary melodies is to do them an injustice. These are poems set to music, attempts to catch the ghosts of the dark nights of our souls and bodies. Watching him perform, one realizes how much of himself Dong puts into his songs. Each gig, he admits, is just "different ways of killing myself" and it matters very little to him whether he's performing before an audience of ten or ten thousand.
"Kung iisipin mong hindi ka sikat, hindi ka malalaos."
Sampol may be a sampler of Dong Abay's current work but it stands on its own and, we daresay, has the makings of a future collector's item. It is also a teaser for his upcoming album, Farmeryano, the first, we hope, of an uninterrupted flow of songs. As Dong loves to humbly brag, he has enough material for at least five albums. Sadly, however, the problem of production rears its ugly head once more and this, Dong reveals, may eventually drive him to look for greener and more appreciative pastures.
That Saturday night at mag:net, the place was decorated with photocopied streamers of memorabilia and documents--concert schedules, flyers and set lists--from the Yano and Pan days. Dong wore a red t-shirt with the words "Don't look back." It is good advice for anybody and Dong Abay, of all people, doesn't have to. (Sofia Guillermo)