Freddie Aguilar: Anak (Version 1)

It’s Radio Faux Show Flashback week, with each day presenting a song from an old post during the first 3 years of the Faux Show blog. Feel free to go back and check out the old Faux Show format (which was similar to an online music magazine format, with dozens of songs and information about them provided weekly with an overall theme) or simply listen to today’s song.

I’ve chosen “Anak (Version 1)” by Freddie Aguilar to represent the music I discussed in Radio Faux Show Volume 1, Number 25 on August 22, 2021. The theme of the show was Around The World In 30 Songs and presented 30 tunes by artists from 30 different countries. Here is what I wrote back then.

Freddie Aguilar’s song “Anak” is the most successful Philippine record of all time. It has been released in 56 countries, sung in 27 different languages, covered over 100 times, sold over 30 million copies, and was the second biggest hit worldwide for the entire decade of the ’80s. When I first heard it while researching this show it immediately pulled me in to its beauty and sorrow even though I do not speak Tagalog. Having now read an English translation it is even more powerful. This is truly one of the most beautiful and heartbreaking songs ever written. In addition to “Anak” and many other songs, Aguilar is known for his rendition of “Bayan Ko,” the unofficial national anthem of The Philippines written in the late 19th century. His version was the anthem for the People Power Revolution against the Marcos regime in 1986.

To learn more about Freddie Aguilar, check out his Wikipedia page.

To listen to all of the songs of the day, check out the Radio Faux Show Song of the Day playlist.

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