“Minumulto na ‘ko ng damdamin ko♫”
Is there still a belief in ghost nowadays? If ask, what would be the meaning of ghost?
Is it still the traditional understanding about the spiritual or superstitious ones? Or it has now
a metaphorical meaning? In Cup of Joe’s trending song titled “Multo”, it speaks not anymore
of these spiritual beings, but a lyric of seriousness for the broken self. More than just a song,
it now becomes a sound, a noise of the unconscious – a very important element in Freud’s
theory. Each lyric is filled with psychological weight and under the lens of psychoanalysis,
Multo shows like a confession made not to another person, but to one’s own buried self.
At the end of the formation year here in the seminary, all seminarians undergo
evaluation process. More than looking at the external forum, the internal forum cannot be left
behind. In fact, the two must be in compatibility with one another. And I think, the internal
forum had most of the reasons, the sources, for the actions of each one. Not going far, I can
say that the source of my behaviors and actions can be understood by looking at how my
internal self goes. There is always something to dig for, for my every action. This “something
to dig” is the unconscious asserting itself. I would argue that mostly, my self is haunted not
by the external spirits, but by the ghosts within – it is the repressed emotions that never truly
die. It is the “multo” through the characters of unresolved feelings from relationships that I
always try to deny. And I know that these emotions manifest as anxiety, irrational behaviors,
and etc. Mostly, they are the traumas continually shouting within me waiting to be
recognized. As I observed with others, I know that they can relate too and that they have their
own “pagmumulto ng damdamin.” These so-called repressions are reminders that what is
buried alive, the buried feelings and experiences, does not stay buried. As the lyrics narrate it
“minumulto na ‘ko ng damdamin ko”, it will continue to whisper, return, and haunt.
It will continue to haunt… the self. What’s with the self that it will always be the
subject of haunting? Is the self as vast as the stars in the outer space? Is the self as deep as the
ocean? Yes, the self is as vast and as deep as what I have given. The self, no matter how many
years and times, dig the experiences and traumas, it will continue to whisper what had been
forcibly forgotten. Another thing is that the self is the only “being” in and of all who can deal
with these things. It is not as equal as the vastness of the outer space and the deepness of the
ocean. The self is more than these things. And I think that would be the great advantage of
man. No matter how vague the image of the unconsciousness, it will be a personal journey of
searching by the self, by myself.
Cup of Joe’s Multo is more than a relapse song. It is a song that can be used to
understand the psychoanalysis theory of Sigmund Freud. It becomes a way how I bury,
revisit, and becomes the own Multo of myself. The lyrics do not offer closure as Freud will
tell also to the study of the unconsciousness. What it offers is confrontation. Confrontation
with the “multo”, a confrontation with the self. My self struggling with my own shadows. My
self echoing through the hallway of my mind, asking not to be exorcised, but to be
understood.
CHARLES JOSHUA E. LAIT
Fourth Year
Post-Modern
