WORLD YOUTH DAY 1995 THEME SONG - TELL THE WORLD OF HIS LOVE

Title: Tell The World of His Love

Originally Sung By: Raquel "Carelle" Mangaliag and Jeffrey Arcilla

Originally composed by: Trina Belamide

Country: Philippines

World Youth Day is a worldwide religious gathering of youth presided by a Pope. Every World Youth Day has had its own theme song. "Tell The World of His Love" is the theme song of the 1995 World Youth Day which was held in the Philippines.

In January 1994, a nationwide song-writing contest for the theme song of World Youth Day 1995 was launched in the Philippines. The entry "Tell The World of His Love" was chosen.

The song was composed by Trina Belamide whose real name is Katrina Marie Concepcion Ruiz Belamide. Prior to the contest, she has already been writing songs for different Filipino artists for three years.

In an interview, Ms. Belamide was asked how she came out with the beautiful lyrics and the melody of the song. Ms. Belamide explained, "I started the song with the title, Tell The World of His Love, and I built it from there. Actually, I didn't have a rough time writing the lyrics. I had a rough time with the melody. I had a clear vision of what I really wanted. I wanted the people to sway with the music. And I pictured them with a "lighter" in their hands as they sang it. I wanted a melody that could easily get the "feel" of the youth."

As a Filipino, I'm so proud of this song. It was played at St. Peter's Square on the day of Pope John Paul II's beatification. It was reportedly one of the late Pope's favorite songs.

Note: The above music video is not the official music video of Tell The World of His Love. I choose this video because it plays the original version of the song which was the carrier single of the official World Youth Day album that was released in a limited tape edition. This version was the one used months before, during and after the World Youth Day. I was one of the millions of participants of WYD 1995, and this version is the one that always brings back all the wonderful memories that I have of World Youth Day 1995.