236 results where found for «Prayer So You Don't Forget Me»

Prayer So You Don't Forget Me

Author:
Óscar Castro (words) and Ariel Arancibia González (music)
Testimony by:
Rosalía Martínez
Place & date:
Campamento de Prisioneros Cuatro Álamos, November - December 1974
Tags:
« When Katia Chornik contacted me a few years ago asking me to provide my testimony about my musical experience in prison, I thought I didn’t have much to say. I had spent most of my detention held by the DINA secret police, at the house on José Domingo Cañas Street, called the Ollagüe Barracks. Then, I was held in solitary confinement at Cuatro Álamos, and spent just a month in the Tres Álamos concentration camp. »
[...]
« Prayer So You Don't Forget Me »
[Read full testimony]

La López Pereyra

Author:
Artidorio Cresseri
Testimony by:
Germán Larrabe
Place & date:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1974 - 1976
Tags:
« This Argentine zamba* was the first song we tried to perform in Puchuncaví, with a group made up of prisoners transferred from Chacabuco Detention Camp together with us, newly arrived 'Puchuncas'. »
[...]
« They've told me that you don't love me, but that's no reason, »
[Read full testimony]

Candombe for José (Candombe para José)

Author:
Roberto Ternán
Testimony by:
Sara De Witt
Place & date:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, September 1976
Tags:
« We were in Tres Álamos barracks in September 1976. I don’t recall how many of us women were imprisoned there. I believe there were close to a hundred of us. »
[...]
« I still remember those intense moments when we sang so many songs. Gazing up at the sky, we sang “Candombe** para José”, which we called “El Negro José”. I understood that song as something new and different from the songs we usually sang. It seemed more contemporary to me and it made me feel in touch with my people outside the camp. The line “en un pueblo olvidado no sé por qué” (“in a God-forsaken town, I don't know why”) seemed connected with how I was feeling at that time. »
[Read full testimony]

Lucía

Author:
Joan Manuel Serrat
Testimony by:
Beatriz Bataszew Contreras
Place & date:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, December 1974 - May 1976
Tags:
« Tres Álamos was a more “normal” camp, even though we never had a trial. There was a lot of music, it was sort of ritualistic. There were days when we put more enthusiasm into it, on Saturdays or Sundays after the visits, although I’m not all that sure. »
[...]
« I seem to remember that someone brought up ‘Candombe’ and said ‘shall we sing it?’ And we sang it. Now we look for a reason. I think we don't tend to value chance. Then someone might say ‘if I sang this it was for a reason’. I think that often things just happen, as they do in love. Rather than the lyrics, what made sense for me was that we, eighty women, sang it together. It was extremely potent. »
[Read full testimony]

Neither Fish nor Fowl (Ni chicha ni limoná)

Author:
Víctor Jara
Testimony by:
Joaquín Vallejos
Place & date:
Academia de Guerra Naval, January 1974
Tags:
« I was arrested at home together with a childhood friend who they’d gone to pick up first. My family thought he’d stitched me up, which was not true. My friend had nothing to do with politics; he just wanted peace and freedom. He was a hippie and very committed to helping those in need. The two of us were held in the Silva Palma barracks, but the interrogations and torture sessions were at the Naval War Academy in Valparaíso. »
[...]
« There I could hear the women held in the cell in front of ours (they were almost certainly much worse off than we were), singing a song that has stuck in my mind ever since. It was the one that says “Usted no es ná, no es chicha ni limoná” (you’re nothing, you're neither fish nor fowl). This example of fortitude and commitment helped me to get back on my feet, forget the physical pain and try to help those comrades who were worse off than me. »
[Read full testimony]

To Be Seventeen Again (Volver a los diecisiete)

Author:
Violeta Parra
Testimony by:
Gabriela Durand
Place & date:
Recinto CNI, Cuartel Central Borgoño, 1980
Tags:
« I was 18, and already I had been tortured on the rack several times. One day I was with some other comrade prisoners, and as sometimes happened, the guards put some music on. They used to put the radio on, playing popular tunes of the time. For us young people, the songs were a bit corny, but still we enjoyed them; they were a relief. We always kept absolute silence. »
[...]
« And the fact that they should choose precisely that song, 'To Be Seventeen Again' was like going back to the time of the Popular Unity government. They did it to traumatise you. But they didn't succeed that much, because when I sang I felt that tremor, that humiliation, but I also thought about him, Carlos, and suddenly I even managed to forget that I was singing because I had been ordered to; I even felt inspired for a moment. »
[Read full testimony]

The Letter (La carta)

Author:
Violeta Parra
Testimony by:
Paicavi Painemal
Place & date:
Cárcel de Temuco, 1985
Tags:
« We set up a band with a group of fellow prisoners. They were young, university students. One of them had a guitar. From what I remember, he was a music teacher and they allowed him to keep the instrument. In the band we also played the bombo and the charango. I accompanied by singing. »
[...]
« Sometimes evangelicals would come to say a prayer and sing traditional songs. That never appealed to me. »
[Read full testimony]

Zamba so as Not to Die (Zamba para no morir)

Author:
Hamlet Lima Quintana
Testimony by:
Ana María Jiménez
Place & date:
Villa Grimaldi, April 1975
Tags:
« I want to recall a night at Villa Grimaldi. »
[...]
« “We're bored here. So you’re gonna sing something to entertain us.” »
[Read full testimony]

Blue Eyes (Ojos azules)

Author:
Manuel Casazola Huancco
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Place & date:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January – February 1974
Tags:
« This is the last track on the cassette recorded by the band Los de Chacabuco in the concentration camp; it was digitised in 2015. They played at the prisoners' weekly show. The song was very popular in Chile in the 1960s and many bands included it in their repertoire. The quena is played by Ricardo Yocelewski and the charango is played by Luis Cifuentes. »
[...]
« poison to forget you. »
[Read full testimony]

After the War (Después de la guerra)

Author:
Sandro
Testimony by:
Nelly Andrade Alcaino
Place & date:
Regimiento de Ingenieros de Tejas Verdes / Campamento de Prisioneros Nº 2 de la Escuela Militar de Ingenieros, February 1974
Tags:
« The military officials in charge of the Tejas Verdes camp made us sing, and they gave us just one day to select the songs and rehearse. »
[...]
« because this song helps me forget. »
[Read full testimony]