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A post shared by rb (@ricoblanco100) on Dec 25, 2019 at 2:54am PST

MANILA -- One of the most common questions Rico Blanco gets from people is: "What does '214' actually mean?"

The song is considered one of Rivermaya's most popular hits, remembered fondly by an entire generation who grew up singing it -- fascinated by the puzzling title that accompanied the super sweet lyrics about promising "forever" to a loved one.

"Cause time may pass, but longer than it'll last, I'll be by your side," it went.

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Throughout the years, two accepted explanations emerged. One is that "214" stands for the song's first line, "Am I real," and the other is that it simply refers to the date for Valentine's Day.

This Christmas, Blanco finally decided to shed light into which among the two is correct, as well as its inspiration and where it was first played.

Check it out in the video below:

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Some of the interesting tidbits include how it was intended to sound like something by The Beatles, Queen, Duran Duran, and Mr. Big -- yes, all of them.

It also had several working titles: "The Proposal," "Forever By Your Side," and "The World Could Die."

The title "214" was actually brought up by their bassist, Nathan Azarcon, with Blanco sharing: "Si Nathan, pumasok [at sinabi], 'Akin na nga, patingin nga ng lyrics.' Nakasulat siya sa isang pad."

"Tapos lumabas siya ng studio sa amin, he was giggling, sabi niya, 'Andun na, may title na!' Sabi ko, 'Ano yun?' Tiningnan ko, 'Ano 'to?!' Meron siyang 2 tapos slash 14 (jokingly relating it to Valentine's Day)," Blanco explained.

He added: "Hindi rin siya seryoso pero tinitingnan ko, tapos nakita ko 2/14 sa title tapos 'yung first line, 'Am I real?' Na-notice ko na two letters yung 'am,' one letter yung 'I,' four letters yung 'real.' Sabi ko, baka puwede, so 'yun na muna 'yung working title niya."