ERASERHEADS - "Ang Huling El Bimbo" MTV (1st Version)

This song won the MTV Asian Viewer's Choice Award in 1997, making the Eraserheads the first and only Filipino artists to have ever won the award

There are two known versions of the song. The first one has the singer continuing to chant the chorus until the song fades. The second version replaces the monotonous chant with a guitar solo and an orchestra ensemble playing the chorus. The music video uses the 2nd version.

The first and second verses tell about the narrator's youth, when he would frequently visit his childhood friend, a girl, by hanging around in her huge house after school. The girl was a good dancer, but she was at her best when dancing the el bimbo. The boy would often visit the girl after school to learn the dance, and always felt awkward doing it. It was at this point that the boy realized he was in love with the girl.

The third verse fast-forwards to the present, after the narrator and his childhood friend had not met for a long time. The girl, according to gossip, became an unwed single mother and apparently earned a living as a dishwasher in the then-seedy district of Ermita, Manila. Finally, the narrator reveals that his childhood friend had died after being hit and run by an unnamed vehicle.

At this point, the narrator regrets not being open with his feelings. He ultimately realizes that his feelings will remain forever unrequited and that the only time he'll be able to dance with her again will be inside his dreams.

The events of the narrator's childhood seem to be set before or around the 1960s or 1970s, as he mentions that his childhood friend looks like a Filipina actress popular in the 1940s named Paraluman, portrayed by stage & movie actress, Wena Basco.

The music video, directed by AURAEUS SOLITO, basically retells the lyrics of the song.

There are some additions, though:

After the four boys (who become the Eraserheads) and their childhood friend, Paraluman make a ruckus after their dance, the friend's mother comes in, and in sheer anger she breaks the El Bimbo vinyl record into pieces and takes her daughter away.

The Eraserheads dance with their childhood friend, now wearing white. But she tells them that it is their last dance ("Ito na ang huling El Bimbo," "This is our last El Bimbo"). She then collapses in their arms.

The Eraserheads bury their childhood friend in a spot filled with leaves afterwards each of them threw pieces of broken El Bimbo vinyl record they used during their childhood days, while uttering parting words to their beloved friend
ELY: Ang gabi ay natulog.
MARCUS: Ang araw ay ok.
BUDDY: Si Paraluman ay magaling
RAYMUND: Ang pag-ibig natunaw

As they turn their backs, the woman rises like a zombie and styrosnow falls. Later, the burial spot is in flames.

At the end of the video, the childhood friends continues to dance until the song ends.

Other credits:
Female lead role by theater artist WENA BASCO
Cinematography by LOUIE QUIRINO
Production Design by KARISSA VILLA

"ANG HULING EL BIMBO" Released 1996
by: BMG RECORDS (Pilipinas), INC.

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