A song I like

The song I choose is Manifiesto by Victor Jara. He was a Chilean teacher, theatre director, poet, singer-songwriter, political activist and member of the Communist Party of Chile. he developed in the field of music and played a pivotal role among neo-folkloric artists who established the Nueva Canción Chilena, movement which led to a revolution in the popular music of his country under the Salvador Allende government. I think he was a complete man as an artist and also as a human. His creation was, for me, magnificent and his legacy is huge. Sadly their songs were too much confrontational for the government and they killed him in the beginning of a dictatorship.  

I think the song is beautiful.

Manifiesto, as it sounds, is like “poetic art” of victor’s music. In this song he shows the whole ideology of his art and the way that he makes it.  His songs tell us about social justice, freedom, love, peace… Things that we should never forget and I think that them are reasons that is worth to fight for.   

Lyrics:

Yo no canto por cantar
ni por tener buena voz,
canto porque la guitarra
tiene sentido y razón.

Tiene corazón de tierra
y alas de palomita,
es como el agua bendita
santigua glorias y penas.

Aquí se encajó mi canto
como dijera Violeta
guitarra trabajadora
con olor a primavera.

Que no es guitarra de ricos
ni cosa que se parezca
mi canto es de los andamios
para alcanzar las estrellas,
que el canto tiene sentido
cuando palpita en las venas
del que morirá cantando
las verdades verdaderas,
no las lisonjas fugaces
ni las famas extranjeras
sino el canto de una lonja
hasta el fondo de la tierra.

Ahí donde llega todo
y donde todo comienza
canto que ha sido valiente
siempre será canción nueva.