The Dawn releases first-ever Christmas song in almost 40 years

MANILA, Philippines — The Christmas holidays are a time for families to get together and celebrate together. Happily, conflict-free, drama-free.

As Filipinos, this is the visual we were programmed with growing up. And so the thought of celebrating Christmas away from family (or worse, solo), feels so deplorable that we almost feel ashamed to mention it.

But this is reality to some (or most) of us, and it is something that some members of the band also experienced firsthand.

The song Maki-Pasko came to be with Francis Reyes coming up with the music first or — as he says — “the genesis of it.”

“What came to me was the foundation,” he says. “A specific set of chords.”

Francis says the band has been discussing the whole Christmas song thing for years already: “Sobrang tagal na. Baka even Teddy (Diaz, the original guitarist) days dini-discuss na nila ‘yon.”

He admits that coming up with their very own Christmas song was really hard. “I mean, what else can you sing about in terms of Christmas? Everything’s been done, right?,” he quips.

Then he remembered a couple of Christmases away from home and thought of how sad it felt. So, he shared this idea about writing a song about it with the rest of the band.

“It was okay with them, so we took it from there,” he says.

Jett Pangan, The Dawn frontman, is also the resident lyricist. “Madali ako ma-inspire, based on the mood,” he says.

After hearing an earlier version of the music from Francis, Jett says he was out driving when the inspiration came to him. “Just being away triggered something,” he says.

“Ang daming nagpa-Pasko that — while they celebrate it for what it is — they would want to celebrate it with someone close to them,” Jett adds.

He himself has spent Christmases away from his family, and says he has relatives who live far away from them. “Either typically, or through the years, hindi mo na nakakasama,” he says.

“Then you realize Christmas is about getting together, putting differences aside.”

The song kind of speaks to this reality. The lyrics are really simple and straightforward. It is what it is.

The Dawn drummer JB Leonor is the only remaining original band member other than Jett. He admits that, while they had been talking internally about coming out with a Christmas song, they just couldn’t figure out how to come up with a Christmas song.

“Our minds were not mature enough to come up with one,” JB says. “Every year, we would talk about coming up with a Christmas song, but walang nangyayari.”

It so happened that the band signed with Sony in mid-2024, and the record label asked them — with no pressure — “How about a Christmas song?”

The band thought it was a great suggestion from Sony. “It was the much-needed nudge to stop the internal discussion about a Christmas song and actually doing it and putting it out,” JB says.

“This is the perfect time, perfect place, perfect team.”

According to The Dawn bassist Bim Yance, who produced the song together with The Dawn guitarist Sancho Sanchez, Maki-Pasko song also speaks a lot to migrant workers who are “away from their families and might love to spend Christmas with them.”

“So, we thank the Internet,” adds Jett. “It at least eases the longing for physical togetherness.”

When asked what their favorite part of the song is, three of the members (Jett, JB, and Bim) picked the last line:

“Nais kong malaman mo ikaw ang Pasko ng buhay ko.”

“This means Christmas is not just a day to celebrate. There is a person who also makes you feel all Christmas-y inside,” says Jett.

JB adds: “Nagkaroon ng tuldok — thanks to Sancho — who came up with it as the guys were recording” in his house. It was Sancho who suggested the line to replace the original “Pwede bang maki-Pasko?” on repeat.

For Francis, it’s the title, “Maki-Pasko.”

“The spirit of Christmas is about openness and sharing, and then you’re asking people if pwede bang maki-celebrate, maki-participate,” he says. “Pwede ba maging panauhin sa inyo?”

This reminds this writer of the Nativity scene, when Joseph and Mary were knocking on doors, asking, “Pwede ba makituloy?”

(Stream The Dawn’s ‘Maki-Pasko’ on YouTube and Spotify, or listen to it through https://the-dawn.tunelink.to/maki-pasko.)