Why I Never Dance
Imperialism is a word that sits on the tips of Filipinos' tongues
Like the sting of a sore that will never heal
Because of all the shit we're forced to swallow
In Cebu, they celebrate Sinulog
Where revelers dance in unified rhythm
More currently resembling line dancing
But also representing the motion of a current (sulog)
Of the Pahina river
This dance
Which has been around long before the arrival of Catholicism
Now serves as a display of catholic embrace
No longer idolizing past Anitos
But now idolizing Santo Nino
A statue of the child jesus
Brought by Magellan on April 7, 1521
Funny, we still call it embracing Catholicism
When 20 days after the coming of the Santo Nino
On the shore of Mactan
Lapu-Lapu took Magellan's life
And so the idea was reinforced
These godless, brown savages must be saved
These animals must be tamed
But the infection of the Imperialist World
Was not welcomed with open arms
It came like the pull of a trigger
Like burning homes
It came like comfort women
Legs spread with a gun against their face
Like the tears of their crying children
It came like World Wars
Like resistance
It came like a virus
An epidemic
A plague
It came without end
And they still suffer from it
Corrupt politicians
False capitalistic hopes
Cities of families poisoned
By toxic waste left by former occupiers
And current allies
Media Gods and Goddesses
Resembling mestizos and foreigners
Speaking in tongues of more English than tagalog
Proving to the citizens
That just like in America,
Whiter is BETTER
But the tears are no longer clear
When they're mixed with blood
So sometimes I can't see too well
But my soul still feels like it's being pulled
Between heaven and hell
When I can't stop to make a stand
Against things done to my ancestors' land
Because as much as I have to say
My ancestors' culture was raped
I am forced to say
My ancestors raped a culture
As much as I have to point my finger at crooked descendants
My crooked appendage always comes back to me
Because I am nothing without my history
And I am the product of both the colonized and the colonizer
But I will not apologize for the sins of my forefathers
Like the bastard child beaten by unloving parents
I will respect where I come from
But I will not apologize
And never forget
Like the sting of a sore that will never heal
Because of all the shit we're forced to swallow
In Cebu, they celebrate Sinulog
Where revelers dance in unified rhythm
More currently resembling line dancing
But also representing the motion of a current (sulog)
Of the Pahina river
This dance
Which has been around long before the arrival of Catholicism
Now serves as a display of catholic embrace
No longer idolizing past Anitos
But now idolizing Santo Nino
A statue of the child jesus
Brought by Magellan on April 7, 1521
Funny, we still call it embracing Catholicism
When 20 days after the coming of the Santo Nino
On the shore of Mactan
Lapu-Lapu took Magellan's life
And so the idea was reinforced
These godless, brown savages must be saved
These animals must be tamed
But the infection of the Imperialist World
Was not welcomed with open arms
It came like the pull of a trigger
Like burning homes
It came like comfort women
Legs spread with a gun against their face
Like the tears of their crying children
It came like World Wars
Like resistance
It came like a virus
An epidemic
A plague
It came without end
And they still suffer from it
Corrupt politicians
False capitalistic hopes
Cities of families poisoned
By toxic waste left by former occupiers
And current allies
Media Gods and Goddesses
Resembling mestizos and foreigners
Speaking in tongues of more English than tagalog
Proving to the citizens
That just like in America,
Whiter is BETTER
But the tears are no longer clear
When they're mixed with blood
So sometimes I can't see too well
But my soul still feels like it's being pulled
Between heaven and hell
When I can't stop to make a stand
Against things done to my ancestors' land
Because as much as I have to say
My ancestors' culture was raped
I am forced to say
My ancestors raped a culture
As much as I have to point my finger at crooked descendants
My crooked appendage always comes back to me
Because I am nothing without my history
And I am the product of both the colonized and the colonizer
But I will not apologize for the sins of my forefathers
Like the bastard child beaten by unloving parents
I will respect where I come from
But I will not apologize
And never forget