Sharon's song still a hit 35 years later

There are songs and there are songs. There are songs that become hits and there are hit songs that become earworms. That sounds so gross. Imagine having worms in your ears! But not really. I just found out today that earworms are what tunes that you involuntarily play in your head are called. It just follows that you play the song whether you like it or not because it sounds nice, familiar and predictably comforting. 

We usually refer to the situation as the Last Song Syndrome or LSS in this initial-obsessed world of ours. You know how that happens. You hear a song and you keep hearing it even after it has stopped playing. Your predicament is the LSS but the song is called an earworm, which comes from Ohrwurm, which Wikipedia says is German for earworms, which are not really worms but those pesky songs.

Coincidentally, I came across the word after finding a bad case of earworm infestation on the set of Sharon, Kasama, Kapatid, the new show of Megastar Sharon Cuneta that TV5 will begin airing this afternoon. It is a talk show featuring interesting personalities, famous and not. And the earworm is no other but the show’s theme song, Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko. It was not only playing inside people’s head, they would actually find themselves singing the lyrics out loud from time to time.

You know how it goes: Kung tayo’y matanda na/ sana’y di tayo magbago/ kailan man, nasaan ma’y ito ang pangarap ko/ makukuha mo pa kayang ako’y hagkan at yakapin/ hanggang pagtanda natin/ nagtatanong lang sa yo/ ako pa kaya ay ibigin mo/ kahit maputi na ang buhok ko…..

Composed by the singer and songwriter Rey Valera, Sharon first recorded the song, 35 years ago right after her 13th birthday. It was part of her first album for Vicor titled DJ’s Pet that was rushed into production to take advantage of the massive public reaction to her single Mr. DJ. That one was also another Valera song and it was set to become Sharon’s breakthrough hit.

Also included in the LP, which Vicor reissued a few years ago on CDs with the original cover art, were Naaalala Ka, Kung Ako’y…., Mahal Mo Pa Ba Ako, Ikaw Lamang, Takot Akong Umibig, Nalilito Ako, Ganyan Kaya (Ang Umibig), Tanging Hiling and Tawag Ng Pag-ibig. None of these grew to become as big as Mr. DJ but Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko has not only become a classic, the song continues to grow in popularity after all these years.

I must admit I then wondered what   Valera was thinking giving the young Sharon a song about white hairs and growing old. But Kahit Maputi was an earworm right from the start and liked by a lot of people. If I am not mistaken, it was tapped to become the commercial jingle of one of Sharon’s earliest endorsements, Johnson’s Baby Shampoo. 

Sharon’s debut album DJ’s Pet, released when she was 13 years old

A short while later Kahit Maputi became the theme song of The Sharon Cuneta Show on IBC-13. It stayed on when Sharon moved the show to ABS-CBN and the song became a fixture in her concerts, sometimes as one of the numbers, the theme song or as intro and extro music. You hear the song and you know that Sharon is around. Today, the Megastar opens a new phase in her career with Sharon, Kasama, Kapatid and Kahit Maputi’s reassuring presence is once more part of the milestone.

Given how Sharon’s personal life and career have turned out and her close relationship with colleagues and fans, it can rightly be said that Valera’s lyrics to Kahit Maputi Na Ang Buhok Ko were indeed prophetic. She asks, will you still love me when I’m old? The answer from many was yes in 1979 and despite changes, upheavals, tears and laughter here and there, it is still a resounding yes.

I wonder how much Sharon was paid for that first Kahit Maputi recording. P300 for a song was considered already a fortune at that time. She is now singing the song for a show that pays a cool one billion bucks. Not bad. Very good in fact. What an earworm this one has turned out to be.

Ready now, here goes: Pagdating ng araw/ ang iyong buhok ay puputi na rin/ sabay tayong mangangarap ng nakaraan natin/ ang nakalipas ay ibabalik natin/ ipapaalala ko sa yo/ ang aking pangako na ang pag-ibig ko’y laging sa ‘yo/ kahit maputi na ang buhok ko.