Manang Biday

Manang Biday, ilukatmo man
'Ta bintana ikalumbabam
Ta kitaem 'toy kinayawan
Ay, matayakon no dinak kaasian

Siasinnoka nga aglabaslabas
Ditoy hardinko pagay-ayamak
Ammom ngarud a balasangak
Sabong ni lirio, di pay nagukrad

Denggem, ading, ta bilinenka
Ta inkanto 'diay sadi daya
Agalakanto't bunga't mangga
Ken lansones pay, adu a kita

No nababa, dimo gaw-aten
No nangato, dika sukdalen
No naregreg, dika piduten
Ngem labaslabasamto met laeng

Daytoy paniok no maregregko
Ti makapidut isublinanto
Ta nagmarka iti naganko
Nabordaan pay ti sinanpuso

Alaem dayta kutsilio
Ta abriem 'toy barukongko
Tapno maipapasmo ti guram
Kaniak ken sentimiento

This an Ilocano courtship song. The man is asking the lady called Biday to look outside the window and listen to how he sings his heart out for her. The address "manang" is used to refer to an older sister. ("Ading," on the other hand is the Ilocano equivalent of kuya or big brother.) "Manang Biday" is assumed to be an older lady, although a woman called "manang" in the Philippines can also refer to someone very conservative and likely to become an old maid. The way the woman plays hard-to-get hints us that the latter assumption might be true.

Here's the English translation of the song:

Man:
Manang Biday, please open
your window; lower it
so that you can see one who is lost.
Oh, I'll die if you show me no mercy.

Woman:
Well, who are you to pass
here by my garden and play around?
You know, of course, that I'm a young lady,
a pure flower that hasn't yet been plucked.

Woman:
Listen, Ading, I'm asking you a favor.
You go to the east.
You get the ripe mangoes
and also the lansones; you'll see a lot.

Woman:
If they're at the bottom, then pick them.
If they're at the top, then climb to get them.
If they've fallen, then pick them up.
Just do this in passing, though.

Woman:
My hanky's here. If I drop it,
whoever picks it up must return it.
I've written my name
in the shape of a heart.

Man:
Take your knife there
to cut open my chest
so that your grudges
and feelings toward me may go away.

The singing of the man to the woman is a traditional Filipino courtship serenade called "Harana." It is of Spanish influence. In harana, a man (usually accompanied by his friends) goes out to the house of the woman at night and sings lovesongs for her outside. To show respect and/or interest, the woman opens the window and listen to the serenade. After the singing, she usually invites the man to come inside the house and entertains him by offering food or refreshments and the time to talk with each other.

Sadly, this practice has become extinct nowadays, even in rural areas and small towns where it once become popular.