Pop Goes the Traditional Filipino Nipa Hut

[José Balido]

I recently came across and was charmed by this late-2009 hit from the Philippines' popular band Hale celebrating nostalgia for this sprawling archipelago’s countryside whence most Filipinos come, at least within a generation or two. Bahay Kubo is the sweet, laid-back lead single from this four-year-old band’s fourth album, Kundiman. It’s a bit of a departure for this foursome — their first entirely in Tagalog and focusing on purely Pinoy themes. With a simple story line starring lead linger Champ Lui-Pio and actress Heart Evangelista, the song takes its name from a popular old children’s folk song about a little thatched country house with its little garden (lots of description of produce). The imagery in this song and video is also bucolic, if a bit slicker (but hey, what’s up with that chick wandering around the wilderness in an evening gown?), and its theme involves searching for the one you love and finding shelter in a bahay kubo (played here by a thatch hammock rather than an actual hut). Have a look/listen!