Tag: sunday music

“Try Again” by Champaign (1983)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 07 March 2021
Photo from turbosquid.com.

The Season of Lent is like a refresh or reset button of the computer: it is a time when we “reboot” ourselves with prayers, fasting and abstinence, and alms giving to be connected anew with God and with one another. It gives us another chance to make things better in our lives marred by sins and many pains and hurts in the past.

And that is why for this Sunday we have chosen American R&B group Champaign’s 1983 single “Try Again” from their album Modern Heart. It peaked at number 23 on the Billboard Hot100 of that year.

I find the song very lenten in character. The music is sober but not bland. In fact, the cool instrumentation especially at the start kept ringing in my ears as I prayed over the readings this whole week, kind of convinced me of how truly sorry was Pauli Carman to his beloved in failing to be more loving, more intimate, and more personal to her.

I been starin’ at your photograph
Wondering where you’re at today
And I’ve been hanging by the telephone
Hopin’ that you’d call home and stay
You told me you needed
More walks, more talks
More feelin’ close to me
I want to be close to you
I didn’t know you needed
Some roses, some romance
A little candlelight and slow dance
That’s not how it’s been
But maybe we can try again
Try, try, maybe we can try again

Sometimes in life, we take people around us for granted, we always presume everything is given, everything is well and good, that our loved ones know or assured that we love them so much. Worst is how we sometimes forget that in our love for our family and friends, we have been so focused in our other pursuits purportedly for them that in the process we actually forget them. Things can never replace persons who need to be loved and cherished.

I always tell couples that after years of living together with the coming of kids and career and problems, always remember, first there was your wife or husband for you. No matter what happens, God first called you to each other. Continue the courtship, keep surprising each other with expressions of your love for each other. Watch movies, have romantic dinners together.

The same with us priests: before all the demands of the ministry and apostolate came, there was first Jesus Christ who had come to call us, loving us that every day we have to pray, make time for him.

Try Again exactly tells us what the readings this Sunday teach us: of how we must cleanse ourselves to find our first love again, the person dearest to us. And the good news from God is that we can always try again and make up for our past sins and shortcomings to him and to one another.

Refresh, reset or reboot your self this Lent by making time for your loved ones for intimate and personal moments.

Have a blessed and refreshing week ahead!

Music video by Champaign performing Try Again. (C) 1981 Sony Music Entertainment

“All Right” by Christopher Cross (1983)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 28 February 2021
Photos by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Pampanga, 2020-2021.

It’s a blessed last Sunday of February as we start to feel summer slowly coming with recent afternoon humidity. We hope everything is “All Right” as we chill with Christopher Cross this Second Sunday of Lent where Jesus invites us to join him in approaching his Father by “climbing mountains” in prayers and good works to be transformed and transfigured in his image and likeness.

I have initially chosen Marvin Gaye’s 1967 hit “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” as our Sunday music for today but as I prayed more on the meaning of Jesus being transfigured on Mount Tabor witnessed by his three disciples, the more I heard Chris Cross singing at the background.

I know, know what’s on your mind
And I know it gets tough sometimes
But you can give it one more try to find a reason why
You should pick it up, ooh, try it again
‘Cause it’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might just work out this time
All right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might work out fine this time
All right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might just work out
‘Cause it’s not too late for that, too late for me

The beat and melody of this 1983 hit only Chris Cross can sing in his very characteristic “chillin'” voice and expression of simple lyrics expressing joy amid pain makes “All Right” so perfect with the meaning of Christ’s transfiguration that all right, we’re gonna make it to Easter…

Even if so many times God seems to contradict himself when testing our faith like with Abraham in the first reading and the three apostles in the gospel, we just have to be confident in God in prayers and faith as we hurdle every obstacle and trial in life that is like a mountain seemingly impossible to climb — if we rely only on ourselves. But, God is greater than our minds and our hearts, always working to surprise us with his tremendous blessings and grace that he gave us his only Son Jesus Christ to accompany us in climbing this mountain of life to be transfigured and transformed in him (https://lordmychef.com/2021/02/27/the-ups-and-downs-from-lent-to-easter/).

