MAYBE THE present scarcity in good music is rooted in the fact that the current generation, having grown up with personal computers and computer games, is more individualistic. These young people are less social, less focused on social issues. But I expect more from the next one, those who are teenagers today, who are growing up and being shaped by the political instability around them. This is a good thing because they see rallies and know that life isn’t just about going to malls. They will raise children, the next generation, with the values they are learning today.

It is up to writers, composers, and singers to advocate change or help mold the character of the young through their music. It will also help if there are organizations that will nurture our young talents, who will put forward Filipino culture through music. After all, music, or culture, should not just be for those who are in love.

I can’t do that anymore, speak to the young. I can still set up the audio box and tie my shoelaces, thank you, but the generational gap is getting wider. I would sound preachy. The existing and emerging writers will have to do that — speak to, and for, their generation. The message has to be delivered by someone from this generation, by someone who talks and dresses like them. Young people want to listen to young people, whose taste appeals to them. I do appear in schools and reach out to young people sometimes, but that happens only whenever a school has a theme about nationalism, patriotism, the environment.

I think composers who write socially relevant songs should struggle to be in the mainstream. This is the arena where majority of Filipinos are. We should not be content to be just in the sidelines, in the tributaries. The condition may not be as friendly as we want it to be, but what’s the use of preaching to the converted? If you want to fight the status quo, then music with meaning must be heard.

We do have good bands and songwriters. Rico Blanco, Ely Buendia, and Bamboo Mañalac are just some of the better songwriters. My son, who is 15, listens to Bamboo (the band and the singer/composer). I like the fact that the band tried to stir pride in our race through its song “Pinoy Ako.” It also has an original sound. Bamboo has done a cover of my former band’s song, “Tatsulok (Triangle),” which calls for a reversal of the country’s existing social order. But I wonder sometimes if the young understand that song and its message, and what it means.

As of now we are polarized as a nation. I’m expecting something good to come out of this. In terms of music, at least.