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E-mailA feature that appeared in the New York Times about people getting killed for singing Frank Sinatra’s "My Way" in Philippine karaoke bars has raised eyebrows abroad.
According to Norimitsu Onishi’s Sinatra Song Often Strikes Deadly Chord, there have been at least a dozen "My Way Killings" in the last decade, in addition to fights breaking out over the song. Because of this, many karaoke bars in the country have removed the song from their playlists. Karaoke bar patrons also avoid singing the song, acknowledging that “you can get killed.”
Although violence in karaoke establishments is not limited to the Philippines, it is only in this country where people seem to be in danger from singing "My Way." According to Butch Albarracin, of the singing school Center for Pop, it is the lyrics that lead to conflicts.
“‘I did it my way’ — it’s so arrogant,” he said. “The lyrics evoke feelings of pride and arrogance in the singer, as if you’re somebody when you’re really nobody. It covers up your failures. That’s why it leads to fights.”
University of the Philippines-based pop culture expert Rolando Tolentino pointed out that it might not be the song itself, but the squabbling and rudeness that occurs in karaoke bars that drive people to shoot the singer.
“The Philippines is a very violent society, so karaoke only triggers what already exists here when certain social rules are broken,” he said.
After the appearance of the article on the New York Times website last Saturday, the UK-based Telegraph published an article saying that "My Way" had been banned in Philippine karaoke bars because of the killings. It also brought up the case of Romy Baligula, who in 2007 was shot by a security guard for singing out of tune.
At the Entertainment Weekly website, Annie Barrett of the Popwatch section commented, “This is so sad and messed up.”
“We at PopWatch are such losers at karaoke that it has never occurred to us that things could so easily turn violent.”
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