What I really love with Chris Cross since 1979 when he came out with his classic Sailing is his aura that is exuding with good vibes that I prayed hard for him when news came last summer he was infected with COVID-19. He looks so kind and so approachable, maybe so Jesus-like that one can imagine when he sings this song, it is like the Lord coming to us in this age telling us all is right:

Just when you feel helpless
Nothing left to say
Love will find us, past behind us
Then we’re on our way
Time and time again I see, people so unsure like me
We all know it gets hard sometimes
But you can give it one more try
Find another reason why you should pick it up
Ooh, why, you should kick it up, ooh, try it again
‘Cause it’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might just work out this time
It’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might work out fine this time
It’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might just work out this time
It’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might work out fine this time
It’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might just work out this time
It’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might work out fine this time
It’s all right, think we’re gonna make it
Think it might just work out this time

Have a blessed Sunday and week ahead. Alright!

From YouYube, copyright not mine. I love this live version with Michael McDonald in keyboards. Notice the feel good spirit of the performance by Christopher Cross and his band.

“Rainbow” by South Border (2003)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 21 February 2021
Rainbow appearing during our procession of the Blessed Sacrament last year during the first Sunday of lockdown, 22 March 2020. Photo by Ms. Anne Ramos, Parokya ni San Juan Apostol at Ebanghelista, Bagbaguin, Sta. Maria, Bulacan.

Rainbows are one of nature’s loveliest occurrence that remind us of God’s all-encompassing love for us despite our sinfulness. It is the most enduring and visible sign of God’s promise to love and keep us always despite our being-of-forgetfulness — forgetting God and others, forgetting our promises to be good, forgetting our loved ones.

On this First Sunday of Lent, we find how in the first reading God gave Noah the rainbow as a sign of his covenant to never destroy earth again after the great flood. Only Noah and his family along with the animals inside his ark survived the great flood that cleansed the world of sinfulness. It became the prefiguration of Jesus Christ coming to cleanse us of our sins to be able to lead holy lives anew amid the many temptations in life as seen in today’s gospel.

Jesus in the desert resisting temptations by Satan depicts how life really is, full of contrasts and struggles but always there is Christ helping us, comforting us, strengthening us like a rainbow after every storm.

Eventually on Good Friday when Jesus offered us himself on the cross, he became our rainbow in fact as seen in the shape of his outstretched arms.

And that is why we have chosen South Border’s 2003 hit Rainbow first heard for the movie Crying Ladies.

The song perfectly captures our reflection for this Sunday that life is a Lent, filled with so many contrasts like sufferings and joys, failures and victories, darkness and light.

And in the midst of it all is Jesus Christ journeying with us with life’s many difficulties (https://lordmychef.com/2021/02/20/gods-encompassing-love/).

Fallin’ out, fallin’ in
Nothing’s sure in this world no, no
Breakin’ out, breakin’ in
Never knowin’ what lies ahead
We can really never tell it all no, no, no
Say goodbye, say hello
To a lover or friend
Sometimes we
Never could understand
Why some things begin then just end
We can really never tell it all no, no, no
But oh, can’t you see
That no matter what happens
Life goes on and on
So Oh baby, please smile
Coz I’m always around you
And i’ll make you see how beautiful
Life is for you and me
Take a little time baby
See the butterflies color’s
Listen to the birds that were sent
To sing for me and you
Can you feel me
This is such a wonderful place to be
Even if there is pain now
Everything would be all right
For as long as the world still turns
There will be night and day
Can you hear me
There’s a rainbow always after the rain

The lyrics of this OPM are so Lent, in fact, that you can replace the “rainbow” with Jesus who is our Eternal Rainbow amid all the storms of life. Amen.

Have a blessed week ahead!

From polyeastrecords.

“You Make Me Feel Brand New” by Simply Red (2003)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 14 February 2021
Photo by author, 2019.

A blessed happy Valentine’s to everyone! Strictly speaking, every Sunday celebration of the Holy Mass is a celebration of God’s great love for each of us. This Sunday is so special not only because it falls on the day of the hearts but most of all because of that lovely and touching story of the healing of a leper by Jesus.

A leper came to Jesus and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched him, and said to him, “I do will it. Be made clean.” The leprosy left him immediately, and he was made clean.

Mark 1:40-42

This is a very unique story because lepers were forbidden at that time to get near people not only for fear of contagion but because of the terrible meaning of their disease that evoked sins of the Egyptians before the Exodus of the Hebrew people (https://lordmychef.com/2021/02/13/to-be-loved-is-to-be-touched-by-god/).

