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This is the story behind the song mIRC which my band AcidRadius currently performs on special occasions.
The song is also referred to as IRC which is short for Internet Relay Chat. For those who don’t know what that is, you’re too young. But let this old codger educate you.
Before we had Facebook messaging and other messaging apps these days, there was mIRC which let you talk to someone through the power of the Internet. You couldn’t do video calling with it, that was reserved for Yahoo Messenger.
Instead, you could type words and really try to express yourself using just that. You could insert a few emoticons (or emojis as they’re called these days) which you also had to memorize or be as imaginative as you can to convey your thoughts.
This was also the time when I first had a long-distance relationship that didn’t end too well. We basically drifted apart. She met someone else while we were still in a relationship and I fell headlong into music looking for reasons why what seemed like a perfect relationship ended like that.
Also, back then, although we had a computer at home, it was basically just a glorified calculator that was only good for Lotus and Wordstar documents (the equivalent of today’s excel and word). If you wanted to connect to the Internet, you had to go out and hang out in an Internet cafe.
These places were always crowded and the seats were uncomfortable. It was always noisy and privacy was near zero so you had to keep looking over your shoulder to see if someone was watching your screen. I’d reserve 3 units and just use the middle one so that I could have a little alone time with my then long-distance GF.
That was something that lasted for months even after she told me she’d met someone else. We kept going until one day, after an increasing number of “missing each other online” we just stopped.
Here’s how I felt during that time and my promise to wait for her even though I wasn’t sure she’d show up.
Ahhhh… young love.
mIRC Lyrics
music and lyrics: chester canonigo
copyright 2007
sleep is such a waste of time
’cause you’re in it but you’re not really mine
what does the future hold for you and i?
’cause even now we say goodbye
why can’t two hours be forever with you?
in radioactive waves of this cpu?
a king’s ransom in time
i’d spend each night for you
don’t say goodbye if you don’t really mean it
i won’t say I love you, I’ll try not to do it
if there’s still place in your heart for someone
let it be me ’cause you’ve already won
solo:
guitars: jean paul verona
i’ll stay in this room full of people
waiting for a glimpse of you
i’ll sit here, sleep here, stay here for you
solo:
guitars: kino lacambra IV
don’t say goodbye
my love, my love, my love
bass: domz anacion
rhythm guitars/lead guitars/vocals/backing vocals: chip canonigo
drums: kym lacambra III
rhythm guitars/lead guitars: kino lacambra IV
additional rhythm guitars/lead guitars: jean paul verona
How the song mIRC Came About
As with most songs I write, the melody always comes first and then I write the lyrics around it. With the song mIRC, I was playing around with this weird chord shape that I eventually discovered was just a hybrid E chord. It wasn’t perfect but it sounded nice to my ears. I then repositioned it and landed on a C (still with the weird chord shape) and liked that sound also.
I’d like to say I made the song mIRC entirely in one sitting, but I didn’t.
I just kept that weird chord shape in my mind and played around with it every now and then.
I made a few other songs before I finally came back to it.
It was then that I had the idea for the first line which was “sleep is such a waste of time ’cause you’re in it but you’re not really mine”. I guess that was when I realized that I should move on with my life knowing that she’d already moved on with someone else despite us still “dating”. The next line seemed logical because our future was in question. especially since every time we said goodbye, I didn’t know when or if she’d be online again.
I brought the song to the other guys hoping they wouldn’t think it was too sappy because the other songs I’d made were hard rock. Domz was very supportive of the idea and created a bassline that made the song sound good.
Jean Paul and I then recorded a rough version of it before Kym and I left for Manila to take AcidRadio to the metro. We toyed with the idea of recording the song but the first version (for me) was perfect especially since Jean Paul’s solo was brilliant on it.
We finally rerecorded the song in 2007-2008 when Jean Paul worked for Wombworks. I think it was one of the first we recorded and completed.
What you hear on Spotify right now is the result of AcidRadio (Chester Canonigo, Dominic Anacion, Jean Paul Verona, Quirino Lacambra III, and Quirino Lacambra IV) recording it in Wombworks.
So there, that’s the song mIRC. A song written by a very young and naive me which has somehow stood up to the test of time and is somehow gaining a little bit of popularity through streams. You can listen to it if you click this Spotify link.
