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Philosophical Reflections on the song LUPA

by Rico J. Puno
A Paper for Part II of Midterm Exams in Philo 2018 - Existentialism
Castillo, Joel Reynold P.

The Song: “Lupa” (R. Puno)

Nagmula sa lupa, magbabalik na kusa

Ang buhay mo sa lupa nagmula
Bago mo linisin and dungis ng iyong kapwa
Hugasan and iyong putik sa mukha.

Ref. Kung ano ang ‘di mo gusto

Huwag gawin sa iba.
Kung ano ang iyong inutang
Ay siya ring kabayaran.

Sa mundo ang buhay ay maroong hangganan

Dahil tayo ay lupa lamang
Kayat pilitin mong ika’y magbago
Habang may panahon ika’y magbago.
Pagmamahal sa kapwa’y isipin mo.

Introduction

Existentialism as a thought and reflection of life and man’s search for

meaning has the advantage of taking into account everything that expresses

man’s reality: in prose, in poetry, in songs, in novels and even in visual arts.

This is because existentialism concerns itself not so much with a system of

thinking but more on the reflection of man’s search for meaning.

Hence, one can draw philosophical reflections from man’s expression of

his being in the world, from man’s quest for meaning, from man’s

understanding of himself in the world.

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The song “Lupa” by Rico J. Puno is loaded with meaning and

interpretation as it is an expression in art and in song of how man understands

himself and his relationship with the world around him.

The Philosophical Reflections on the Song “Lupa”

1. “Nagmula sa lupa, magbabalik na kusa

Ang buhay mo sa lupa nagmula!”

At the outset these lines appear in their Biblical context, hence, a matter

of faith in Genesis chapter 2 verse 7: “And the Lord God formed man of the

dust of the ground…” This concept is also immortalized in the formula of the

imposition of ashes on the foreheads of catholic Christians during Ash

Wednesday: “Remember, man that you are dust and unto dust you shall

return!” Beyond the spiritual meaning which the Bible and the Church liturgy

give us, these lines of the song tell us a truth we cannot deny: MAN IS A

FINITE BEING.

All philosophers in times past and even man today grapple with the

experience of “being finite.” Man in his quotidian life may at one point or

another encounter this finiteness. And so the value of humility before the truth

that “Ako ay nagmula sa lupa, at sa lupa ako’y babalik” is always there.

However, man immersed as he is in the day-to-day concerns, relationships with

others, the challenge of technological advances, even in his daily experience of

uncertainties and limitations, may forget this truth of his being finite. Such

forgetfulness may divert his focus towards living a fully human experience.

2. “Nagmula sa lupa, magbabalik na kusa

Ang buhay mo sa lupa nagmula!”