I’ve got romance on the brain and it starts with the letter P

(An overdue music meme from no1fan)

1. (The) Path of the Wind (piano version)

From the anime Totoro. Like Cat-bus and Totoro, this composition is a bottomless pit of calm and cheer. It saw me through numerous frustrations + bouts of homesickness late last year and unfailingly took care of me. In a nutshell, it’s a companion P: pantawid-lungkot.

2. Piazza, New York Catcher

I’ve never been big on weddings but always did think eloping is romantic. I love the mix of naiveté and cynicism present in this song. To me, it’s about 2 people doing something possibly scandalous, and they do it not in the (abused) name of love but for the promise of adventure.

Elope with me, Miss Private, and we’ll sail around the world
I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl
How many nights of talking in hotel rooms can you take?
How many nights of limping around on pagan holidays?
Oh, elope with me in private and we’ll set something ablaze
A trail for the devil to erase

(…)

I love you, I’ve a drowning grip on your adoring face
I love you, my responsibility has found a place

(…)

I wish that you were here with me to pass the dull weekend
I know it wouldn’t come to love, my heroine pretend
(...)

Meet you at the statue in an hour

3. Para sa Masa (The Eraserheads)

Naalala nyo pa ba?

Binigyan namin kayo ng ligaya.

In the post-Eheads breakup years, this song has always struck me as an impending goodbye song. In it I hear the band struggling to bring back to the consciousness of the audience how they were once significant to their lives. It’s like a song about an affair that’s on the verge of ending because the parties no longer held the same priorities, no longer cared for the same things, or one of them chose to change. The chords and lyrics contain immeasurable frustration, disappointment, sadness.

Now I hear they’re reuniting in a concert touted to be legendary. Admittedly, I’m bummed because there’s really no way I’d be able to go. I think of all the years I fervently wished they’d play just one set, just one secret surprise gig and now it’s happening! Just great, it’s on the year I’m not home. I do hope that when the four of them share the stage again, they’ll do so sans any tinge of animosity because it’s not just about hearing the old songs being played and sung by the original lineup. You know what would really make the day legendary is if we see them sincerely enjoying playing together again.

(Another thing, I hope the buzz about Marlboro being the company behind this “legendary” event turns out to be just a legend.)

4. Paperbag (Fiona Apple)

Hunger hurts but starving works when it costs too much to love.

Because no one has to endure something so pointless.

5. (The) Perfect Love Song (The Divine Comedy)

This is love whistle sent through YM and serves as a reminder that though I may not be the best gambler there is, there's that one lucky day I did manage to score the jackpot.

Give

Me your love
And I'll give you
The perfect lovesong.
With a divine Beatles bassline
And a big old Beach Boys sound.
I'll match you pound for pound.
Like heavy-weights in the final round,
We'll hold on to each other
So we don't fall down.