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The September issue of Esquire Philippines sheds light on Jose F. Lacaba’s poem, “Prometheus Unbound”. Written by Eric Melendez, the Esquire article intends to give its readers a behind-the-scenes look on the poem, which was published in Focus Magazine under the pseudonym Ruben Cuevas in 1973.
Today, Sep 21, Esquire releases the song to Lacaba’s poem via music streaming site soundcloud.
It may appear a little late for a September issue presentation but according to Esquire EIC Erwin Romulo, that was the plan.
“Dong [Abay] has a project kasi where he puts into song the works of different Filipino poets,” begins Romulo. “He approached me with several poets in mind, but I said let’s do ‘Prometheus Unbound’ specifically for Sep 21.”
Up Dharma Down’s Armi Millare arranged the music that Dong Abay wrote. The two provided vocals, with Millare pitching in the piano duties as well.
Excellent musicians Paolo Garcia and Malek Lopez provided additional instruments. Eksena favorite Shinji Tanaka took on the role of the engineer, while Lopez did the mixing. Esquire EIC Romulo was the producer. The result? Nothing short of haunting. Like, goose bump-inducing haunting.
“It’s an angry poem, but Armi’s thought of imagining how the poem would sound like after so many years. We ended with a song that sounded pagod, yes, but still fighting,” Romulo continues.
Before today ends, make sure to listen and to hear the reminder. #NeverForget
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