Forty years into a storied showbiz career, prime balladeer Martin Nievera is as busy as ever and has written a new song to boot.
In his usual upbeat self, Martin exclaims, “I’ve been great! Trying to keep busy, trying to keep sane.” And when asked how he keeps himself positive, he jokingly answers, “These are the times that we are not supposed to be positive remember? We’re supposed to be negative!”
And just like that, he jumps right into storyteller mode.
“The old meaning of ‘positive’ is what I wanted to bring back,” Martin claims. “I’m one of those singers who sings about the ‘sad’ love songs, the ‘I can’t make it’ love songs, the ‘I want you back’ type of songs. This time, I wanted to finally have a song that was positive.”
Enter “Smile Again.”
For this, Martin found inspiration in the situation we’ve all been in the past two years.
“I think If I were to speak for everybody, what everyone’s been going through, in their quiet time, and believe me we’ve had a lot of those, they’re thinking of happier days that once was, and happier days that are to come, sana!”
Martin said about the genesis of his new song, “there are dreamers like myself who can put himself out of a negative situation and find something good in it all. Like being able to do the things I haven’t been able to do before or to appreciate the life that I have now. So, when Homer Flores sent me the melody and the music…”
He said that he got the inspiration for his lyrics, from singing a particular classic.
“I’ve always ended a show (during those shows online during the pandemic) with the (Charlie Chaplin) song ‘Smile.’ A serious song, written by a comedian reminding everybody that there will be happier days to come.”
Stating that he wanted something similar that inspired the same feeling, Martin thought of the title “Smile Again” and “After I had that title, everything was easy.”
“I just wrote all of the beautiful thoughts that come to my mind and thinking in third person, I thought of how other people can relate to this song and (that’s how) I realized the words that I chose. I think everyone can relate to that, everyone wants some reason, big or small, to smile again.”
And just like that, Martin has written his first ballad after a long while. And what a wonderful sounding new song it is that he has brought – a big, piano-driven, feel-good ballad that can sit nicely alongside his greatest hits. A relaxed little tune that, in Martin’s own words, is the type that can “heal and inspire.”
“I remembered that I was supposed to be the guy you run to, to feel a certain emotion. I realized again my love for singing,” he concludes.