“Bakit ko ba nasulat ito? Eew,” Janine quips about her new single
Janine Berdin has just recently launched her new single, “ALAS DOS NA,” which tackles regret over a breakup and how one gets consumed by grief when alone with one’s thoughts at 2 a.m.
The first “Tawag ng Tanghalan” champion, who has recently joined UMG Philippines under Island Records, composed the song when she was just 15 years old, coming from a heartbreak from her first boyfriend in high school!
She recalls, “I just broke up with my high school boyfriend, my first boyfriend ever ‘tapos the song is really just about that na parang nagre-regret ako na, ‘Bakit ko siya hiniwalayan?!’ Kasi dapat love of my life ko na siya, yung feeling na ganun.
“Pero after a few months, [sabi ko] parang, ‘Bakit ko ba nasulat ito? Eew!’
“Pero really, that’s what the song’s about—so 2 a.m. kasi that’s when I wrote the song and 2 a.m is usually the time na we’re overthinking ‘tapos doon pumapasok yung dapat ‘Ginawa ko ‘to, dapat di ko ‘to ginawa,’ ganun. So, that’s what really the song is about, just regrets.
“So it’s very naive, very teenager pero it is an honest feeling so I’m very proud of this song.”
FreebieMNL spoke to Janine in a one-on-one interview at the UMG office on Monday, May 20, 2024.
Janine released the single in mid-May while the music video became available on May 29.
It took seven years before Janine decided to release the single. But actually, there were already plans to produce it years back with the help of her close friend, Juan Karlos.
She explains, “We were working on it in a studio, so this has a touch of JK and it never really came into fruition. But now that I’m under UMG working on a project, and the project just really aligns, the song really aligns with the project.
“It tells the same emotion and the same feeling, and apart from how I really liked how the song is sonically, parang sobrang sakto niya lang talaga sa project.”
Realizations about “ALAS DOS NA!”
Now at 22, Janine had realizations when she recorded a song she wrote when she was 15 years old.
Laughing, she admits, “Eew! Bakit? Yun talaga, why? It feels kind of weird just admitting na I wrote this about my High School boyfriend that I’ve forgotten already.
“It feels weird but also I just like to take pride in being honest in my art so even if it feels being cringey, I’m still very excited about it because I know a lot of people have gone through the same thing, and maybe is still going through the same thing.”
“Music has to be there for you in all journeys of life so, yun, I’m so very proud of the song.”
What Janine is proudest of the song is how it brings back memories and becomes an equalizer for everyone who has gone through the same emotion.
“Parang ganun kasi talaga sa music, it unlocks a memory every time, like, when you listen to something, it’s like, ‘Damn, that’s how I used to feel!’
“That’s why I love music and my goal, really, in every release is to talk about an emotion that we all went through. So, kahit hindi ito yung pinagdaanan mo ngayon, it’s still a shared story. Parang universal pa rin siya lahat kasi lahat tayo, like this at some point.”
But is Janine’s ex aware of this latest release?
She answers shyly, “Hindi ko alam, wala na please! Huwag mo tong panoorin. Pwede bang i-block siya? Hahaha! Nakakahiya kasi pero thank you siguro, salamat!”
“ALAS DOS NA” is now out on all streaming platforms.
Banner Art Paulo Correa
