the anthem

i want to write something of my deepest thoughts but i can't seem to write something that is truly significant. it makes me afraid to think that my brain is rotting away for nothing when when i was a kid, my parents thought i had a brilliant mind. my teachers in grade school says the same though i tend to veer of the straight path at times (i get into trouble once in a while), unlike my other "high-achieving" classmates. i wasn't even that popular in school eventhough i got good grades and graduated at the top of the class. in high school, it was the same, i was the average girl who gets good grades. i had a brilliant mind but not that brilliant if you get what i mean.

yes, i want to write something significant, something mind-blowing but for the life of me, what? maybe i should write about the way one should i think about the proper rendition of the national anthem. it had been on the news ever since nievera sang it at pacquiao's fight last april. my question is, how come these very same people did not make any fuss about the way it was sang by previous singers. they, too, did not adhere to the original piece by julian felipe. bautista even forgot the lyrics. was it excusable because he was nervous? shouldn't we, as filipinos learn the lyrics by heart because this one song, learned by heart and mind, can show the people how proud we are to be one? i am not a tibak, but i love my country. i have doubts if i could recite the anthem but i surely can sing it! i lament though the children of these country today. they sing the anthem the way they sing christmas carols - they have no idea of the lyrics nor they have any idea what they're singing about. they just blurt whatever words they think sounds like the original one. i lament all these. shouldn't teachers and parents teach these things, the anthem and christmas carols, properly? shouldn't it be a basic part of the education of our children? when i have kids, i would make sure that early on, my kids know how to sing the national anthem (even if by chance i marry someone with another nationality, then they should learn the other one, too!). i think the knowing of the anthem and what it stands for should be put in our hearts, the same way our love for God and our parents is. even the money professes something to that effect. isn't it written somewhere, 'for the love of God and country'?

maybe to keep the fuss out of this, the national anthem should just be sang as it should be, the way felipe wrote it. why create lots of versions to it when the original is beautiful as it is?

maybe as a review, i should write down the lyrics of our national anthem.

Lupang Hinirang
Julian Felipe

Bayang magiliw
Perlas ng silanganan
Alab ng puso sa dibdib mo'y buhay
Lupang Hinirang, duyan ka ng magiting
Sa manlulupig, di ka pasisiil
Sa dagat at bundok na simoy
At sa langit mong bughaw
May dilag ng watawat mo'y
Tagumpay na nagnininging
Ang bituin at araw niyan
Kailan pa ma'y di magdidilim
Lupa ng araw ng luwalhati't pagsinta
Buhay ay langit sa piling mo
Aming ligaya nang pag may mang-aapi
Ang mamatay ng dahil sa iyo

maybe to end this piece, i woud like to ask my countrymen, love our country by singing our anthem properly.