I love Pinoy music.  But nowadays, I often hear revivals and remixes of old Pinoy or foreign songs.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love these revivals.   in fact, I like MYMP’s Versions album or Sitti’s bossanova versions.  But what I miss are the Original Pinoy songs with its distinct emotional lyrics and its simple yet catching melody .  My favorite OPM  is the music of the  Apo Hiking Society.

Buboy, Danny and Jim

The Apolinario Mabini Hiking Society (or APO Hiking Society for short) spans 3 decades of talent, humor, originality and good good music. You can feel the wit, humor, melancholy, hope in their songs. Here are some of the APO songs I like:

1.  Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo
This was the 1986 EDSA song composed by Jim Paredes. This song made me feel proud to be a Filipino.

2. Yakap sa Dilim
This song is fun, catchy, naughty and romantic at the same time.

3. Awit ng Barkada
“Barkada” is a group of friends or a clique. It is a very important social group in the Filipino setting. You barkada will be there for you through thick and thin, this song says.

4. When I Met You
My personal favorite. I love the melody of this song.

5. Di Na Natuto
One can’t stop falling in love. Ahhh, this is the romantic Pinoy at his best.

 
I love APO because their music celebrates being Filipino. It’s not just all love songs. You can see different aspects of Filipino culture by just looking at their track listing. You will see how Pinay women are (“Bakit and Babae”) , or how we give advice to kids (“Batang bata ka pa”), or how we are affected by colonial mentality (“American junk”), and so many more.

I hope there are more bands like APO Hiking Society out there.

You can hear these songs, look at the lyrics and the chords in: Apo Hiking Society Songs .