Janine’s sad, sweet Pelikula

Pelikula, the collab recording by Janine Ten?oso and Arthur Nery, brought back one of my favorite quotes: “We look before and after/ and pine for what is not. Our sincerest laughter with some pain is fraught. Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thoughts.” From the poem To a Skylark by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Pelikula is one of those simple but perfect little songs where the words rest comfortably on the notes of the melody and then everything about it, just flows. It is so natural or as kids are prone to saying these days, very organic. And with lyrics that almost everybody can relate to, it puts the listener in a sad, but also romantic mood.

Janine, who is best known for the Sid & Aya soundtrack hit song Di Na Muli, made no secret of the fact that the song was written while she was nursing a broken heart in March 2020. Writing songs became a sort of therapy and an output was Pelikula. She has since then recovered and moved on.

Maybe, it was the same case with Arthur, who is known as the Heartthrob from the South with the song Higa. He admitted in an interview that he lost his girlfriend because she could not cope with his pop star success. “I didn’t sign up for this,” was what she said and that was the end.

Pelikula is a pandemic song. It was composed and recorded while both Janine and Arthur were in lockdown. Thanks to technology, they were able to finish the song without having to meet in person. Drafts first and then tracks went back and forth. Janine in Manila to Arthur in Cagayan de Oro and then Arthur to Janine and back again. Back and forth. Back and forth.

Pelikula is a sad song, but like what the poet Shelley wrote many years ago, it is also the sweetest. Just like Janine and Arthur with each other. If we are to judge by those bright-eyed glances and little smiles that seem to hide secrets from the duo in the song’s visualizer on YouTube, they can now be giggly and could be looking at possible new relationships. They will be meeting in person soon to shoot the music video.

Pelikula is now a big hit. I will not be surprised if invitations to do collaborations with other artists will be inundating Janine and Arthur.

Pelikula is one of the cuts in Janine’s first EP release titled Kwento Sa Silid. Why this title? Because with all her usual gigs and media appearances cancelled, she spent most of her time inside her room. It was there with her guitar that she was able to bring her journal entries to life as songs. Judging from the results, she was able to come up with her best work to date because of COVID-19.

Check out the titles in Kwento Sa Silid and get an idea about Janine’s healing process. The EP also includes Ghosts in the Room, The Art of Letting Go, Paano, which was co-written with Euwie Von Loria of This Band, and a duet version of Janine’s oldie from last year, Umibig Muli with her fellow judge in Born to be a Star, Sam Concepcion.

Although there has not been much dancing being done this past year, Pelikula is the latest addition to the sayaw songs that have appeared recently. All purely coincidental. “Isasayaw kita hanggang sa walang hanggan,” sings Adie to his Paraluman. Zack Tabudlo asks his Binibini to, “Isayaw mo ako sa gitna ng ulan, mahal ko.” And Rob Deniel is asking forgiveness by dancing, “Isasayaw ko sa ulap,” in Ulap. Do you know of other Isasayaw songs?

Of course, as of this moment, Pelikula is sending out the best invitation with its lovely ear-candy refrain: “Isayaw mo ako Sinta/ Ibubulong ko ang musika/ Indak ng puso’y magiging isa/ takbo ng mundo’y magpapahinga/ Parang isang pelikula/ ilayo man tayo ng Tadhana/ bumabalik bawat eksena/ ako at ikaw, walang iba/ isayaw mo ako Sinta...”