A tiny man once looked up
He sees the clouds, skyscrapers, and rooftops
And that moment formed a vibrant ambition
The biggest dream among the dreams of the entire nation
Before these buildings were buildings
they were skeletons of lumber and scaffoldings
Before they were dusty skeletons,
they were girders and crossbeams
of metal, hardwood, and concrete
And before they were that,
they were construction plans
Long after that,
they were architectural plans
And what we don't know is in the past
That a tiny man once looked up
And he sees the clouds, skyscrapers, and rooftops
And that moment formed a vibrant ambition
To dream the biggest dream among the entire nation

Fear the people
Leaders came from us
As dust formed life
To dust will return
Oppressors will
And shall subside

Fear the people
Fear the revolution
Any walls built
And impede our freedom
Will rise and fall
Like the Berlin wall

Matagal nang nagsimula
at patuloy na umiiral
Ang ating matinik na pakikipamuhay
sa ating bayan

Palagiang nasasadlak
sa karalitaan
Ang dugo ng kabataan,
alay sa kasarinlan

Tayong mga bulag,
sa siyensiya at kapalaran
Sa pagmartsa ng kalabang
hindi natatanaw

Naulit ang kasaysayang
may isang kurso at galaw
Bala para kay tatay
ang anak ang namatay

Bumagsak ang ekonomiya
Lumambitin sa aming mga leeg
Iniasa ang pagtaas
sa aming mga bisig

Habang si Alejandrino
dumarami't nagbubuntis
Ang batang henerasyon
Patuloy na nililitis

Kung ganun,
Huwag ninyo kaming pababayaan,
Paglustayan, paghirapan
At pakikinabangan

Sa gayong mga pumalya at matatanda
Ay may aakay
Walang huhugot sa Inang bayan-
Kundi kaniyang kabataan

If you want to see happy people
Go to the bookstore

As they flip the first few pages
Observe the cover and the edges

Notice the torn and the teardrops
Rub the coffee spills and the bookmarks

Smell the old cinnamon bread
As this 2nd hand book tells, the living and the dead

And if you see them smile,
And their eyes sparkle like the sea

By that you can tell
And tell, yet begin another story

So if you want to see happy people
Go to the bookstore

They are silently sitting in the corner
But you don't judge a book by its cover