"Anak" (

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

for ''child'' or more gender specific ''my son'' or ''my daughter'') is a Tagalog song written by

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

-singer

Freddie Aguilar Ferdinand Pascual Aguilar (born February 5, 1953), better known as Freddie Aguilar or Ka Freddie Aguilar, is a Filipino folk musician. He is best known for his rendition of " Bayan Ko", which became the anthem of the opposition against the regi ...

. It made the finals for the inaugural 1978

Metropop Song Festival The Metro Manila Popular Music Festival (also known as Metropop) was launched by the Popular Music Foundation of the Philippines in 1977 and held annually from 1978 to 1985. It was "the country’s pioneering and once foremost songwriting competit ...

held in Manila. It became an international hit, and was translated into 27 languages. The lyrics speak of Filipino family values. The current copyright owner of the song is

Star Music Star Music (stylized in lowercase as starmusic; formerly known as Star Records), is a record label in the Philippines owned and operated by media conglomerate ABS-CBN Corporation. It was formerly a separate company operating as a wholly owned su ...

, a recording company owned by the media conglomerate

ABS-CBN Corporation ABS-CBN Corporation is a Filipino media company based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. It is the largest entertainment and media conglomerate in the Philippines. It is a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation which is owned by t ...

. It was produced by Celso Llarina of

VST & Co VST may refer to: * Vancouver School of Theology, a theological graduate school in British Columbia, Canada * VST, Stockholm Västerås Airport in Sweden (IATA airport code) * Vehicle safety technology * Virtual Studio Technology, Steinberg's stan ...

Tito Sotto Vicente Castelo Sotto III (; born August 24, 1948), professionally known as Tito Sotto, is a Filipino politician, entertainer and athlete who served as Senate President from 2018 to 2022. Before that, had two stints each as Senate Majority Lea ...

was the executive producer for this song as well as its album of the same name.

Inspiration and composition

left home at the age of 18 without graduating from school. His father, who had wanted him to be a lawyer, was disappointed. Freddie 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, Freddie 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", the two became closer. The homecoming proved timely as 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 The ''Pasyón'' ( es, Pasión) is a Philippine epic narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, focused on his Passion, Death, and Resurrection. In stanzas of five lines of eight syllables each, the standard elements of epic poetry are interwoven wi ...

'', a form that many Filipinos can identify with.

Impact

"Anak" became a finalist in the first

MetroPop Song Festival The Metro Manila Popular Music Festival (also known as Metropop) was launched by the Popular Music Foundation of the Philippines in 1977 and held annually from 1978 to 1985. It was "the country’s pioneering and once foremost songwriting competit ...

. 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. This was unlikely, however, and only threea 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

ASIN Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononymously as Asin, is a former Indian actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer. She has received three Filmfare Awards. She beg ...

(from the 1978 album “Asin”) * Larry Matias (from the 1978 self-titled album) *

Tito Tito may refer to: People Mononyms * Josip Broz Tito (1892–1980), commonly known mononymously as Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and statesman * Roberto Arias (1918–1989), aka Tito, Panamanian international lawyer, diplomat, and journ ...

Vic Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

, and

Joey Joey may refer to: People *Joey (name) Animals * Joey (marsupial), an infant marsupial * Joey, a Blue-fronted Amazon parrot who was one of the Blue Peter pets Film and television * ''Joey'' (1977 film), an American film directed by Horac ...

(parody entitled, ''Anak ng Kuwan'', from their album, Iskul Bukol) * Blonker, (band of German guitar player Dieter Geike, from their 1982 album "Fantasia") *

Regine Velasquez Regina Encarnacion Ansong Velasquez ( ; born April 22, 1970) is a Filipina singer, actress, and record producer. She is considered one of the most influential figures in Philippine popular culture and is known for her vocal range and beltin ...

(from the 1991 album ''

Tagala Talaga ''Tagala Talaga'' is the third studio album by Filipino singer-actress Regine Velasquez, released in October 1991 by Vicor Records in the Philippines in LP, cassette and CD format. It is her second album from Vicor Music Corporation after ''Nine ...

'') *

Gary Valenciano Edgardo Jose Santiago Valenciano (, born August 6, 1964), also known as Gary V., is a Filipino singer-songwriter, dancer, musician, actor, music producer and television host. Valenciano has released 39 albums, and won the Awit Award for "Bes ...

(from the 2000 movie soundtrack ''Anak'') (only appears on the movie soundtrack) *

Sharon Cuneta Sharon Gamboa Cuneta-Pangilinan ( , ; born January 6, 1966) is a Filipino actress, singer, television host, and socialite. Regarded as one of the most successful and highest-earning individuals in the Philippine entertainment industry, she has ...

(from the 2000 movie ''Anak'') (used in movie credits) *

Kuh Ledesma Maria Socorro "Kuh" Hashim Ledesma (born March 16, 1955) is a Filipino singer and actress. Born in Manila, Philippines with a Lebanese lineage and Ilonggo parents, she moved to Bacolod for college where she met some of her future Music and Magi ...

