"Ngiti at Pighati" : Its Meaning and Story

Greetings, everyone! I have been sharing quite a lot about my life here already but I haven't shared any about my music yet. I guess this is the perfect time to share with you guys, the story behind it and the meaning, one of our top songs, "Ngiti at Pighati".

So for today's blog, I'm going to share the details of how we came up with this beautiful song.

But before that, I'll give you an introduction and preview of my band. My band's name is Riortrek. Gifter, our main vocalist and rhythm guitarist, named it.

He planned to call our supposed channel “Warrior Trekker” His reason? Well, he just said it’s taken from my middle name and my last name. Here it goes:

My middle name: Mangubat

My last name: Tinaja

My middle name is kind of like a Visayan term for “warrior.” Oftentimes, Gifter would joke about my last name by putting “K” on the last. So it would sound like “Tinahak” which is a Tagalog term for “trekked.”

That’s how he came up with ‘Warrior Trekker’ for our supposed YouTube channel. When we formed this band, we initially thought of still carrying the name. But Gifter said we should make it shorter and much more unique. Thus, the name emerged – RIORTREK

The Original Songwriter

Ngiti at Pighati was not originally written by Riortrek. It was written by Miss Lyca Mag-aso, Gifter's ex-girlfriend. They were good bandmates before. They have established great connections before in music.

Lyca wrote this song reflecting the hardships and prosperity she went through in her life. This song mainly resonates with her personal life as goes through the ups and downs of her journey in this world.

Gifter co-wrote this song and added some riffs and beat to showcase creativity and storytelling. They even had a recorded version of this one, Lyca herself as the vocals.

Lyrics of the song

Verse 1

Minsan ang buhay, ay may kabiguan

Di mo alam maghihirap ka na naman

Pero kahit anong unos ang daraan

Laging isipin na kaya mo yan

Chorus:

Ang buhay ay laro, minsan panalo minsan bigo

Di mo alam kung san patungo

Ang buhay ang laro, minsan panalo minsan bigo

Minsan may ngiti, minsan ay may pighati.

Verse 2

Minsan ang buhay, ay may kasiyahan

Biyaya'y darating kahit hindi mo asahan

Sa konting dasal at wagas na panalangin

Matutupad din ano man ang hilingin.

Back to chorus

(La la la la la)

Bridge:

Ika'y liligaya, ika'y sasaya

Ako'y naririto para pawiin ang luha

Di magtagagal, buhay ay sasagana

Sayong pagwawagi, nakahanda ka na ba?

(Back to chorus)

Song Interpretation

Ngiti at Pighati is a Tagalog motivational song about thriving in life. It tells you how playful and how disappointing life is because you will go through happiness and sadness.

On top of it, whatever circumstances we go through, we should always remind ourselves that we can overcome them. We just have to believe in ourselves that we can do it. Faith is such a huge factor towards success with the help of hard work and prayer.

My Experience While Performing

When I first heard the song, Gifter introduced it to me when we were still practicing the lineups of our songs almost every day. Indeed, I was hooked by its groove and beat. The meaning of the song was powerful and uplifting.

I am pleased to perform it and will be if I sing it in front of the crowd someday. I'm looking forward to that.

Performing in the studio wasn't much of a concern to me because we already have experience shooting there with our first two songs Panagway and About That Chic. I enjoyed our time there. I liked the lighting, the captures were so high definition and the videographer was reliable in his craft.

So! To finally introduce our song, check our studio performance and lyric video of Ngiti at Pighati, check these out:

To check more of our original songs, kindly check our YouTube channel.

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Thanks for reading.
Keep safe everyone!