384 results where found for «How Can I Describe This to You?»

Little Doctors (Doctorcitos)

Music piece by:
unknown. Folk tune from the Andes highlands
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January - February 1974
Tags:
« Agreeing to a suggestion from Ricardo, Los de Chacabuco learned and arranged this tune. In the Andean high plateau, the tune is a satirical reference to lawyers and, by implication, to civil servants. It is performed at carnival time. »
[...]
« Other versions of 'Doctorcitos', such as those you can find on YouTube (Festival de Oruro), have different melodies, although it is interesting to see the costumes used by the street pageants and the ridiculous attire they wear. »
[Read full testimony]

Beloved Friend (Amado amigo)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Tags:
« This song, written in my cell at the Puchuncaví Prison Camp, speaks to a friend and fellow prisoner; it could be any one of the thousands behind bars. »
[...]
« Paper boat (barco de papel): We had a habit of wishing farewell to our comrades who were released or about to be transferred to other prisons. People who were not fortunate enough to be included in the group would gather around those who were about to leave, a ritual that sometimes included singing Julio Numhausser’s beautiful song 'El barco de papel'. The first verse goes like this: 'Se va el barco de papel por el mar de la esperanza, llevando un montón de sueños y los niños no lo alcanzan. Se va, se va y no volverá. Se va, se va a la libertad.' (The paper boat sails to a sea of hope, carrying dreams and children can’t reach it. There it goes, there it goes, and it will never return. There it goes, there it goes to freedom.). »
[Read full testimony]

The Brief Space Where You Are Absent (El breve espacio en que no estás)

Music piece by:
Pablo Milanés
Testimony by:
Vilma Rojas Toledo
Experience in:
Cárcel de Coronel, 1986 - 1988
Tags:
« I recall that during my time as a political prisoner, Pablo Milanés was one of our greatest companions. His songs filled us with life, helped us to keep breathing and living behind the bars imposed by Pinochet’s military dictatorship. »
[...]
« Today, I can remember it and speak about it. I can say that when I hear his songs I am immediately transported back to those years in jail in the city of Coronel, to that woman who is a political prisoner of Pinochet’s dictatorship. I remember him as the great comrade he was, through his music and his songs. »
[Read full testimony]

The Rain is Falling (Scende la pioggia)

Music piece by:
The Turtles ('Elenore'), with new lyrics by Gianni Morandi
Testimony by:
Eduardo René Cuevas
Experience in:
Cárcel de Los Ángeles, September 1973
Tags:
« This song was a workhorse for the prisoners. Iván Moscoso sang it, accompanied by a guitar, in a powerful and defiant voice, and the most altruistic among us sung along in the presence of the gendarme guards, in a courtyard that was only for political prisoners. »
[...]
« For me, a prisoner from (the city of) Laja who walked with a cane, it represented a glimmer of hope and being able to say I am still alive, after twice being threatened with death on the very 11 September 1973. »
[Read full testimony]

What Will the Holy Father Say (Qué dirá el Santo Padre)

Music piece by:
Violeta Parra
Testimony by:
María Cecilia Marchant Rubilar
Experience in:
Cárcel de Mujeres Buen Pastor, La Serena, September 1973 - January 1974
Tags:
« We sang songs that were popular at the time. We’d sing 'What will the Holy Father say', especially the part that says 'What will the Holy Father who lives in Rome say ... they are slitting the throat of his dove...' quite often, for example when someone was taken off to Regimiento Arica, which was a torture centre. »
[...]
«  Famous Chilean group of the Nueva Canción movement, with strong affiliation to the Popular Unity coalition. »
[Read full testimony]

Three Mountaineers (Eran tres alpinos)

Music piece by:
Unknown. Traditional Spanish children's song
Testimony by:
María Cecilia Marchant Rubilar
Experience in:
Cárcel de Mujeres Buen Pastor, La Serena, September 1973 - January 1974
Tags:
« We adapted this song and produced a play based on it. Each of us played one of the characters. We spent a lot of time on this. »
[...]
« In prison, you do whatever you can just to survive. Under torture, under pressure, under custody, you do what you can to get out. And I believe that is what we did to try to stay afloat and stay alive. »
[Read full testimony]

Dona Nobis Pacem

Music piece by:
Text from Agnus Dei (Roman Catholic Mass); music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Testimony by:
Lucía Chirinos
Experience in:
Cárcel de Mujeres Buen Pastor, La Serena, October 1973 - April 1974
Tags:
« Music was always present in my family. My dad played the violin and my mum the piano. When I was a child, my mum sent us to dance and piano lessons. »
[...]
« I remember that that day we sang the canon 'Dona nobis pacem', which I had taught not only to the prisoners but also to the nuns. »
[Read full testimony]

The Prisoner of Til Til (El cautivo de Til Til)

Music piece by:
Patricio Manns
Testimony by:
Fernando Aravena
Experience in:
Cárcel de Santiago, 1989
Tags:
« The political prisoners organised mateadas once or twice a week, during which we did poetry and sang songs, amongst them ‘El cautivo de Til Til’ by Patricio Manns, ‘Samba Landó’ and ‘Vuelvo’ by Inti-Illimani, ‘Valparaíso’ by Osvaldo ‘Gitano’ Rodríguez, and songs by Eduardo ‘Gato’ Alquinta and Silvio Rodríguez. »
[...]
« ‘El cautivo de Til Til’ had a special significance. As many of the prisoners were from El Frente, ‘El cautivo de Til Til’ turned into our hymn. When they transferred another fellow and me to La Serena Prison, we also sang the song there. It was appropriate at that moment due to the number of people who were falling down. It would awake a feeling of injustice and abuse. »
[Read full testimony]

How We Resemble Each Other (En qué nos parecemos)

Music piece by:
Unknown. Popularised by Quilapayún
Testimony by:
Scarlett Mathieu
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Cuatro Álamos, 1974
Tags:
« In Cuatro Álamos, I was profoundly marked by the singing of a current detained-disappeared named Juan Chacón. He sang ‘En qué nos parecemos’, a love song from the Spanish Civil War. It remained engraved in me because that comrade disappeared from Cuatro Álamos. »
[...]
« These songs were very important and significant for all. I tried to remember the names of the people who sang them. »
[Read full testimony]

Moments (Los momentos)

Music piece by:
Eduardo Gatti
Testimony by:
Scarlett Mathieu
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1974
Tags:
« ‘Moments’ was a song sung by the female comrades whose partners were imprisoned on the other side of Tres Álamos, or were fugitives or disappeared. We all sang it, but it was like their anthem. »
[...]
« They punished us for singing songs that were too subversive for them, such as ‘Canción con todos’, popularised by Mercedes Sosa, which says ‘and a river runs in my blood / that releases in my voice / its flow’. »
[Read full testimony]