It is so touching because Jesus welcomed the leper, touched him and healed him, making him a totally “brand new” person, exactly like the one mentioned in the 1974 hit by the Stylistics You Make Me Feel Brand New. It was the first love song I had learned to memorize its lyrics after finally saving enough money to buy a song hits while in grade five.

The song elegantly speaks in simple beauty and sincerity the great relationship of true love experienced by a man with a wonderful woman who loved him so much, who must have touched him so much that made him feel brand new.

My love
I’ll never find the words, my love
To tell you how I feel, my love
Mere words could not explain
Precious love
You held my life within your hands
Created everything I am
Taught me how to live again
Only you
Cared when I needed a friend
Believed in me through thick and thin
This song is for you, filled with gratitude and love

And what I like most with this song is how it thanked God for this wonderful gift of love who is after all, love himself!

God bless you
You make me feel brand new
For God blessed me with you
You make me feel brand new
I sing this song ’cause you
Make me feel brand new

It is now a classic covered by so many great artists through the years. We have chosen Simply Red’s version recorded at the Sydney Opera House in 2010 with Mick Hucknall’s moving interpretation, full of emotion and passion. They first released You Make Me Feel Brand New in 2003 as part of their album Home, reaching the #7 spot in the UK hit list.

You Make Me Feel Brand New is one song that had really touched so many of us, reminding us of the power of love to transform us, to change us, to make us better persons like that leper in the gospel. An anonymous writer had said that “If you have love in your heart, you have been blessed by God; if you have been loved, you have been touched by God.”

As you relive your most touching and loving moments while listening to this classic covered by Hucknall, think also of concrete ways to touch somebody with God’s love this Valentine’s — not just with flowers or chocolates.

A blessed and lovely Sunday everyone!

#SimplyRed​ #YouMakeMeFeelBrandNew​ #Vevo

“What Can I Do” by The Corrs (1998)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 07 February 2021
Photo by author, Pililla Wind Farm in Rizal, 07 January 2021.

If I were to make a video on today’s gospel presenting to us a typical sabbath day with Jesus Christ, I would surely use this 1998 hit by The Corrs What Can I Do. So Irish and yes, for me, so Catholic, so Christian.

The music is cool and refreshingly crisp especially with its slow doo-wop style at the start, increasing in tempo interspersed with orchestral strings that soothe your mind and soul with repetitive chorus that seem like a prayer mantra inducing you into deeper reflections and meditation.

What can I do to make you love me
What can I do to make you care
What can I say to make you feel this
What can I do to get you there

In our gospel today, Mark shows us a glimpse into the life and person of Jesus who is first of all centered in God his Father, devoutly going to the synagogue every sabbath day to worship and rising early before dawn to go to a deserted place to pray by himself.

But it was not all prayer and worship for Jesus; coming from the synagogue, he came home with Simon to heal his mother-in-law then with fever by grasping her hand and raising her up from bed. That is what Jesus does to us every time we come to join him in the Sunday Masses we celebrate, touching us, holding our hands and lifting up our sagging spirits, enabling and empowering us to fulfill our mission in this life.

After sabbath that evening, crowds of sick people and those possessed by evil spirits also came to see Jesus for their healing; the Lord did not mind their number and the darkness because that is how he really is, always coming to us to heal us, to comfort us, to simply be with us to experience his love and mercy from the Father.

But, are we there to meet Jesus passing by? Do we have the discipline also of prayer life, not just uttering prayers but truly entering into union with him in silent prayers?

Imagine it is Jesus singing this song, asking us what else must he do to make us love him, love others? What else must Jesus do so we might come to him, be one with him when it is only him who can quench our innermost thirsts in life, the only one who can fulfill us?

Have a blessed Sunday and remember, you are loved.

Provided to YouTube by Atlantic Records

“Authority Song” by John Mellencamp (1983)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 31 January 2021
Photo by author, sunset at NLEX-Pampanga, 06 January 2021.

Glad to be back with our Sunday blog on music and the Gospel which speaks today of the people of Capernaum so amazed with Jesus speaking with authority as he preached to them and exorcised a man possessed by an unclean spirit (Mark 1:21-28).

