‘Duyan’ is Ben&Ben’s love letter to married couples, committed partners

The moment Miguel Benjamin Guico sang “Duyan” for the first time at his wedding to Karelle Bulan, his bandmates got so emotional that they wanted to release the song right away. Of course, the challenge was bringing that particular magic to listeners.

“I wrote it a few days before I got married. I was on the way home, and I realized na wala pa akong vows. Alam ko ang asawa ko, competitive. Thank God noong pauwi ako, may dumating na melody sa’kin,” Miguel recalled in a media launch for the single. 

(I wrote it a few days before I got married. I was on my way home, and I realized I didn’t have any vows yet. I know that my wife is competitive. Thank God, while going home, a melody came to me.)

At the time, the Ben&Ben lead vocalist and his wife were so caught up in the stress of wedding planning that he wasn’t able pay attention to other matters. Thankfully, the melody came at the right time and got to work, which ended up being “Duyan.” And the rest was blissful history.

Contrary to his bandmates, Miguel Benjamin didn’t know when the right time was for the song to be released. After all, marriage is not meant for everyone.

“Mas poetic siya because it’s about a life being built together, ‘yung kabuuan ng buhay na binubuo niyong dalawa. The challenge is deciding when to put it out because hindi naman siya palaging nangyayari sa buhay ng isang musician,” he said. 

“Pero may mga kanta na kung isinulat, parang nanggaling talaga sa sarili nila, which is what ‘Duyan’ was for me,” he continued.

(It’s more poetic because it’s about a life built by two people, and the entirety of it. The challenge is deciding when to put it out because it doesn’t always happen in the life of a musician. But some songs come from the heart, which is what “Duyan” was for me.)

“Duyan,” which was released Thursday, Jan. 22, is the culmination of a trilogy which also includes “Pagtingin” and “Araw-Araw.” It captures the many stages that couples go through when they decide to commit. Miguel has been married to Karelle for three years, and his bandmates are at the marrying stage too, making the release more timely.

The music video stars longtime couple Khalil Ramos and Gabbi Garcia. While they have yet to tie the knot, they understand the value of staying together despite what life throws at them.

“The reason why we wanted to share this song this time is that since we’re at that phase of our lives where mostly sa’min kinasal na, feeling namin itong kantang ‘to, makaka-relate at makaka-connect ang mga tao who are in the same season of their lives,” he explained.

“Hindi madali ang buhay mag-asawa. Napakataas ng highs pero napakalalim ng lows. Merong nagsabi sa’min na kailangan mong balikan ang araw kung saan siya nagsimula, which is kung kailan kayo kinasal,” he continued, hoping that listeners would reach the stage where they realize that this kind of love still exists.

(The reason why we wanted to share this song is that since we’re at the phase of our lives where most of us are already married, we feel like listeners who are at this season of their lives can relate as well. Married life is not easy. The highs are indeed high, while the lows are indeed low. With this in mind, you have to go back to your whys. Or the moment you decide to get married.)

Released by Sony Music Philippines, “Duyan” is available on all music platforms. 

The indie folk-pop band is also composed of Paolo Benjamin Guico, Poch Barretto, Jam Villanueva, Agnes Reoma, Andrew De Pano, Toni Muñoz, Keifer Cabugao and Patricia Lasaten. /ra