El Nacimiento | Carlos Mejía Godoy | Canto Epico al FSLN | 1980 | Nicaragua

Here’s another song to celebrate the 33rd anniversary of the Nicaraguan Revolution! The video is from the 1983 April in Managua concert, which featured a number of musicians in solidarity with the Sandinistas and the revolutionary movements of Central America.

Como un chilotito tierno
fulgurante bajo el sol
nace el Frente Sandinista
mazorca y espiga de liberacíon
cada grano fue una bala
para conquistar la paz
y levantamos la milpa
para la tapisca de la libertad.

ENGLISH

Like a tender corn cob
gleaming in the sun
The Sandinista Front was born
seed of liberation
each seed was a bullet
to win the peace
and we harvested the crop
to celebrate our freedom. 

Con las FARC, con las FARC, la guaneña se fue a pelear, trepando la cordillera en la ofensiva popular!

One of the best songs from the Colombian guerrilla, La Guaneña, based on a traditional Colombian folk song of the same name, tells the story of a girl who joins the FARC-EP and travels across the cordillera in western Colombia to fight in the eventual, final insurrection in Bogotá.

The song originates from the town of Noriño, located in the southwest near the Ecuadorean border (explaining the heavy use of indigenous instrumentation).

Enjoy!

Atahualpa Yupanqui interpreta la zamba de su autoría “Tierra querida” para el documental “Argentinísima” filmado en 1971 y dirigido por Fernando Ayala y Héctor Olivera.

“Es tiempo de recoger lo que sembramos ayer, y ver lo que hicimos crecer. Quién sembró dolor y pena, que recoja su condena, que son sus cadenas de ayer.”

Venezuelan folk group Los Guaraguao sings Tiempo de Recoger.

Juana y José, by Cecilia Todd, from her 1974 album Pajarillo Verde. This is a traditional Venezuelan folk song written by Cruz Felipe Iriarte, which talks about a woman named Juana and her abusive husband José. This is a Venezuelan merengue, a style with no similarity to the more common merengue from the Dominican Republic.

Me estaba contando Juana que su marido José
la deja por la mañana sin papelón ni café
y de noche, cuando llega, me contaba con dolor,
que la regaña y le pega sin tener razón.

Cálmate Juana y no llores más
de aquí a mañana se te olvidarán
todas tus tristezas y tu preocupación,
junto conmigo, vivirás en una casa con balcón
y allí la vida pasarás llena de ilusión.

Chilean musician Angel Parra sings No te Alejes (Don’t Distance Yourself) from his 1973 album Cuando Amanece el Dia. This song, which comes out of the nueva cancion tradition, features a heavy use of the quena flute and acoustic guitar, along with very characteristically emotive singing from Angel Parra. Lyrics below.

No te alejes más porque si te vas
seguro la noche te ocultará.
Sigo como soy, no te podré hallar
y sin tu presencia no puedo cantar.

Ya te hei dicho que te quiero,
que te espero y que me muero
¿dónde está tu corazón?

Y si al despertar pudiera encontrar
un sí de tu boca grande como el mar,
yo pongo la barca también el remar
tú verás lo tuyo sólo en altamar.

TRANSLATION:

Don’t distance yourself because if you go
the night will surely hide you from me.
I will remain as I am, unable to find you
and without your presence I cannot sing.

I have already told you that I love you,
that I wait for you and that I am dying
where is your heart?

And if upon awakening I could encounter 
a yes from your mouth, as great as the sea,
I will provide the boat, also the row
You will see what is yours only in high seas.

Ventana al Día by Nicaraguan group Carlos Mejía Godoy y Los de Palacagüina. This song was written and sung by group member Ofilio Picón, and comes off their 1991 album Azúcar y Pimienta. The music was arranged by Javier Paradas and José Segura. Mejía Godoy served as Vice Minister of Culture during Nicaragua’s Sandinista government of the 1980s.

“Voy a soltar este nudo que me oprime
Voy a lanzar este grito que me ahoga
Voy a rasgar este velo que me oculta
Voy a llorar esta lágrima que me revienta
Voy a romper la tortura que me amansa
Voy a llorar este nudo que me oprime
Voy a romper este grito que me ahoga
Voy a soltar este velo que me oculta
Voy a lanzar esta lágrima que me revienta
Voy a rasgar la tortura que me amansa
Para que vengas conmigo a caminar sin deternos jamás!”

Sangueo para el Regreso: Ali Primera for English-Speakers

I put this video together last night for you guys. Here I’m going to explain, translate and sing (poorly) an homage to Simon Bolivar from the famous Venezuelan folklorist Ali Primera. This is specifically designed for those of you that don’t speak Spanish very well, but Spanish speakers might get a kick out of it also. The actual track occupies the last three and a half minutes of the video so that you can listen for all the things we discuss in the first section.

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Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. Some of the realest shit you’ll ever hear.

You got a fast car
And I want a ticket to go anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Anyplace is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we’ll make something
But me myself I got nothing to prove

You got a fast car
And I got a plan to get us out of here
I been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
We won’t have to drive too far
Just ‘cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living

You see my old man’s got a problem
He live with the bottle that’s the way it is
He says his body’s too old for working
I say his body’s too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody’s got to take care of him
So I quit school and that’s what I did

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so we can fly away
We gotta make a decision
We leave tonight or live and die this way

I remember we were driving driving in your car
The speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped ‘round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
And I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone

You got a fast car
And we go cruising to entertain ourselves
You still ain’t got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You’ll find work and I’ll get promoted
We’ll move out of the shelter
Buy a big house and live in the suburbs

You got a fast car
And I got a job that pays all our bills
You stay out drinking late at the bar
See more of your friends than you do of your kids
I’d always hoped for better
Thought maybe together you and me would find it
I got no plans I ain’t going nowhere
So take your fast car and keep on driving

You got a fast car
But is it fast enough so you can fly away
You gotta make a decision
You leave tonight or live and die this way