Happy 1st anniversary to us! The story behind Mahal Kita Sobra

Phew! One year has finally reached and for those who are in LDR, you know how much of a struggle it can be. I wanted to do something special for my partner, been this is our first anniversary. Bare with me as I go through the whole stage! Fair warning, this might be a long read so make yourself comfy!

The plan

When I looked at the calendar and realised I got a month to do something for the anniversary, I didn't really know what to do. Ashley explained she didn't want flowers, we didn't have to video call in different places to eat and drink or anything that would make us more poor. For the most part, I was scratching my head thinking well what could I do instead and what would be the best way to show her my love and appreciation? It really started to get to me because it was a case of, why can't I think of anything? The blog (this one) wasn't getting my attention as much and I felt bad about it because I wanted to post more. Problem is, when you have so many ideas in your mind yet come to do it, you suddenly go blank. And readers, I'm sorry for doing that and I hold my hands up high for that issue. But something... Nudged me towards something so simple and fun to do! Create a song for her! You're a songwriter, create the words from the passion you have and make it stand out for her to listen to!

Creation

And that's when I started! Two weeks away from the anniversary, I started thinking what can I write about what would strike a chord? Was told by a friend, that when writing, you want the best to "feel" the song. Make it grab them and leave an impact that will make them want to listen to it again and again with tears. Couldn't understand why that would be an important method but with the advice given, I closed my eyes, thinking deep down what could impact her. Finally, something came to mind and I started writing down everything that was needed. Once I completed it, I looked at the words that I left out and made a second one. But the same thing happened again, words left out from both songs. Then I used the last unused words and made a third. A trilogy was born but a title was needed to breathe air into it. What better name to give this trilogy but this one!

Mahal Kita Sobra

The pieces was now in place but the deadline was drawing nearer. I had to make sure that everything was going to sound AND look great! Whilst I'm not going to go into the amount of stress it caused me, believe me when I say, this was one of my hardest task to create. Song writing is easy for me, making sure the music behind it is the very difficult part. It took me ages to make sure it was correct and tried my hardest trying to get the right sound. When one was done, I took a small step back and worked on the other. This went on for a good few nights with me feeling frustrated but not been able to tell anyone about it. Whilst this was all been worked on, I was also making steps of getting the artwork how I wanted it to look. Believe me, stress is one thing I really didn't need at that time.

Final results

Everything was now ready and now the only thing I had to do was submit it to Youtube. Once it was done, finished, I still had an uneasy feeling of anxiety. For example, it was the feeling of a chef tasting the food and saying it wasn't good enough or that it was good. Instead of having the video on the UK time, I chose to go with the Philippines time zone instead. The videos were set to go live at midnight which would tie in at the time of our anniversary. Again, this made more sense since she would have to wait longer and would be unfair on her. I told Ashley, I had something planned but she wouldn't be able to view it until midnight her side. The excitement on her face said it all and she even said she would sit up to watch it. My anxiety level was getting higher due to this since I had no idea how she would take it. All I could do was hope and pray this was going to be okay.

Once midnight stroke, I messaged her saying Happy anniversary and waited a moment. In all honesty, I wanted to see her reaction to listen to all the songs. Whilst I missed out on the first song, I was able to witness her reaction to the other two. 

Para Sa'yo was the first song she heard and made her really cry. The words were created in English then translated into Tagalog. Choosing the artwork for this song was to show my appreciation for her and the time we spent in Taiwan. This is why you see lanterns in the sky because it was something we were able to do. We will talk about that at future time!

My Lady was the first song to be created and made to be another form of me expressing my love for Ashley. When it came to the artwork, I wanted to make it so both the male and female characters dressed in Filipino tradition wear. This was very important for me because I had to show that the love was there and the closeness between the two of them.

Finally, For the rest of our lives. This was the song to end the trilogy and marked it to show how we met. In my mind, this was where I would of met Ashley at the airport with her pink beautiful hair, me walking towards her and embracing each other. 

With the trilogy complete and seeing how much Ashley was smiling with happy tears, the whole journey was worth it. My anxiety was now gone and I could finally relax. I was able to breathe and have a peaceful night of sleep instead of fear. But it reminded me of an important lesson. I don't need to spend a huge amount of money for Ashley to make her feel good, just simply been there is enough. Not only that, I could create something very special like these songs for her to feel my love for her. 

And that's how Mahal Kita Sobra was made! I hope you enjoyed the journey behind the scenes and you too feel the love from these songs! Thank you for reading! Until next time!

Eddie