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"Kaliwete" (English: "Left-Handed") is a song by the Philippine alternative rock band Eraserheads. It was released in August 1997 as the first promotional single from their fifth studio album Sticker Happy (1997).

Composition

The song is part of a trilogy of tracks from Sticker Happy written by Ely Buendia that are centered on handedness, which include “Kananete” ("right-handed") and “Ambi Dextrose” (a pun on "ambidextrous"). In a track-by-track article for the band's official magazine Pillbox in 1998, Buendia recounted how the songs were written:

I was at this birthday party in Kamuning and I was a bit drunk. I think some people started talking about lefties and righties, and so just to keep things interesting, I announced that I had already written songs about it, even though I hadn't. And would you believe I also told them I had another one coming called "Ambidextrous" to make the trilogy complete?

A week after, I knew I was in trouble because my friends were expecting these songs on the new album. Luckily, a lot of funny things happened that were funny enough to write about.

The song mentions Filipino singer Rico J. Puno, a "childhood idol" of Buendia. "He was really nice and funny and he gave me a little piece of advice that I'll never forget," he continued. "It's in the song."

Music video

The music video for “Kaliwete” was directed by Matthew Rosen. It features the band performing with "quirky props" such as light bulbs used as microphones, a toilet bowl with a speaker inside, and a dentist's chair.

Cover versions

• Hilera covered the song for the first Eraserheads tribute album Ultraelectromagneticjam!: The Music of the Eraserheads, released in 2005.

References

1. ^ "Soft of Hearing: The Sticker Happy Forum (Pillbox, page 7, 1998)". Schizo Archives. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
2. Bautista, Mary Ann A. "Eraserheads give us something sticky (Philippine Daily Inquirer, October 11, 1997)". Schizo Archives. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
3. "Eraserheads - Videography". Schizo Archives. Retrieved 15 August 2024.

• Eraserheads songs
• 1997 songs
• 1997 singles
• Songs written by Ely Buendia
• Songs in Tagalog