Martin bares memories in Martin Nievera XXV

Martin Nievera XXV premieres at the Araneta Coliseum on Feb. 1. With old friends Rowell Santiago as director and Louie Ocampo as musicial director, Martin Nievera XXV is a three-hour concert that will feature the many hits that Martin recorded during the past 25 years and the songs that the public have come to associate with him.  There are many.

You can get a good idea what these are by checking out the cuts in his Milestones album. Somewhere Down the Road, which he sang in the show Pilita and Jackie.  Remember, he dated Jackielou Blanco when he was just starting out?  Be My Lady, the first big hit in 1983. Did he end his Jackie period with There’s No Easy Way to Break Somebody’s Heart?  Did he promise eternal love to Pops Fernandez when he sang his first Forever song to her? Is there a way to tell when did the Forever songs stopped belonging to Pops?

It is not nice to pry but that is just what we have done and are still doing with Martin’s private life this past quarter of a century.  Maybe it is because of the way he sings, with so much feeling it seems like he is opening his heart and showing all that is inside it to us.  Is his longing for a lost love  as intense as it sounds in Kahit Isang Saglit?  Is it true that the lyrics to You Are My Song is dedicated to the mother of his baby Santino? 

This will be followed by shows at the Pacific Grand Ballroom Waterfront Hotel in Cebu City on April 30; the Corpus Christi Gymnasium in Cagayan de Oro City on May 10 and the Clark Expo at the Clark Freeport Zone in Pampanga on May 17.  More dates will be announced later.

One song to which he has provided us with an answer is What Kind of Fool Am I? This is one of Martin’s showstoppers and one that he feels deeply about.  Take note, he likes the song not just because he idolizes the consummate entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., who recorded the most popular version, but also because, he sees himself in it. 

What kind of fool am I who never falls in love

it seems like I’m the only one that I have been thinking of,

what kind of man is this, an empty shell,

a lonely cell in which an empty heart must dwell

what kind of lips are these lied with every kiss

that whispered empty words of love that left me alone like this,

why can’t I fall in love like other people can

then maybe then I’ll know what kind of fool I am