(from the 2000 album ''Duet With Me'') *

Side A The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

(from the 2001 album ''The Platinum Collection'') *

The Kelly Family The Kelly Family is an Irish-American music group consisting of a multi-generational family, usually nine siblings who were joined occasionally on stage in their earlier years by their parents. They play a repertoire of rock, pop, and folk music ...

(from the 1980 single ''Alle Kinder brauchen Freunde'') *

Michael Holm Michael Holm (born Lothar Walter; on 29 July 1943) is a German singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is primarily known as a singer of Schlager music. Although his first appearance in the hit parade was in 1962 ("Lauter Schön ...

("Kind" which means Child in German) *

Noel Cabangon Noel Gadiano Cabangon (born December 25, 1963) is a Filipino folk singer and composer, known for composing socially-relevant songs. In 1987, he formed the group ''Buklod'' together with Rene Boncocan and Rom Dongeto. Early life Noel Gadiano Cab ...

(from the 2012 album, ''Tuloy Ang Biyahe'') *

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...

(entitled ''"Philippines"'', from their 1983 album

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Croix ...

) *

Mitoy Yonting Michael Yonting (born January 5, 1970), more popularly known by his Stage name, screen name Mitoy Yonting, is a Filipino people, Filipino singer, comedian, actor, and lead vocalist for his band, The Draybers. Yonting rose to fame after winning t ...

(from the 2013 various artists album ''The Voice of the Philippines: The Final 4'') *

Ramon Jacinto Ramón Pereyra Jacinto (born June 3, 1945), best known by his initials RJ, is a Filipino businessman, musician and radio TV personality. He previously served as Undersecretary for Government Digital Broadcast Television and the Digitization of ...

(from the 1992 instrumental album '' The Guitarman II'') (used in the instrumental medley includes " Walk Don't Run" and "Diamond Head") *

Victor Wood The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

(from the 1979 Indonesian Album) * 孩兒 by

Alan Tam Alan Tam Wing-lun MH (; born 23 August 1950) is a Hong Kong singer and actor. He played a major role in developing the Cantopop scene in the 1980s as he was known for singing romantic ballads with modern arrangements. From 1983 to 1987, Alan Tam ...

( 譚詠麟) from album 反斗星 (Cantonese language) * 你的影子 by

Kenny Bee Chung Chun-to (born 23 February 1953), also known by his stage name Kenny Bee, is a Hong Kong singer, musician and actor. He is best known as the singer of the group the Wynners, and as a solo artist who has been active in the Hong Kong ente ...

( 鍾鎮濤) from album 我的夥伴 (Chinese language) * 愛著啊 by

Jody Chiang Jody Chiang or Jiang Hui (), born Jiang Shuhui (), is a Taiwanese popular singer. She began recording in the 1980s and retired in 2015, having released 60 albums. Her trademark ballads and folk songs are typically sung in Taiwanese. Her role ...

(江蕙) from album 愛著啊 (Taiwanese language) *

Sarah Geronimo Sarah Asher Tua Geronimo-Guidicelli (, , born July 25, 1988) is a Filipino singer, performer and actress. Geronimo rose to prominence after winning the television singing contest '' Star for a Night'' earning her a recording contract with Vi ...

(from the 2012 album ''Pure OPM Classics'') * Tha Chin Myar Nae Lu by playboy Than Naing (1980) * သီခ်င္းမ်ားနဲ႔လူ by Htoo Ein Thin ( ေတးျမံဳငွက္ ႏွစ္ (၅၀) ၂ (၂၀၀၃) ေတးစု ) * Carefree (from the 1979 album ''Kebebasan'') (Malay language) * Vader Abraham (Dutch language, singing about his childhood home town Elst) * KZ Tandingan sang parts of the song in both Tagalog and

Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

languages on the breakout round of the sixth season of

Singer 2018 ''Singer'' 2018 is the sixth season of Chinese television series ''Singer'', a rebranded version of ''I Am a Singer'' that aired on Hunan Television. It is produced by Hong Tao, and its music director is Hong Kong senior musician Kubert Leung. Th ...

* 아들 by Lee Yong-Bok (Korean language, 1979) * 아들 by Jung Yoon-Sun (Korean language, 1981) * 息子 by Jiro Sugita (1978) * 息子 by

Tokiko Kato is a Japanese singer, composer, lyricist, actress and activist. She was born in Harbin, Manchukuo, to Japanese parents and graduated from the University of Tokyo. She worked as a visiting professor at Josai International University. While ...

(1978)

In popular culture

Media

"Anak", in both Filipino and Korean versions, was featured in the 2015 South Korean action film

Gangnam Blues ''Gangnam Blues'' (; lit. ''Gangnam 1970'') is a 2015 South Korean action film written and directed by Yoo Ha, and starring Lee Min-ho and Kim Rae-won. The film is set in the 1970s against the backdrop of the real estate development of Seoul's Gan ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Anak Epilog
youtube.com * * {{Authority control 1978 songs 1978 singles Philippine folk songs Manila sound songs Sarah Geronimo songs RCA Records singles Tagalog-language songs