In a concert where we first sang Hangganan, a violent thunderclap threatened to end our performance abruptly. That was in the early 90s, but those of us in the show remember still how shaken the audience in the Ateneo High School Chapel seemed, and how the hairs on our backs suddenly lifted in the middle of the song. On hindsight though, maybe the weather had no part in this. Hangganan is after all by Gary Granada; and where there’s a Granada song, goosebumps are never far behind.
Unknown to many, Gary had been involved in Bukas Palad’s 2nd album, Pasko Na! As producer of that project in 1987 and having recorded all songs at StudiOne of Praise Incorporated, I was advised by the studio to have our reels mastered at Unison Records, at the Broadway Centrum Complex along Aurora Boulevard. Unison was being run by Gary. Together, we mastered each and every track of the album.
He had many kind words for Pasko Na! yet never realized then how thrilled I was to have heard all that as I was already a big fan. Neither was he to know that Bukas Palad would soon be singing his songs including Our Father and Earthkeeper, which we eventually performed in a concert in Sorsogon (with Gary also as a guest) and later recorded in our album, Let Your Praises Be Heard. This year, we immortalize his Hangganan in our 20th anniversary album.
Forget that his songs are always in perfect meter and rhyme. Or that his melodies are simple yet sheer genius. What it is that makes Gary’s music so memorable are his deeply poignant lyrics; and Hangganan is no exception. Here he speaks of how all things come to an end:
“Kagaya ng isang dula
Minsang ito'y umpisahan
Kung pa'nong mayro'ng simula
Ay mayro'n ding katapusan
Ang awit mang naririnig
Larawan bang namamasdan
Lahat ng bagay sa daigdig
Mayrong hangganan”
And if all things find their limit, shall we who fashion our lives to gain more, find ours?
“Ang iyong lakas ay may humpay
Huhulaw bawat halakhak
Sa salawahang tagumpay
Huhupa rin ang palakpak
Bakit ka ba patatangay
Patutuksong pag-abalhan
Ang bukas na hinihintay
Baka nga di mo pa datnan”
He thus concludes with a simple piece of advice:
Hangga't di mo natagpuan
Ang puno't dulo ng buhay
Lahat ay masasayang lang
Mawawalan din ng saysay
Hanapin mo ang Maylikha
Dahil Siya ang kahulugan
Nagwikang Siya ang simula
At ang hangganan
It takes solid conviction to write music like Gary Granada’s. His songs and messages of God’s unending love will last many lifetimes.
HANGGANAN
Disc: Inspirational
Lyrics & Music: Gary Granada
A cappella arrangement: Norman Agatep
Vocals: Mystery guest singer with the Bukas Palad Music Ministry
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