We usually think of authority as having power over people, of subjugating and controlling them for our selfish motives. So often, the word and concept of authority is something we take with disdain and suspicion.

That is exactly the meaning of John Cougar Mellencamp’s Authority Song from his 1983 album called Uh-Huh.

The song is so typical of Mellencamp’s rebel attitude that made his music artistic and unique, making him the leading figure of the second generation of “heartland rockers” in the mid-80’s.

A very interesting part of this song whose video portrayed Mellencamp as a boxing underdog fighting for the ordinary people against the rich and powerful says something about authority’s real essence so close to our gospel this Sunday:

I call up my preacher
I say, “Give me strength for round 5”
He said, “You don’t need no strength, you need to grow up son”
I said, “Growin’ up leads to growin’ old and then to dyin’
Ooo, and dyin’ to me don’t sound like all that much fun”
And so I’ll say
I fight authority, authority always wins
Well, I fight authority, authority always wins
Well, I’ve been doing it since I was a young kid
I come out grinnin’
Well, I fight authority, authority always wins

From the Latin verb augere, augeribus which is to make something to increase, authority implies making things and persons better because in essence it is service. A person in authority is actually vested with powers to serve and help others become better by en-abling and em-powering them.

That’s the authority of Jesus, so powerful in bringing out the giftedness of everyone.

Jesus comes to us with authority to set us free from darkness and sins, fears and anxieties, angers and resentments that hinder us from appreciating the beauty of life and of being alive. He came with all authority from the Father to enable us to become the true persons God wanted us to be (https://lordmychef.com/2021/01/30/the-authority-of-jesus/).

At least, Mellencamp fought the wrong concept of authority; in his music video, it is implied he had lost but the kid who admired him so much was portrayed at the end as pulling his sleeves to indicate of continuing Mellencamp’s fight.

That kid represents us too, that we must continue to fight this wrong concept of authority as power to control people than serve as Jesus had shown us in the gospel.

Enjoy your Sunday with family and friends in Jesus!

Music video by John Mellencamp performing Authority Song. (C) 1984 John Mellencamp under exclusive license to The Island Def Jam Music Group.

“I’ll Be Around” cover by Hall and Oates (2004)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 13 December 2020
Photo by author, Tabernacle, Gaudete Sunday, 2020.

Today is Gaudete Sunday, the third week of Advent known as “Rejoice Sunday” when our readings and pink motifs invite us all to rejoice because Jesus is coming.

And so, here we rejoice with some hard hitting old-school music with Daryl Hall and John Oates’ cover of the Spinners’ 1972 hit I’ll Be Around.

Yes, we have always preferred the original and the Spinners really did a good one that made I’ll Be Around now a classic but Hall and Oates really “kicked ass” on this one along with other hit classics from their 2004 album Our Kind of Soul.

I was watching Live from Daryl’s House the other day when their featured guest sang this and right away felt its energy but I still preferred this 2004 cover that featured the the dynamic duo’s kind of old-school music especially the signature guitar riff wrapped up in Daryl’s superb voice and performance.

I’ll Be Around was written by Phil Hurtt who clarified he was not “hurting” (pun intended) or into any emotional transition in composing the lyrics of this song that speak of the undying devotion of a brokenhearted man to his ex-girlfriend, that despite their parting of ways, he assured her that 

Whenever you call me, I'll be there
Whenever you want me, I'll be there
Whenever you need me, I'll be there
I'll be around

In our gospel reflection, we have said that life is a perpetual Advent of Jesus – he had come, he will come again at the end of time, and he continues to come to us in our lives, among peoples and events.

And in this perpetual coming of Jesus, he needs us as new John the Baptist who shall guide others because “there is one among you whom you do not recognize” who could be Christ after all!

We find this song joyful, upbeat, and very much like the role of John the Baptist, the Lord’s Precursor and Awakener preparing the way of Jesus Christ even in our own time when this Season of Advent has become a parable of our life (https://lordmychef.com/2020/12/12/advent-a-parable-of-our-life/).

So, let us rejoice amid the pandemic, Jesus continues to come to bless us, to save us!

