Balikbayans They Can’t Replace 2
A groove-heavy track driven by an obsessive, looping electric bass motif locked tightly with crisp drums. Sparse, syncopated keys add tension, while subtle guitar flourishes and sharp hi-hats amplify the pulse. The arrangement builds intensity, focusing on the relentless rhythm foundation.
Balikbayans They Can’t Replace 2
A groove-heavy track driven by an obsessive, looping electric bass motif locked tightly with crisp drums. Sparse, syncopated keys add tension, while subtle guitar flourishes and sharp hi-hats amplify the pulse. The arrangement builds intensity, focusing on the relentless rhythm foundation.
Lyrics
Verse 1
Packed our dreams in duct‑taped bags
Stamped our names on borrowed time
Built their houses
Held their hands
Left our kids on video lines
Smiled through graveyard kitchen shifts
Sang awake their quiet wards
Fixed their parents’ trembling knees
Sent it home like winning wars
Chorus
Now they say
“Come back
Come back”
Balikbayans they can’t replace
They count the cost
Wish they could take it back
Every border line now feels like waste
They regret deporting Filipino workers
But we were never just their labor in the first place
Verse 2
We knew storms from corrugated roofs
Floods up to the window frame
So their blackouts felt like nothing
Lit the halls and learned their names
Care on wheels in airport queues
Tears in plastic airport cups
They stamped us out like paperwork
Didn’t see who held them up
Chorus
Bridge
You can send us out
You can check that form
But you’ll feel the cold
When the care is gone
You can shut that gate
Wave our planes away
But you’ll hear our name
Every ordinary day
Chorus