Lea could have sung Christmas song with Joe Mari

It’s the 31st, the last day of August. And what comes next? Yes, September (starting tomorrow) which ushers in the BER months leading to the longest Christmas season in the world with tidings of great joy despite the blanket of gloom that we pray will be lifted before December beckons and we can greet one another a Merry Christmas. Hopefully.

First, what is it about September that makes it the one month of the year that inspires singers to sing praises to it? I’ll see you in September, promise Gary Lewis and the Playboys, when summer is gone. The month figures prominently in throwback playlists, to wit: See You in September (by The Happenings), September Morn (Neil Diamond), September Song (various versions by Frank Sinatra, JP Cooper and Sarah Vaughan), One September Day (Nina Simone), Oh! September (Mirah), September When It Comes (Rosanne Cash), September (Earth, Wind & Fire), September Grass (James Taylor) and Wake Me Up When September Ends (Green Day).

This piece is a paean as much to September as to Jose Mari Chan who heralds the advent of the joyful season with the song Christmas In Our Hearts.

All together now:

Whenever I see girls and boys

Selling lanterns on the street.

I remember the child

In the manger as he sleeps

Wherever there are people

Giving gifts exchanging cards

I believe that Christmas

Is truly in their hearts

Twice-told tale, first revealed in this corner three years ago: Did you know that Lea Salonga was Joe Mari’s first choice to sing the song with him? It was not meant to be. A long story.

‘It has been 30 years since the song was launched,’ said Joe Mari. ‘As I’ve been saying, the message of Christmas is Love. At this time of the unprecedented pandemic, amidst the fears, anxiety and uncertainty, let us find ways to express our love for our countrymen, many of whom are out of work and in dire need.’

As Joe Mari recalled, “The Holy Spirit works in magnificent ways. The song Christmas in Our Hearts began as a Filipino poem entitled Ang Tubig ay Buhay, written by Chari Cruz Zarate whose high school class was celebrating their Silver Jubilee. Their class asked me to set this poem to music. The meter was so lilting that it only took me half a day to come up with the melody.

“In 1990, when my first Christmas album started production, I thought of giving the melody a new personality by turning it into a Christmas carol. Around that time, I was coming out from a Sunday Mass when a young lady approached me and tapped on my windshield, introducing herself as a young songwriter interested in collaborating with me. Her name was Rina Cañiza and after a few back and forth, Christmas in Our Hearts was born.”

Joe Mari and company all thought that he and Lea would make the perfect pair for the song.

Lea Salonga was the first choice to duet with Joe Mari but her contract with another company didn’t allow her. Before Joe Mari’s daughter Liza Chan was tapped, the second choice was Monique Wilson who begged off after losing her voice to a cold.

“Unfortunately, Lea’s studio contract would not permit her to record for another label. The second choice was Monique Wilson who begged off after losing her voice to a cold. The late Bella Dy-Tan, my producer, was rushing the project as the BER months were approaching. With only two weeks to go before our scheduled release, someone suggested that I ask my daughter Liza instead.

“Liza was 19 at that time, a student in college. I remember handing Liza a cassette of the song. She was doing her homework at her desk. I told her to learn the song quickly as we had to go to the studio the next day. It could not have been better the way the Holy Spirit worked it out: father and daughter singing a melody that’s a blend of East and West, delivering the real message of Christmas.”

Providential was how Joe Mari described it.

“Nothing happens by chance. Christmas In Our Hearts was intended to be sung by a father and daughter, delivering the message of Christmas which is Christ’s Love.”

He noted that it’s not a coincidence that the surnames of those involved in the song have the letter “C” as in Christ.

With Liza and sons Franco, Jose Antonio and Michael Philip...

Rightfully called Harbinger of Christmas, Joe Mari humbly said, “I am only one of the little drummer boys that herald the coming of the most joyous season of the world, thank you. Our excited participation is what created the BER months. The universal image of Christmas is that of the Holy Family and the very essence of the season is Love. Christmas is particularly special in our country because the lives of the Filipinos revolve around their families and we have a tender affection for the Baby Jesus.”

Grateful that Christmas in Our Hearts is still loved and sung even by the younger generation, Joe Mari considered it “a wonderful blessing,” adding that the message of the song is the same all through these years.

“It has been 30 years since the song was launched. As I’ve been saying, the message of Christmas is Love. At this time of the unprecedented pandemic, amidst all the fears, anxiety and uncertainty, let us find ways to express our Love for our countrymen, many of whom are out of work and in dire need.”

Asked what part of the song aptly sums up that message, Joe Mari said, “To me, the most important verse of the song is this: Let love like that starlight on that first Christmas morn lead us back to the manger where Christ The Child was born.”

...and during a family vacation in Japan with wife Maryann (in front of blue-shirted Joe Mari), their children, in-laws and grandchildren.

Family photos courtesy of Jose Mari Chan

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)