Philippine courts recently returned two mansions sequestered from Imelda Marcos as part of the loot from their years of dictatorship. This makes me angry. Part of me wished the US did not pluck them out of the country (as they recently did for Egypt’s Mubarak) and set them up in Hawaii, carrying on with their pampered lifestyle, while Filipinos back home wallowed in poverty. I would have had the mob storm the palace and dealt with them like the Ceaușescus of Romania.
Part of me, however, is also impressed by the persona of this beguiling woman who once jet set around the world, hobnobbing with world leaders with such polish and poise. She was as stylish as Jackie Kennedy, as lavish and impudent as any despot’s wife from banana republics, but, even more, she was powerful in her own right. Beauty asserts its own rules, and Imelda wielded hers in such a flagrant manner.
So I was somewhat thrilled to come across the recording Here Lies Love, an incipient musical dedicated to Imelda, at the local public library. David Byrne and Fatboy Slim gives her the full Evita Peron treatment–but, even more to my delight, in 70′s wah-wah disco. The lead singer of an 80′s post-punk band (Talking Heads) and a DJ of big beats are the least likely suspects to put forth Imelda’s life on stage (or at least on record). But I would have been disappointed had it turned out like an Andrew Lloyd Webber slop. No weepy rags-to-riches soap opera please, only a cheeky cabaret show for this larger than life party-goer. Music even drag queens can belt out to. For this, he recruits such stellar singers as Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper, Natalie Merchant, Florence Welch, and Kate Pierson to portray Imelda (or her nanny) at various stages of her life.
The title comes from a line in Ramona S. Diaz’s 2003 documentary Imelda–Power, Myth, Illusion (unacknowledged in the liner notes!). In the interview, Imelda stands before the remains of President Marcos in his glass coffin in Batac, Ilocos Norte. When asked what she herself would like engraved on her tomb stone, she replied, simply, “here lies love.” That scene moved me, even after cringing at that bizarre episode where she explained her kooky cosmology.
That scene was oddly funny, and sad. We knew from the shoes, the coif, the ternos, and the monumental public buildings that she was delusional. But I did not realize how truly crackers she was until I saw that episode. I felt a mixture of amusement and revulsion. This fruitcake was in our country’s driver’s seat for more than two decades! Now, who else could rock Imelda’s madcap philosophy of life, but Katie Pierson (in one of my favorite tracks), the beehive-coiffured redhead of The B-52′s. Kudos to Byrne for this (and overall) casting coup.
The Whole Man
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We’re talking—about the whole man In body—in mind and in spirit And you, give the body, what is good, good, good, good You make him—educated What makes a home? We’re talking—about the whole man What makes a home? Beauty through time How do the children draw a tree? |
Going in circles—chasing the dollar Like a Pac-Man—a vicious creature! Here, over here, the center is mankind But I’ll never—be a teacher! What makes a home? Beauty through time Cos-mos man Cos-mos man (Source: DavidByrne.com) |
When Imelda–Power, Myth, Illusion came out in 2003, Imelda took it to court to keep it from screening in Philippine theaters. There was no escaping the fact, tough, that she actually did most of the talking in the documentary. She has only herself to blame for giving Diaz access to her for what she thought then was a petty film student project. David Byrne takes a similar route here, where he scours biographies, old footage, and news clippings for quotes, and let Imelda speak for herself in the lyrics. This is where I take issue with the work, as the lines can sometimes sound a bit clunky, e.g., “My teachers paid a visit / I felt, felt so ashamed / But I had kept my dignity / Some things cannot be killed / I smiled and kept my head up / A Romualdez I was still” (from Every Drop of Rain). The music also tends to lack variety; it takes several listens to distinguish one song from another in memory. Still, it kept me in good company while shoveling snow in this bitter winter. Not everybody can be in Hawaii.
