"Anak" (lit. 'Child') is a Tagalog song written and performed by Filipino folk singer Freddie Aguilar. It made the finals for the inaugural 1978 Metropop Song Festival held in Manila. It became an international hit, and was translated into 51 languages. The lyrics speak of Filipino family values. The current copyright owner of the song is Star Music, a recording company owned and operated by the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. It was produced by Celso Llarina of VST & Co, with an arrangement by D'Amarillo (Doming Amarillo). Tito Sotto was the executive producer for this song as well as its album of the same name. It is the best-selling single by a Filipino artist of all time.
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Inspiration and composition
Freddie Aguilar left home at the age of 18 without graduating from school. His father, who had wanted him to be a lawyer, was disappointed. Aguilar traveled to faraway places carrying with him only his guitar. With no one to guide and discipline him, he got into gambling. Realizing and regretting his mistakes five years later, Aguilar composed "Anak", a song of remorse and apology to his parents. He went back home and asked for forgiveness from his parents, who welcomed him with open arms. After his father read the lyrics of "Anak", a profound reconciliation occurred between them, fostering a significant closer bond; regrettably, his father died not long after. According to Felipe de Leon, Jr., an authority on Philippine music, the song was composed in a Western style but has aspects of pasyon.
Impact
"Anak" became a finalist in the first MetroPop Song Festival. It went on to become very popular in the Philippines and eventually abroad. The song generated a hundred cover versions, was released in 56 countries and in 27 different foreign languages, and is claimed to have sold 30 million copies. However, the claim is unlikely, and only four songs have been confirmed to have sold at least 30 million copies.
An eponymous film was released in 2000, with a plot inspired by the lyrics of the song.
Other recordings or versions
Sweet Charity (from the 1979 self-titled album “Sweet Charity")
Larry Matias (from the 1978 self-titled album)
Tito, Vic, and Joey (parody entitled, Anak ng Kuwan, from their album, Iskul Bukol)
Carabao (entitled, Lung Khi Mao ("The Drunken Old Man"), from the 1981 album Khi Mao, the band debut album)
Blonker, (band of German guitar player Dieter Geike, from their 1982 album "Fantasia")
Regine Velasquez (from the 1991 album Tagala Talaga)
Gary Valenciano (from the 2000 movie soundtrack Anak) (only appears on the movie soundtrack)
Sharon Cuneta (from the 2000 movie Anak) (used in movie credits)
Kuh Ledesma (from the 2000 album Duet With Me)
Side A (from the 2001 album The Platinum Collection)
Lea Salonga (from the 2004 live album Songs from Home: Live Concert Recording)
The Kelly Family (from the 1980 single Alle Kinder brauchen Freunde)
Michael Holm ("Kind" which means Child in German)
Noel Cabangon (from the 2012 album, Tuloy Ang Biyahe)
Cusco (entitled "Philippines", from their 1983 album Virgin Islands)
In popular culture
"Anak" was featured in the 1978 television film Tadhana, the first feature-length animated film in the Philippines. It was also featured in the 2015 South Korean action film Gangnam Blues and the 1990 Hong Kong film Fatal Vacation.