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“The interest in encouraging freedom of expression in a democratic
society outweighs any theoretical but unproven benefit of censorship.”
― John Paul Stevens
In the 70’s, which was full of thrill, I grew up with the sounds of ‘Wildflower’ over transistor radios, a song that became my daily anthem. Other than its sentimental and catchy lyrics, the title had me thinking no end. Perhaps, if I grew up elsewhere and not at the heart of a vast mountain range then I couldn’t possibly relate to its title.
Wildflowers grew abundantly at that back of our bunkhouse; numerous of them and colorful; red, white, violet; some small, others, as tiny as rosary beads and the larger ones were up in the trees, attached to trunks and branches of mahoganies. I could see them spreading at both sides of the road, along with green and wet moss on the walls of mountains, free as beetles flying at night and hovering on amber lights of electric posts. They were decors on edges of stone steps and rock staircases.
While they’re free, wildflowers were never the choice that adorned the center table in our home. They were never hung on the breasts of loved ones, neither were they carried the value of roses as gifts to someone special. The stars were the crispy tiny sunflowers that were used to hang on children’s neck on graduation day. I didn’t like sunflowers. They were noisy and irritating like plastic cups being squeezed, and itchy too, giving me blisters around my neck.
My list of 70′s songs was endless that influenced my appreciation of music like ‘Terminal’, and ‘You’re my Everything’, but ‘Wildflower’ had such an after-effect like after a drink of ‘tapoy’ – a popular rice wine in the mountains of the Ifugaos.
The endless melody of ‘Wildflower’ by Color Me Badd reverberates inside my 10×15 feet room as if the occupant is deaf, which is incidentally only me, and every lyric I needed to absorb. Like before, I’d love to play it loudly and soften it when I’m about to tap on words that were hard to come by, like this moment for my 200th article.
(With great thanks to WordPress for giving everyone the freedom to express ideas, opinions and hidden experiences – uncensored, raw and honest.)
