IT'S not Christmas when you can't hear Jose Mari Chan's songs everywhere: in shopping malls, sari-sari stores, jeepneys, and even in the house next door.
Chan's songs started dominating airwaves as early as September, along with memes capturing how the 72-year-old crooner became synonymous with Christmas. There is one meme that says, "Winter is Coming," a known motto from the "Game of Thrones" series. The meme superimposed Chan's face onto the body of the Night King, a character in the series.
Some netizens say Chan has full control over speakers in malls, and there's no hiding from his Christmas hits. "You can't run away...Kontrolado ko lahat ng speakers sa mall," another Chan meme states.
But the singer-composer, who hails from Iloilo, prefers to be called the "little drummer boy," than "King of Christmas or Christmas carols." To him, he just heralds the yuletide season through music, his passion.
"One should give way also to your passion. You should follow it. God gave you the talent, you should not just put it aside. God gave you the talent for a purpose," he says.
For him, the message of his song, "Christmas in Our Hearts," remains the same 27 years after it came out in 1990.
"It's the same message that this season may we never forget; that it is about the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let him be the one to guide us into the next year," he says.
Chan, who is also commemorating his 50th year in the music industry, is thankful that all the songs he wrote were "leading to that Christmas song."
"That Christmas song (Christmas in Our Hearts) will probably was going to give me a bit of immortality. Thank God," he says.
But what's the story behind the "Christmas in Our Hearts"?
"I made it a duet between me and my daughter, Liza. Originally, it's supposed to be Leah Salonga. But at the last minute, her recording company would not allow her to guest in my recording company, so we switched to Monique Wilson, who at the last minute lost her voice. So I guess it was the Holy Spirit that really wanted my daughter to be the one to sing that song. It was the perfect combination. A father and daughter singing Christmas song," he says, smiling.
He considers it a blessing to have written Christmas songs that have been appreciated and played year after year.
"I've been a recording artist now for 50 years this year and it was my Christmas in 1990 that convinced me that my other romantic hits would be good for only maybe 20 to 30 years at most, but after a while, the people will forget it, or the generations that loved those songs would pass on, but the Christmas song, thank God, comes year after year, after year. So I'm blessed in that sense, and I'm very grateful."
"For as long as we remain as a Christian country and the people recognize Christmas as it is, then my Christmas songs will always be a part of that celebration," he adds.
Chan had written more than a hundred songs after his debut album in the '60s, and there's no stopping him from writing songs as long he can. This year, in fact, he is launching another album, and he owes all his success to his loving wife, Mary Ann Ansaldo-Chan.
"My wife, Mary Ann, has been a major inspiration. All the success that I have, I owe it to her because she's been very supportive and she gives me also ideas when I write songs," he says.
He admits that his wife has been the inspiration behind many of his love songs.
"Generally, the love songs that I write, they are inspired by my experience of love itself. Love when I was a teenager, when I was a young man, when I was already married. I take my inspiration from life itself, love, books that I read, movies that I watched, and stories that I hear. All around you, there are sources of inspiration that are endless," says Chan.
One thing that's unique about him is he writes the melody first, then comes the lyrics. The only exception he remembers is when the Ninoy Aquino Foundation approached him in 1987 and gave him a copy of a poem that Ninoy wrote for his wife, Cory. That song, "I Have Fallen In Love (With The Same Woman Three Times)," was included in his top-selling album "Constant Change" whose big hits are "Beautiful Girl" and "Please Be Careful With My Heart."
The melody of another song, "The Lord's Prayer," was written while he was driving home from a sugar factory in Negros.
"It was a rainy afternoon, I was driving back to Bacolod, and I composed the melody to the Lord's Prayer. So it's easy to be inspired when you write about your faith," he says.
But if there's one ingredient to Chan's timeless songs, that's the "marriage between words and music."
"A song is a marriage of words and music. They should be compatible to each other. Like husband and wife, compatible," he says, citing his song "Christmas Air," which was written while he was trying to remember how it felt to be waking up one Christmas morning.
"When you write Christmas melodies, you sort of reflect the joyful mood of the season, but at the same time, you should have the right words to carry the melody," he adds.
Asked how he'd like to be remembered, this is what he says:
"I would like to be remembered by the songs that I've written because I consider my songs to be like my children. They come from my heart, mind, womb of my imagination.... I would like to be remembered as having written those songs that touched my childhood, songs that touched by family."
But music, for Chan, should remain just as a hobby, a sideline.
"Music gives extra meaning to my life, but my first priority is my family. Second is my business, because that is what supports my family," he says.
Chan has five children who are also musicians.
Now, imagine living in a house where there is music. It's awesome! (SunStar Philippines)