"I, thank you, Engelbert Humperdinck, BUT the people I have to thank
most would be your lovely wife Patricia and your children."
People always ask why at my age (a whole 37 years young)
I am such a huge fan of Engelbert Humperdinck? What draws you to his kind of
music?
I grew up on Elvis, Cliff Richard, BREAD, and Engelbert
Humperdinck. That’s all I ever heard playing around my house while I was
growing up. But I took a special liking and interest to Engelbert because of
the fond memories that were created with his music.
I first took a liking to Engelbert at the age of 10. I
didn’t have a bad childhood but I would not say I had the greatest either. It
had its ups and downs although I say more downs… and I thoroughly enjoyed the
days I spent with my maternal grandparents. They were a typical Eurasian family
where music played an important part of our lives.
I remember my grandfather and I would listen to Engelbert
on cassettes! YES cassettes. He introduced me to The Last Waltz and Release Me.
We would sing these songs by heart together. We were never in tune but we had
fun and more importantly, we made fond memories. I remember we used to play the
song and pause it, write the lyrics down, continue playing it…pause it….write
the lyrics…and if we didn’t get it, we would hit the rewind button.
My grandfather and I did this while my grandmother cooked
and cleaned and sang to his songs. It was the happiest times of my growing up
years.
When CDs were IN, they had the lyrics on the CD booklets
and my grandfather and I thought it was the bomb!! I was about 12 then. We
would now listen to Enge’s CDs and read these lyrics and sing along to the songs
together. We laughed so much sometimes that it made us cry. I remember my
grandfather’s grin clearly. In fact, he has the same smile as Engelbert!
As my grandpa got older and I spent lesser time with them
as I was a rebellious teenager by then and was mostly out enjoying with friends…
my grandpa’s eyesight were not as good as it was a few years ago. But I still
loved him dearly and by then, I was introduced to computers. I remember, I
typed every single Engelbert song (lyrics) out in a bigger and bolder font for
him. I passed it to him and the sight of him being so thrilled will always be
something that I will remember clearly.
Our favourite song from Engelbert by then was “Love Me
With All Your Heart”.
Even during those years, I have not seen a single LIVE
performance by Enge. I only knew what he looked like but never saw any videos!
There was no such thing as YouTube back then.
My teenage years were rough. I was always so unhappy and
depressed. I was on a downhill. Suicide played on my mind. What saved me?
Believe it or not, music did! Mostly Engelbert songs. I would recall the happy
times with my grandfather.
When I got married and moved from Singapore to America,
my grandpa put a bow on an Engelbert CD that had “Love Me With All Your Heart”
on it. The first few years living in a foreign country with total strangers
around me, I cried every day. I was homesick but again what made me smile again
was Engelbert’s music. By then, I found DVDs and YouTube videos and watched Engelbert
LIVE for the first time and I was even more hooked than I was. I read up more
about him and learned about him. I am one to always have a good first instinct
and just by watching his LIVE performances, I felt that this man had no airs. A
few years later, I would find out that my instincts would be correct.
In 2002, my beloved grandfather passed away. He passed
away on the date Engelbert was born; May 2. Coincidence? Probably. But to me, I
felt there was a meaning to it. I still don’t know what it is though…
I was devastated. He was the pillar in my life. He was
the one male figure I trusted with my life and was the one I knew who truly
loved me. And now he is gone….
During his final send off, we sang “Love Me With All Your
Heart” in Church. I am sure he would have been smiling down at us.
As my life was again slowly falling apart, Engelbert
saved me. His music kept me going. It kept good memories alive and little did I
know, Engelbert would now create new memories for me.
To honour my grandfather and the memories I have of him,
and of Engelbert who helped create those memories with my grandfather, I had a
tattoo done with my favourite part of my grandfather’s and my favouite
Engelbert song; Love Me With All Your Heart.
In 2003, I was finally making good money in USA and when
I heard Engelbert would be performing in Connecticut USA (an hour away from
where I lived), I bought my mum an air ticket to come visit from Singapore so
we could attend the concert together. It would be the first time I am seeing
this great man LIVE. And it would be the first time I would get to meet
Engelbert and build new memories.
So you ask why I love Engelbert? Because Engelbert have
saved me many times and he still continues to do so. When I am down or
depressed, I turn on his songs and I am all smiles again.
It will be hard for anyone really to understand but it
doesn’t matter. As long as I know. That is all that matters.
The fact that through it all, I have also made new friends
through the same interest; Engelbert Humperdinck.
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I, thank you, Engelbert Humperdinck, for playing such an
important part of my early life up till now. BUT the people I have to thank
most would be your lovely wife Patricia and your children. Without the love of
Patricia and her constant faith in you, you wouldn’t be here doing what you do
best. She never lost faith that you would be a star even in the tough times.
Patricia is definitely a woman of strength. I could never
do what she had done and continue to do up till now. I would not have been able
to ‘share’ my husband with the millions of women around the world who adored
him.
Then I have to thank your children. I am certain they had
their fair share of sacrifices they had to make while sharing their beloved
father with the world. The many times you had to miss possibly milestones in
their lives. I am also certain even up till now, they still face difficulties
of being the children of Engelbert Humperdinck.
So truly, I not only THANK YOU. I thank your wife and children
for sharing you with me and the rest of the world.
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