Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Paraiso sung by Lea Salonga

I will do a post related to this video in a little while.... I hate putting a video of the Philippines that depicts only the poverty, because aside from the poverty there are a lot of good things, great people and nice places in the Philippines. I will explain more later .. but I'd like to share this video and please take note of the lyrics of the song. Ironically, the Tagalog word "Paraiso" when translated in English means "Paradise" ...


Return to a land called Paraiso,
a place where a dying river ends.
No birds there fly over Paraiso,
no space allows them to endure.
The smoke that screens the air,
the grass that's never there.

And if I could see a single bird, what a joy.
I try to write some words and create
a simple song to be heard
by the rest of the world.

I live in this land called Paraiso,
in a house made of cardboard floors and walls.
I learned to be free in Paraiso,
free to claim anything I see.
Matching rags for my clothes,
plastic bags for the cold.

And if empty cans were all I have, what a joy.
I never fight to take someone
else's coins and live with fear
like the rest of the boys.

Paraiso, help me make a stand.
Paraiso, take me by the hand
Paraiso, make the world understand
that if I could see a single bird, what a joy.
This tired and hungry land could expect
some truth and hope and respect
from the rest of the world

1 comment:

Scott said...

Wow.
My father was born in the Philippines, and I long to go there someday.