Armi Millare Shares Story Behind Up Dharma Down’s ‘Tadhana’

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Still listening to and fascinated by Up Dharma Down’s Tadhana in 2016? Well, you’re not alone.

Who could possibly not be moved by vocalist Armi Millare’s emotional belting out of the song’s poetic pleads? Just when you thought everything is poured out in the first chorus — Ba’t di pa patulan/ Ang pagsuyong nagkulang/ Tayong umaasang/ Hilaga’t kanluran/ Ikaw ang hantungan/ At bilang kanlungan mo/ Ako ang sasagip sayo — the track further shakes up your heart with another sentimental one —Ba’t di pa sabihin/ Ang hindi mo maamin/ Ipauubaya na lang ba ‘to sa hangin/ Wag mong ikatakot/ Ang bulong ng damdamin mo/ Naririto ako at nakikinig sa’yo.

Especially now that the shivery season is here, you’ll find it almost irresistible to idly indulge in your playlist of “hugot” songs where the well-received Capacities tune is probably on loop.

Tadhana‘s lingering magic just got even more relatable when Armi recently shared on her social media accounts where she composed the track. “2010, Mt. Sto. Tomas  where Tadhana was ‘written’ and recorded on my phone,” she captioned.

Mt. Sto. Tomas is located in Tuba, Benguet with an elevation of over 7,000 feet. With such altitude and atmosphere, isn’t it a perfect haven for an artist to create a masterpiece?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BLlkV-wjuSp/?taken-by=armimillare&hl=en

The Up Dharma Down vocalist’s trivia about the song earned positive comments from the band’s supporters.

“Thanks for sharing this special moment Armi! Tadhana is one of my most favorite songs from UDD!,” Instagram user Colleen Esterase said. Jennifer Maglalangi, another netizen, shared,  “Aw, this is where it started ????”

On Facebook, where the photo was also posted, Armi further recounted how Tadhana was finished when one fan, Budjette Tan asked for details (“How did you write it? Which came first to mind? Did you finish writing everything on the mountain?”).

The 32-year-old artist replied, “It really started with the first line. The draft is gone though — I lost that phone, sayang.“

“I finished the rest when I got back in Manila. I was working on a deadline of three days to produce a song for a TV show, and I got the call just before taking the bus up to Baguio. As soon as I got down I worked on the rest, sent it to the boys and they did their magical arrangement. The song wouldn’t be what it is now if not for them!”

Commenting on “what sparked that first line that lead to eventually writing the rest of the song,” Armi said, “I think the first line is as generic as could be, as all (if not most) love stories begin unexpectedly. You never really know when it hits you — especially when you force it to, it almost always never works out the way you imagine it — to me at least.”

However, according to her, she still sometimes thinks that “[the song] wrote itself” because “some songs just do.”

Six years since the song’s inception, isn’t it nice to know the story behind Tadhana?

(Image via Facebook/Armi Millare)