This Man...Who Will Always Love You (Anuar Zain did it again!)

Lelaki Ini

Kasih, kenanganku
Ingatkah saat saat dulu
Kasih, apakah dirimu
Merasakan semua itu
Ke mana pun langkahku pergi
Ku masih melihat bayanganmu cintaku
Dan kemana pun arah anginku berlari
Hati ini masih kau miliki

Korus:
Lelaki ini yang selalu mencintamu
Selalu, tanpa ragu
Lelaki ini yang selalu memuja
Hanya dirimu
Yang bertakhta dalam sanubariku

Sanubari ku
Aku yang mencintakan mu
Hanya dirimu…

Karena cintaku, tak berbatas waktu
Karena cintaku, tak mengenal jenuh hatimu
Hatimu…

(ulang korus) 2x

Yang bertakhta dalam sanubariku...

... once again Anuar Zain (Malaysian singer for the uniniated) has done it again...for me at least..but..judging from the general response of the Malaysian public to "Lelaki Ini", I would say that he enthralled some more hearts other than mine...

Previously, my fav Anuar Zain (AZ) songs are Keabadian Cinta, Sesucinya Cintamu, & Semuanya Untukmu. It's been a while since I heard a really good song from AZ.

Don't get me wrong. His other songs are good too.
It's just that when I am listening to music, I usually appreciate the songs, rather than the singer.
If I listen to singer A, I might be attracted to some of his songs, while at the same time not really liking his other songs. Case in point, I like Maroon 5's Must Get Out, but find This Love too out of my taste.
I also tend to appreciate songs that I can relate to, songs that in my view have some meanings for me. Case in point, Christina Aguilera's Reflection.
And I don't care about languages either. If it has good music & meaning, by all means, reel me in! Case in point, L-Arc-En-Ciel's (Japanese) 4th Avenue Cafe.

Haha..sorry such lengthy exposition...now back to AZ.. & Lelaki Ini..
This song is really nice, & a bit different from his previous songs. In fact, all the songs in his new album, Anuar Zain, seems to be a departure from his previous albums. This could be due to the fact that this time around, AZ decided to rely on Indonesian songwriters and composers. Only one Malaysian composer is involved, Jenny Chin, while the other composers hail from Indonesia.
I tried to find out which one of them has a hand in making Lelaki Ini, but can't manage to find it.

What I like about this song was the message that is delivered.
To me, it sounded like this guy in question really likes the woman, & regardless of place & time, & whether the woman returns his feelings, his heart will forever be hers, & his heart will never belong to anybody else.
It's like throughout the song, the guy was trying to convince the woman of this matter, & the way AZ sings it, we can truly sense the guy's sincerity. The guy wasn't being pushy either, it seems that he will accept the fact that the woman might not love her, the guy was just voicing out his feelings, so that the woman knew how he felt. A bittersweet feeling permeates throughout the song, perhaps accompanied by melancholic feeling too.
The song ended with the guy's affirmation that she will always be the only one for him. The ending seems to be open-ended as to whether the woman will accept his undying love or not, it seems more likely she will not, yet I can't help but rooting for the guy, hoping that his love will be returned.

The message aside, the music also didn't disappoint. The use of orchestra as the background singers really add as a nice touch, and sets the right mood for the song. The use of orchesta sets a haunting mood, some might call it nostalgic too, which leads one to suspect that actually, the woman is already attracted to someone else, that the guy was just reminiscing wistfully of a love that he might have had, but can't. The way that AZ and the background singers plays off each other are superb, & shows chemistry. I also like the part of the song, where the chorus is sung by a sole female background singer, which plays off well with AZ's take of the chorus beforehand. Makes me want to know who she is!

Alas, my only beef with the song is, surprise 2x, the crescendo. When AZ sings the words, sanubariku, aku yang mencintakan mu...it sounds just a wee bit weird..as if this part of the song is not in sync with the rest of the song..but, it's not too out of place..

After hearing Lelaki Ini, I wondered for the umpteenth time, is AZ singing about himself in his songs? I do hope that he will meet his soulmate soon. At 37, time is not on his side.

Here's to u, AZ. Hope that you meet the love of your life, any time soon....:)

A Piscean who loves cats...

Now, let's see if I can still do this blogging thing...after a long hiatus (inhales deeply...:) )...

If somebody ever asked me what are my favourite animals...I would definitely say cats as one of them..rabbits too..but for today..I'll talk about cats...

Once I put the title "Cat Lover" as my flash disk's name...& it was met by derision & laughter by my friend Kuden...he said it sounded like a really bad porn star name (his words) haha...yeah on hindsight..it does sound like one..

Anyway, why do I find cats interesting? maybe it's just the way they strut, so full of confidence & pride, or one might also say with a certain air of arrogance :) ...it's just that I am not that confident of myself, as cats are...detractors might say I give cats some human qualities :P ...still I hope u get what I'm trying to say...

& consider this, even the Egyptians treat their cats as family members, to be given proper burial rites just like other human family members..heck they even have a cat god, Bast
(although it leads Robin Williams to joke about it.."that's why when the Red Sea close up on the Pharaoh, & he calls out to his God, his Cat God can't do shit 'coz he's afraid of the water...")

And for people who always say that "dogs are better 'coz they r more social than cats..cats r so anti-social"...
well..let me quote from wiki :P (with some editing, for better flow,mind)
"The typical negative stereotype of a cat describes a very solitary animal, prone to aloofness and self-sufficiency.
However, cats are not generally as asocial as that stereotype, it's just that cats don't have a pack mentality.
This mainly means that an individual cat takes care of all basic needs on its own (e.g., finding food, and defending itself), and thus cats are always lone hunters; they do not hunt in groups as dogs or lions do.
One example of how house cats are naturally meant to behave is to observe feral domestic cats, which are social enough to form colonies..."

Plus, combined with the cats' cuteness & pest-controlling habits, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better pet.
[I can almost hear my friends' saying, "hmmph, if Haneef likes something, he finds whatever reasons, no matter how insignificant, to support his argument" :) ]

Actually, I think dogs are good pets too, its just due to my Islamic obligations, so I can't really take dogs as pets.. :)....another topic for another time...

Ahh..cats..what's not to love?...

p/s: do u know that a mother cat can be pregnant with offsprings from different fathers? The reason that this can happen because cats are one of the animals that can experience superfecund, i.e. fertilisation of two or more ova from the same cycle by sperm from separate acts of sexual intercourse.
In simple words, a female cat usually have more than one ovum per estrous cycle, and at the same time they have multiple partners, so their eggs can be fertilized by sperms from different male cats.
(don't worry, superfecund phenomenon in humans are extremely rare, because women rarely have more than one egg, and and are usually monogamous, at least in one estrous cycle)