With her latest song, “Pagod Na Ako,” Janine Berdin hopes to send out the message that a person must first acknowledge one’s exhaustion before being able to overcome difficulties in life.

She shared her thoughts during the online press conference for the song on Monday, Nov. 15.

“The song, sobrang simple lang ang meaning niyan. Most of the time, ino-overlook natin na napapagod na tayo. Hindi natin naa-acknowledge ‘yung struggles natin. So, hindi natin na-so-solve ‘yung problem natin” Berdin said.

(The song only has a simple meaning. Most of the time, we overlook how tired we are. We don’t acknowledge our struggles. So we don’t get to solve our problem.)

Meanwhile, Berdin revealed that it took her a couple of months to prepare for the song, adding that she started working with singer-actor JK Labajo, her producer, December of last year.

“Sobrang tagal ko na rin kasing nagsusulat. Siguro, my whole life, I’ve always wanted it. Parang in a way ay nagpe-prepare na rin ako ng sobrang tagal. Kinabahan man ako ng sobra, but JK made it easy. Siyempre, the people around me who made it so easy for me,” she said.

(I’ve actually been writing for a long time. Maybe I’ve always wanted it, my whole life. It’s like in a way, I’ve been preparing for so long. I may have been extremely nervous, but JK made it easy. Of course, the people around me [also] made it so easy for me.)

Berdin also shared that she just met Labajo online, where they only talked.

“And then one day, after he took a break from social media, nagka-exchange kami uli (we had another exchange) about music and stuff. He asked if I wrote songs. I let him hear it and I sent a folder full of my songs.”

Berdin initially felt Labajo didn’t like her work. The reason? “He didn’t reply to me for like two days.”

“Kinabahan ako. My God, baka ayaw niya ‘yung kanta ko. And then sinabi niya, ‘Punta tayo sa studio and just work on [the] music,” she said. (I was nervous. My God, maybe he doesn’t like my songs. And then he said, “Let’s go to the studio and just work on [the] music.”)

Berdin is the grand winner of “Tawag ng Tanghalan” season two in 2018. Her music video for “Pagod Na Ako” can be viewed on Star Music’s YouTube channel. JB

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