Aid or Invade

The Philippines!

by Rodney Anonymous

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Jul 14, 2010

(CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VERSION)

"I like New York because it's also a lot of Jews. 'Jew York,' you know. Now I feel like a Jew pursuing my Israel, my motherland."

—Imelda Marcos

If you shout out "Björk" when asked to name a native-born Nigerian folk singer, then you might be surprised to learn that neither David Byrne nor Fatboy Slim are from the Philippines. However, the subjects of their ambitious collaboration, Here Lies Love (Nonesuch), most certainly were. I'm referring of course to former First Lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos (perhaps the only person alive to call upon "actor" George Hamilton as a defense witness) and the woman who helped raise her (and whom Marcos would ultimately place under house arrest), Estrella Cumpas. It's a brilliant concept. Now let's see how they managed to totally fuck it up.

First, there's the music. Although only the first track is supposed to purposely pay homage to the early disco scene, nearly every song on the two-CD set would be perfect background for an old episode of The Love Boat. Gentlemen, you're not being ironic; you're just making bad '70s disco.

Then there's the libretto, which focuses on Marco's rise to power and somehow completely misses the fact that Imelda Marcos was insane — we're talking Michele Bachmann-on-PCP crazy. No matter how hard you try, it's impossible to humanize Bozo the Clown by concentrating on his daily struggle to put on his huge yellow shoes.

Verdict:

Had this project been treated as one giant joke — which is the way Imelda Marcos' too-lengthy life will be remembered — it might have succeeded.

(r_anonymous@citypaper.net)

Jordin Sparks
Deer Tick
The Budos Band
Kid Sister
Peter Wolf Crier