Ballad for a boxer

Singer-songwriter David Ben-Reuven has penned a song for an unusual icon: Filipino boxing hero Manny Pacquiao.

By NADAV ROITER
David Ben-Reuven 521 (photo credit: Courtesy)
David Ben-Reuven 521
(photo credit: Courtesy)
David Ben-Reuven, a singer from Jerusalem, has never met world-renowned boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, yet he has just written a song in tribute to the champ entitled “Rock with the Pacman.”
Why did Ben-Reuven choose this man as his role model? “Today, at my advanced age, I am no longer able to participate in competitive sports, apart from table tennis and walking,” he smiles.
Competitive sports may be out of the question for him, but song competitions are still an option. In fact, in 2008 he participated in the sixth season of Kochav Nolad (“A Star Is Born”).
Ben-Reuven, who describes himself as “a very young 71,” is originally from London. He graduated from Cambridge University and made aliya in 1966, just before the Six Day War.
In his college days, he played tennis and cricket. However, once in Israel he began working in the publishing industry, eventually writing quite a few pop and rock songs.
Ben-Reuven’s recent fascination with Pacquiao stems from his becoming familiar with the boxer’s intriguing history. Pacquiao, originally from a very poor family in the Philippines, grew up in Santos City. He dropped out of high school due to his mother’s inability to support her six children, and at 14 ran away from home to Manila. After living on the streets of the capital for some time, he started boxing, eventually making it to the Philippine national amateur boxing team, where his food and board were covered by the government.
The 33-year-old has acquired star status in the Philippines, breaking the world boxing record by becoming the champion in eight different boxing divisions. He is also a singer, actor and currently serves as a congressman in his home country.
This amazing story of rags to riches and succeeding despite being challenged with numerous obstacles inspired Ben-Reuven to write a tribute to Pacquiao.
In Jerusalem spoke with Ben-Reuven about his new song and his experiences:
What genre does your song belong to?
I think my song is a kind of new genre, which I call Sportsrock with a real country feel. In the song I try to give an all-round picture of the Pacman, just as I have done in my unique song tribute to Shlomo Carlebach.
What inspired your admiration of Filipinos?
Some years ago I became friendly with a remarkable paraplegic named Efi Rimon, whose Filipino caregiver Nick looked after him devotedly for nine years until he, sadly, passed away from cancer two years ago. Also, many of my elderly friends in Jerusalem have Filipino caregivers, whose care and devotion undoubtedly help to lengthen their lives and add a new dimension to their everyday living.
Nowhere is this more evident than at the Melabev Day Care Center for the Elderly with Alzheimer’s, where I volunteer to sing once a week and am able to observe the devoted Filipinos at work.
How would you describe yourself professionally?
I describe myself as a singer-songwriter-translator and virtual sportsman.
Tell me about your experiences on Kochav Nolad.
I had a wonderful time on Kochav Nolad as the oldest singer on the show. The judges couldn’t get enough of my hit songs “Jerusalem Rock” and “Ciao, Ciao, Christopher Columbus.” They told me though that I couldn’t get to the final because of my age and white beard. So when they have a Kochav Nolad for the elderly, maybe I’ll try my luck again. I got quite far and thought I’d get to the final, but it was not to be. However, I got tremendous publicity from appearing on the show, and to this day people in the street still remember me and start singing “Jerusalem Rock” and “Ciao, Ciao, Christopher Columbus,” which you can see on YouTube.
Do you consider yourself a famous singer?
No, I’m definitely not famous because one learns that fame is ephemeral and fleeting. In contrast, the Manny Pacquiao song could make me known here and in the Philippines if the Pacman endorses it. I’m just happy to write memorable songs and melodies about unique topics and personalities.
Whom do you consider the most remarkable person you wrote a song about?
I think that apart from Manny, the most remarkable person I wrote songs about is Raoul Wallenberg, the young Swedish diplomat and rescuer of the Holocaust, who saved up to 100,000 Jews in Budapest and Hungary from the Nazis in six months in 1944.
He tragically disappeared into the Soviet gulag in 1945, and his fate is unknown to this day. His stepbrother, Guy von Dardel, who died earlier this year, spent nearly 50 years searching for him. Another such person is Jonathan Pollard, for whom I also wrote a powerful song as a plea for his release.
Your songs are on YouTube, but have you ever released a CD with a record company?
I now have many songs on YouTube, thanks to my very gifted video producer Ya’acov Goldman. Many of my songs are being broadcast worldwide and on Facebook almost daily, thanks to the wonderful Radio Kol Halev service and its dynamic Israeli representative, Einat Oren.
I have CDs of my best songs and of my one-man shows about Jerusalem and am currently making CDs of my moving song for Gilad Schalit, which I sing in English and Hebrew.
Currently, I have over 100 hit songs ready to be recorded, but since I don’t have the support of a record company or corporate sponsorship, I cannot do much on my own. So I continue to work with YouTube and Radio Kol Halev. Unfortunately, I find that local Israeli radio gives no encouragement to Israeli Anglo singer-songwriters, many of whom are very gifted.
What is your latest song?
My latest song is called “Sing the Hymn of Peace,” and I hope it will help bring peace to the Middle East and to our war-torn planet.

Do you have any special ambition?
Yes, to win the Eurovision Song Contest for Israel with one of my songs.
To listen to David Ben-Reuven’s song “Rock with the Pacman,” visit YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__oL9N52yCI