Yano - Music

Music

Yano’s music was well known for their political and social themes. Their songs censure religious hypocrites like in Banal Na Aso, Santong Kabayo (Tagalog for Holy Dog, Saintly Horse), corrupt politicians in Trapo (colloquial, pejorative term for traditional politicians, also literally translates to "dust rag"), the lingo of the Philippine's elite in Coño Ka P’re ("You're a coño") and abusive capitalists in "Mc’Jo" (alluding to the fastfood chain McDonald's where Abay once worked as a crew member).

Yano’s songs also narrate the situation of Philippine society during the 1990s. Kumusta Na? ("How are you?") discusses the condition of the Filipino masses after the 1986 EDSA Revolution while the novelty-styled song Kaka tells a story of a person named Kaka, who is having difficulty in finding things in the dark after a power outage, a reference to the frequent blackouts in the Philippines during the early 1990s. The song Bawal ("prohibited") speaks about the effects of rules or laws with excessive restrictions to the point where it leads to suppression of freedom and love. Abno, also known as Abnormal Environmental, tackles the environment while Kaklase ("classmate") focuses on students facing maltreatment by their teachers. Another social relevant song, Mercy, tells about the story of a crazy peddler in the Philippines known as a taong grasa ("greasy person").

Abay's experiences as a student at the University of the Philippines, enabled him to write songs in dismay of their school like in State U and their life in the university, such as Esem (in reference to the SM City North EDSA mall, which is about a mile away from the UP Diliman campus) and Iskolar Ng Bayan ("The Nation's Scholar"). They also made some love songs in their music like Senti (short for "sentimental") and Paalam Sampaguita ("Goodbye Sampaguita"). The latter also tackles the migration of many Filipinos to other countries to seek better opportunities.