Untitled vs. Life Is Good

A few days ago (June 22, 2007) my friend Andi Wijaya (his blog here) asked me if I have a record of ‘Life Is Good’ song, by Nathan Hartono. At first I thought he was fooling me around, since I really lack the knowledge of local artist. Besides, ‘Nathan Hartono’ sounds just too.. eccentric. “Nathan” or “Nathaniel” is derived from English language, while “Hartono” is a Malayan name. Then Andi told me that he has an album titled ‘Life, Love & All That Jazz’. Noticing the word ‘jazz’, I became more interested to get more info about this jazz-singer-guy. Somehow, Andi and I got the download link for the song, so I downloaded it too (it was ‘painful’ though; I’m already at my quota for this month).

I listened to the song, it really was one good song. Very nice to hear, he has great vocal. But something bothers me: it sounds like the melodies I’ve heard before. Then I tried to type its lyric:

Artist: Nathan Hartono
Title: Life Is Good
Album: Let Me Sing! Life, Love & All That Jazz

I was there
When the sun wasn’t shining
When the pain was blinding you
With those tears and fears

Never give in
To sadness that surrounds you
Find a way to reach deep inside
And just let your love shine through

Coz tomorrow is just a little step away
I’ll be there to help you start believe in love again
Tell me that you’re waiting
Waiting for that happiness

Is there an easier way into your heart
Must be some ways where we can make a start
I am for real
And I’m just a step away

And when you leave the painful past behind
You’ll see the world with a different state of mind
I will be there
I’m waiting to see your smile

Coz tomorrow is just a little step away
I’ll be there to help you start believe in love again
Tell me that you’re waiting
Waiting for that happiness

Please see the light
Our hearts take flight

To tomorrow, is just a little step away
We’ll be there, as long as you believe in love again

Why must we still be waiting
Oh please don’t keep me waiting
Coz I know that we’re waiting
Waiting for that happiness

Don’t walk away
Just take a look
Soon you will find
Life’s really good

Compared to the song I’ve heard before, which I googled, turned out to be Maliq n d’Essentials’

Artist: Maliq & d’Essentials
Title: Untitled

Ketika kurasakan sudah
ada ruang di hatiku yang kau sentuh

Dan ketika
kusadari sudah
tak selalu indah cinta
yang ada

Mungkin memang ku yang harus mengerti
bila ku bukan yang ingin kau miliki
Salahkah ku bila kaulah yang ada di hatiku?

Adakah ku singgah di hatimu
Mungkinkah kau rindukan ada ku?
Adakah ku sedikit di hatimu?

Bilakah ku mengganggu harimu
Mungkin kau tak inginkan adaku
Akankah ku sedikit di hatimu?

Bila memang ku yang harus mengerti
Mengapa cintamu tak dapat kumiliki?
Salahkahku bila kaulah yang ada di hatiku?

Kau yang ada
di hatiku

Bila cinta kita takkan tercipta
Kuhanya sekedar ingin tuk mengerti
Adakah diriku singgah di hatimu?
Dan bilakah kau tahu, kaulah yang ada di hatiku?

Kau yang ada
dihatiku
Adakahku
di hatimu?

Man, the chords and melodies are so similar! I wondered if anyone had noticed it before. As usual, the-handy-Google take a role again; I found this article (blog) Her Beautiful Crime with Life Is Good’s lyric AND a note:

OT: Untitled by Widi Puradiredja

Yeah, I guess you already know who Widi is. ‘OT’, I assume it as ‘Original Text’, ‘Original Translation’, or whatever.. which means it is (probably) legal. Uh… this is actually ‘a happy ending’, but somehow I just don’t feel satisfied.. was it because I watch Hollywood movies that pumps adrenaline too much?
I know that this is an uninteresting story, but still I post it just to prevent someone being confused like me, and I want to keep those lyrics online so I can access it anywhere coz I start to like it more hehehe…

– Update –
Oops. Nathan himself actually post a comment in my blog (see below). I was thinking “Impossible. Artists are too busy to enter virtual world” when I landed on this blog… he even has his own blog -.-’

I did some re-check, I asked my friend Elsa (she’s an Indonesian studying in Singapore) and I got these infos:

- “Nob. He’s a jazz singer, but has nothing to do with Singapore Idol“
Ah. *blush* So I spread the wrong information. Sorry for that, everyone. But thanks to it, I now have a comment from a famous kid hehehe.

- “If I’m not mistaken, he’s an Indonesian-Singapore“
Uh? Does he understand or speak in bahasa?

- “ganteng booo“
Mattaku. Dasar cewek. Liat yang bening dikit aja, langsung kelilipan. Apalagi masih muda kayak Nathan. Semoga dia ga ngerti bahasa Indonesia, bisa besar kepala nih.

I also delete the download link for the song (since the owner was here… shame on me if I keep it here)… so if you’re looking for it, try googling again, it’s not here

In any case, I did ask Andi about his false info, and he just lightly replied “hehehe…”
So he really did got me, uh?