Sleep's The SciencesSpacing Out
Alam mo ‘yung pumupungay ‘yung mata mo kahit ‘di ka naman naka-chongki. ‘Yung napapa-headbang ka kahit wala namang tugtog. Hindi yata ‘spacing out’ o ‘zoning out’ ang eksaktong katumbas nito, pero sa amin ang tawag dito ay nagtutukake. Nagtukake ako kanina. Habang nasa harap ng computer, habang nagtatrabaho.
Hindi naman ito madalas mangyari. Paminsan-minsan lang. [Cue in that Richard Reynoso song from the ’90s.]
Most of the time, it happens when I didn’t have enough sleep or when the deadlines are still far far away. You know, those little moments when I’m reading something or typing an email, and my thoughts start to wander, and weird images start appearing on my screen, my mind drifting, the subconscious taking over. Mere seconds where movie plot insert themselves into whatever I’m reading, or where movie characters show up on screen, or where erotic images flash for fraction of a second, like that giant erect penis near the end of Fight Club.
Wait. No, I don’t mean that specific image from Fight Club, but the way it was showed in the movie. As in blink and you miss it. Blink and you miss it but in slow motion. Like when one is stoned. I am not making sense, am I?
This reminds me of a friend who once sent an email with the word “nipple” in it, even though our work had nothing to do with anything related to pipes, plumbing or human anatomy. The email goes something like, “The [redacted] has been [redacted] from the [redacted]. Please see attached nipple.” One time, a 300-plus page e-book found its way to the printer. “I was only reading it, I swear. Somebody must have clicked print.” Yeah, right—somebody. One ream of A4 went straight to the recycle bin, a physical recycle bin.
Parang Si Ely Soriano
No matter how big of an Eraserheads fan you are, if you’re going to write a song, don’t put Ely Buendia’s name in your lyrics. Just don’t.
Check out Silent Sanctuary’s “Dekada 90.” If this doesn’t scream “hey, Eheads fan here” to you, listen again to the song. They could’ve done it without the name dropping. Or better, they could’ve stopped after “Estekka”. Why? Listen to “Estekka”. It does sound like Eraserheads circa Sticker Happy. And the title is probably a play on the word sticker, as in, you know, the album with the stand up piano in front of a naked lady sitting with a red balloon tied to her waist on the cover. Both songs are off their third album Mistaken For Granted, which isn’t as good as… shet, how do you spell fu-sha? It isn’t as good as their second album, the one with “Rebound.”
Want another example? Check out this song by Soapdish, which is a much graver offense, they even put his name in the title. It’s like “Hey, I’m an Eheads fan too. Please like my song.” By the way, Soapdish’ first album was OK. The second one, not so much. And it also contains this song.
Not that it cannot be done. Not that it can’t be done right or in a non-cringe-y way. Dong Abay did it with “Akrostik.” But he’s fucking Dong Abay, man. The End did it in “Drayb My BM.” But “Drayb My BM” is practically The End singer Darem Placer making fun of Eraserheads’ “Overdrive.” I don’t know, maybe you can go the beabadoobee way (“I Wish I Was Stephen Malkmus”)? Or stick to what I said first. Just don’t.
Did you know beabadoobee can read/speak Tagalog? There’s video of it on YouTube.
By the way, Silent Sanctuary’s “Hinga Ng Malalim” does sound like it’s about being depressed and pag-do-doobie. I mean, “Sisindihan ko lang ito at ipapasa ko sa’yo” can’t be about lighting a candle and passing it to someone, right?
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