Macapagal 39
argued, “Myth does not deny things…its function is to talk about them;
simply, it purifies them, it makes them innocent, it gives them a natural
and eternal justification” (Ibid 301). The myth of Imelda is continuously
reproduced through various cultural forms including Imelda’s regular public
appearances and interviews. Many commentators have noted that Imelda
has a certain “charm” about her, even though her crimes of extravagance
are widely acknowledged. One local journalist remarks: “Whatever we
may think of her, she is an original. No one like her had appeared on our
stage before, and no one has upstaged her since. […] Even though we
know all about her and she is more caricature than real, she remains an
irresistible spectacle, a natural crowd drawer” (Coronel 2006). The quote
not only points to the seemingly natural and unique appeal of Imelda, it
also suggests that Imelda’s myth is propagated as spectacle, through the
continuous proliferation of Imelda’s images and performances today.
Such is the myth of Imelda that inspired the production of “Here
Lies Love” (2010), a two-disc concept album written and produced by
David Byrne, former member and principal songwriter of the American
new-wave band Talking Heads. The participation of popular disco/
dance DJ/music producer Norman “Fatboy Slim” Cook in the musical
arrangement of “Here Lies Love” adds to the appeal of the album. The
“disco opera” features 22 songs recorded by various singers—including
Tori Amos, Cyndi Lauper, Natalie Merchant, among other popular female
singers—that “present[s] Imelda Marcos meditating on events in her life,
from her childhood spent in poverty and her rise to power to her ultimate
departure from the palace” (Byrne 2010). Interestingly, the album also
presents the meditations of Estrella Cumpas, a friend of the Romualdez
family who took care of the young Imelda.
Byrne’s musical project parallels a potent aspect of Imelda’s
mythology given her well-known penchant for singing in public, a
performance she first enacted to support her husband’s political campaigns.
As First Lady, Imelda would regularly perform songs such as “Dahil
Sa’yo” for local and international audiences. According to critic Christine
Balance, Imelda staged these performances as a form of affective politics:
“By singing songs familiar to the provincial masses, the former probinsyana
preyed upon her personal biography of being promdi (from the province)
and fashioned an alternative mode of kinship through music” (2010, 125).
Imelda’s use of music to sustain power was also apparent in the songs and
musical institutions she commissioned as “Patroness of the Arts” during
the Marcos years. Raul Navarro, for instance, cites “Bagong Lipunan,” a
song commissioned by Imelda, which was used to instill the idea of the
nation’s prosperity under Marcos rule (2008, 57).