Minsan sa may kalayaan, tayo’y nagkatagpuan
May mga sariling gimik at kanya-kanyang hangad sa buhay…
This song, performed by the Eraserheads, has gone down generations as a friendship anthem–one you can sing with close friends while on a road trip or in late evenings while drunk. It’s surreal to think now that a song that commemorates joyful memories lived among the people you love had come from a band that did not have close ties with one another.
The strained relationship among the Eraserheads members is not new knowledge. Ely Buendia himself reiterated this recently during a guesting he made in the podcast “Wake Up With Jim & Saab” hosted by Cheats members Jim Bacarro and Saab Magalona-Bacarro last March, wherein he explained that while the band had “a very, very good working relationship,” they were never exactly close friends.
“What fans didn’t know, what the public didn’t know [is] we were never – okay, I don’t want to break any hearts again… We were never close, we were never friends, as in tight friends. That’s why we broke up,” he said.
He went on to say that their song, “Minsan,” was “cringe-worthy” because of how fans often expressed frustration over their disbandment in 2002.
“It’s about fans… I was kind of sick of fans saying, when the Eheads broke up, ‘You’re friends, you shouldn’t have [broken] up. You made us feel bad.’ I was sick of that. I think everything points to that song. That’s what they reference all the time.”
As Ely’s comments went viral online, former Eraserheads drummer Raymund Marasigan came forward to air out his own thoughts on the subject.
During a May 30 episode of his podcast “Offstage Hang,” which he co-hosts with Daren Lim, Raymund agreed with Ely regarding the band’s relationship all those years ago.
“It’s not a secret ever since,” he said.
“I will not speak for the band. I will not speak for Buddy or Marcus or Ely, but I consider everybody my friend in the band and that we are not close, I’m also aware of that,” he continued. “Ibig sabihin (Meaning), not close that we don’t text each other. I have their numbers, we [just] don’t text each other.”
Raymund also admitted that each member’s “very strong personalities” would come out whenever they’d met and jam in the studio, but he said that it wasn’t “fighting,” but rather “part of the chemistry.”
“I do respect them, and I think we all wanted to make things work together. We’re just not close. Parang (It’s like), after the show, we had drinks, celebrate, and that’s it,” he added.
He then revealed that “Minsan” was never about the Eraserheads themselves but about Ely’s dormmates at the Kalayaan Dormitory in the University of the Philippines-Diliman. “We are not batchmates, ahead siya (he’s ahead) by a year. So he was talking about those guys who I know din (also). Those are the people he talked about in ‘Minsan’,” Raymund said.
(ALSO READ: LOOK: 10 Nostalgic OPM Songs that will Make You Remember Your High School Days)
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments.
Do you have a story for the WhenInManila.com Team? Email us at story.wheninmanila@gmail.com or send us a direct message at WhenInManila.com Facebook Page. Interact with the team and join the WhenInManila.com Community at WIM Squad! Get the latest news about the Philippine Entertainment industry and join the WIM Showbiz Facebook group! We also share our stories on Viber, join us!
