Hastang of Yesteryears

The final installment of an 11-part series. Guile takes a whimsical journey down memory lane, retracing the bumpy pseudo-pathways that led to the final version of Hastang’s current tracks.

• Also known as the chanting song. Until now, I still can’t figure out how Tessa came up with those haunting melodies, especially in the chorus part, which features two different melodies doing a tango. I remember while we were doing the vocal tracks, Galen asked me: “Which one is the lead vocal part?” I just shrugged. Both?
• After the bridge, in the final pre-chorus part, Gaw does a Santana. I tease him a lot about it until now.
• Which came first? The melody or the lyrics? In the case of this song, the former. Tessa recorded a few haunting chants using her mobile phone. The first time we listened to the crude recording, we knew it had the makings of a great song. We then asked Yan to write some words to go with the melody. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Old Lovers’ Mantra

Lyrics by Julie Ann Yan Redoble
Music and Arrangement by Hastang

I whisper a mantra to the rain,
a mantra of lips on a soft cheek.

Echoing the sounds of nostalgia.
or the rustling of an empty bed.

I repeat this mantra,
an incantation of pain,
an anguished plea for release,
a spell to vanquish…

(chanting)

I recite a mantra to the rain,
a rhythmic, pulsating chanting.
Riding the beats of a frantic pulse,
frenzied like bodies melting in the dark.

I murmur a mantra to the rain,
a mantra slow and wary,
like a leaf dropping on a windless day
or a name lost in the incessant fray…

I whisper a mantra to the rain,
the silent mantra of a heart letting go.
Like the empty sounds of a last farewell,
or the distant echoes of a final kiss

Hastang is a Cebu-based, female-fronted indie band composed of members Ria (vocals), Guile (bass), Gaw (guitars), and Makoy (drums).
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