Uploaded to YouTube by LOGONDOR (83,138 views as of 18 June 2015); [Merlin] Absolute Label Services (on behalf of U-Watch Records); CMRRA, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., Warner Chappell, PEDL, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, Sony ATV Publishing, LatinAutorPerf, and 3 Music Rights Societies

“Wake Up Everybody” by Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes (1975)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 06 December 2020
Photo by Dr. Mylene A. Santos, MD, Katmon Harbor Nature Sanctuary, Infanta, Quezon (03 December 2020).

Finally got a song so perfect for this Second Sunday of Advent that speaks so well of being awake, awaiting judgement day by leading a life of loving service to others. It peaked on top of the Hot Soul Singles chart of 1976 for two weeks that launched the careers of some of the big names in R&B during that great decade of 1970’s.

My dear readers and followers, welcome Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes doing the original version of Wake Up Everybody.

Wake up everybody no more sleepin' in bed
No more backward thinkin' time for thinkin' ahead
The world has changed so very much
From what it used to be
There is so much hatred war an' poverty
Wake up all the teachers time to teach a new way
Maybe then they'll listen to whatcha have to say
'Cause they're the ones who's coming up and the world is in their hands
When you teach the children teach em the very best you can

The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

Since its release in 1975, Wake Up Everybody has been covered by other artists not only in the US but also in Great Britain and France. During the 2004 US elections, it was covered by various prominent R&B artists with some rappers to urge young people to go out and vote. John Legend also did a cover of the song in 2010 with The Roots featuring Common and Melania Fiona.

Perhaps because of its theme and lyrics, the song has always been considered as political but, hey! even Jesus and John the Baptist were also accused of political leanings in their preachings about truth, dignity of every person, and value of life!

It is said that music is the food of the soul that when a song is so true and really good, it will always present the gospel values of Jesus Christ which is the case in most protest songs of the 60’s and 70’s like Wake Up Everybody.

See how the composers of this classic – John Whitehead, Gene McFadden, and Victor Carstarphen -have consciously or unconsciously incorporated Advent thoughts and theology in Wake Up Everybody that is still so true today:

Wake up all the doctors make the ol' people well
They're the ones who suffer an' who catch all the hell
But they don't have so very long before the Judgment Day
So won'tcha make them happy before they pass away
Wake up all the builders time to build a new land
I know we can do it if we all lend a hand
The only thing we have to do is put it in our mind
Surely things will work out they do it every time

The world won't get no better if we just let it be
The world won't get no better we gotta change it yeah, just you and me

Next to the lyrics, what makes this song so Advent-ish is its slow and cool instrumentations at the beginning of the song that bursts under control with the soothing voice of the late Teddy Pendergrass taking over, sounding so calming yet hits hard through one’s inner core without being preachy either.

That is how Advent happens: Jesus comes to us whenever we proclaim and embrace his gospel of repentance, doing what is right and good to everybody, when we wake up from our life of sins and evil, and indifference with others.

Listen, and wake up to this classic piece and have a blessed Second Sunday of Advent!

Posted on Youtube by yxyoic in 24 September 2011; licensed to YouTube by SME (on behalf of Epic); ARESA, BMG Rights Management (US), LLC, CMRRA, BMI – Broadcast Music Inc., Warner Chappell, PEDL, LatinAutorPerf, LatinAutor – Warner Chappell, UNIAO BRASILEIRA DE EDITORAS DE MUSICA – UBEM, LatinAutor – SonyATV, LatinAutor – UMPG, and 7 Music Rights Societies.

“The Sound of Silence” (1964) by Paul Simon with Art Garfunkel

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 29 November 2020
Photo by author, Advent Week I, 29 November 2020.

I have been thinking of a song that speaks of darkness and light that best describes the Season of Advent. As I surfed YoutTube song with words like “night” and “darkness”, I stumbled upon this old classic and everyone’s favorite (those in our generation) with its unmistakable opening:

Hello, darkness my old friend...

Advent is from the Latin adventus that means coming or arrival. It is the start of the new year in our Church calendar made up of four Sundays meant to prepare us spiritually for Christmas.

This year, it is hoped that we take the Advent Season seriously by praying more, reflecting our lives and examining our conscience so we can have a meaningful Christmas this 2020 that will surely be bleak and dark due the pandemic.

And that is why I immediately felt Paul Simon’s The Sound of Silence as the perfect music this first Sunday of Advent when darkness is all around us with the pandemic and other calamities while also deep within each of us is another darkness like an illness or somebody with a serious ailment in the family, a lost job, or even death of a beloved.

