Music

Philippines

Janice de Belen’s It’s Over Now sang by Joey Albert

The lyrics of this song were originally written by Janice De Belen in a poem form when she was in her teens in the ’80s after breaking up with  Gabby Concepcion, who used to be a Filipino heart-throb.  The break-up was quite newsworthy at that time because she was left for someone else.   The love triangle was between Sharon Cuneta – the young darling of blockbustre youth-oriented films of the ’80s, Gabby Concepcion – the handsomest young actor, and Janice de Belen – the princess of television soap opera.  Gabby dumped Janice to go back to Sharon, whom he married a few months later with great ceremonial splendour.

It was hard really to side with either Sharon or Janice but Sharon and Gabby were always meant to be.  They were the original love team.  Janice looked too innocent and naive for Gabby then.

We all wanted to know what happened.  I think Janice wanted to know what happened as well!  I remember her guesting in Inday Badiday’s See True where Janice very bravely quoted Khalil Gibran

“If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don’t, they never were.”

I think it was a good move for Janice to be so open with how she felt and to have written such an iconic love song because her feelings were shared by many other heartbroken teens and adults.  She looked strong and did not end up as someone to be pitied. The song is sung by Joey Albert, a Filipina who is now apparently based in Canada.

By the way, Sharon & Gabby might have ended up together but not for long, though they did produce the most beautiful child in the whole of the Philippines.    KC Concepcion is the product of this iconic love story of the 80s Philippine showbiz.  She might be drop-dead gorgeous but she is following the tumultuous pattern of her parents’ love life.  I bet she would have had a bit of a listen to Joey Albert/Janice de Belen’s song too. 😉

When is a relationship really over?

What entails a good relationship?