In the bible, darkness is the realm of evil like when Jesus was betrayed by Judas on that Thursday evening at Gethsemane; however, with the coming of Jesus, darkness has become also the best time to believe in light! See how Jesus was born on the darkest night of the year, Christmas eve, to bring light to the world; likewise, it was during the darkness of the first day of the week when Jesus also rose from the dead on Easter.

Advent Season invites us to pray, to befriend silence in order to listen and understand God and his words coming to us every time we pray (https://lordmychef.com/2020/11/28/life-in-the-dead-of-the-night/).

It is in silence where we learn to be patient and vigilant, two virtues becoming so rare in our world that has come to live 24/7 in artificial lights many think to be the real thing.

Patience and vigilance are both fruits of prayer and expressions of our faith when we bear all pains and sufferings wide awake because we believe God is leading us to something good, something better and brighter.

In this song written by Paul Simon and first recorded with Art Garfunkel in 1965, we find silence that represents prayer and reflections helping us find the realities of life amid the many darkness surrounding us or even encroaching within us.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
'Neath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

I have always loved these two stanzas, citing them in my teachings and sharing with students and young people to explain to them the value of silence and to befriend the many darkness we have in life. It is a paradox, a part of life’s mystery when we actually find its light and understanding in darkness which is also our starting point in clearing and dealing with all these darkness around and within us.

After the Lord’s supper on Holy Thursday, we find in the gospel how he brought his three apostles with him to Gethsemane to accompany him pray in agony while awaiting his betrayer. Jesus asked the three apostles to watch with him, to pray with him.

This Advent, Jesus is asking us to watch and pray with him so we remain focused in God, not to the neon gods we have made to overcome the many darkness of life.

If darkness is the realm of evil in the bible, silence is the realm of trust: even if life may be dark when we cannot see clearly, we go on in silence because we believe somebody sees better than us, leading us to light and better days.

Enjoy this classic again with family and friends. Have a blessed Sunday!

Uploaded by antonino davi at YouTube, 23 October 2012.

“Be Thankful for What You Got” cover by Pepe Marquez (2019)

The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music by Fr. Nick F. Lalog II, 15 November 2020
Photo by author, after the floods, typhoon Ulysses, 12 November 2020.

We try to be subdued and sober this Sunday in thanksgiving to the gift of life as we remember and pray too for our brethren in Cagayan and Isabela suffering from the worst floods in decades after typhoon Ulysses pummeled our region this week with heavy winds and rains.

Here is Mexican Pepe Marquez and his band for his cover of William DeVaughn’s 1972 soul song “Be Thankful for What You Got” that was released two years later in 1974, selling almost two million copies as it reached #1 on the US R&B chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that year.

There are other versions of this cool, cool music notably by Curtis Mayfield who had actually influenced DeVaughn in this song; thanks to Manny Pagsuyuin who shared me this music recently that I now prefer than the other covers for its superb percussions and instrumentations plus Marquez’s trademark videos of classic cars.

The song is so simple with gospel-like lyrics that remarkably hit home specially in a time of calamity like this when we have to be sensitive with others’ sufferings.

Most of all, despite its oft-repeated line “Diamond in the back, sunroof top, diggin’ the scene, with a gangsta lean”, the music is so clean and crisp with its second part reminding us that of all that we have, the most precious are our loved ones.

Part of the Lord’s message today in being vigilant for his return is for us to be thankful for everything we have because he gives us according to our abilities. It is not how much or how little we have in life but how we make use of it that matters.

How sad we only realize this after a calamity or a crisis in life.

Let’s make it a habit to be thankful daily for our gifts, use them wisely in serving others as we thank and praise God for his goodness. A blessed Sunday, everyone. Amen.

Directed by: Pepe Marquez & Carlos Guillen with Gabriella Guillen for LA CIMA MUSIC along with Cj Infinito & Carlos Alvarez Aragon for CJ Infinito Productions. #lacimamusic Featuring: Jeff Lewis on Trumpet – Dora Sanchez on Vocals & Lorenzo Martinez on Percussion. Album available on, Spotify, cdbaby, Amazon Music and all digital download sites. https://www.facebook.com/pepe.marquez.33