205 results where found for «Song of the Seed and the Plant»


To Be Seventeen Again (Volver a los diecisiete)

Music piece by:
Violeta Parra
Testimony by:
Gabriela Durand
« I was 18, and already I had been tortured on the parrilla several times. One day I was with some other comrade prisoners, and as sometimes happened, the guards put some music on. »
[...]
« The guys 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. »
[Read full testimony]

Captain, our Destiny is a Wandering Island (Capitán, el rumbo es una isla errante)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« This song was dedicated to Óscar Castro, whom I was lucky enough to meet in 1975, in Puchuncaví. With his experience in theatre – Óscar was already a fairly well-known actor before his arrest – he threw himself into the cultural work we had organised, in what was then called “Camp Melinka” where the prisoners presented a show every Friday. »
[Read full testimony]

Priests and Soldiers (Curas y milicos)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« I don’t want to exaggerate but Camp Melinka became not only a factory that produced handicrafts and a performance hall but also a university. »
[...]
« Songs are good for releasing a singer from tempestuous doubts and allowing him to denounce injustice openly, with no qualms. In other words, the way things are painted when we see the world in black and white. Joking aside, the positive medicinal effect of music therapy is undeniable. Beyond the value that a songwriter gives a song or that others may give, I think songwriting was a discovery that helped me, above all, to give meaning to my life as a prisoner. »
[Read full testimony]

The Man Who Transformed into an Animal (El hombre que se convirtió en animal)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« I wrote this song shortly after reading Franz Kafka’s The Metamorphosis, one of the books that circulated in Camp Melinka from hand to hand and cabin to cabin. »
[Read full testimony]

Three Indian Songs (Tres canciones indias)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« After our transfer from Tres Álamos to Puchuncaví in April 1975, a group of prisoners began toying with the idea of presenting a poetic-theatrical performance about the history of Latin America’s indigenous cultures and their extermination under Iberian domination. »
[...]
« This composition combines three indigenous songs in a single song. It came to me during the process of creating that great work, which we called 'I Sing to the Americas'. Only parts of the song were included in the programme that evening. »
[Read full testimony]

The Little Snail (El caracolito)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
« I composed this song for a small children’s party we organised in the visitors’ yard of the Valparaíso Jail. I remember how the children had fun that day and enjoyed the play. That was the first time I put down the guitar so that a prisoner who played the accordion could accompany me. »
[Read full testimony]

Love (Amor)

Music piece by:
Guillermo Núñez (lyrics) and Sergio Vesely (music)
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« This song is based on a poem Guillermo wrote in the Puchuncaví Prison Camp dedicated to his partner Soledad. Of all the songs I composed as a prisoner, this is the only one where the lyrics are not mine. »
[Read full testimony]

King Ñaca Ñaca (El rey Ñaca Ñaca)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« 'Ñaca-ñaca' was an interjection we used at Camp Melinka whenever we wanted to signal and poke fun at any dark thought that might cross our minds. That may be why it seemed the ideal name to give to the paper maché puppet that played the role of the mean king in the puppet stories we performed to entertain the children who came to visit their captive fathers. »
[...]
« At our Friday evening performances, a guitar-playing jester acted as director and he narrated the gory tale of the mean king. I wrote this song for him to sing at the beginning of the narrative. "King Ñaca Ñaca" is one of three children’s songs I composed while in prison. »
[Read full testimony]

National Anthem of Chile

Music piece by:
Eusebio Lillo and Ramón Carnicer
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« The Puchuncaví Prisoners Camp had a daily routine similar to that of military regiments. In a ridiculous ceremony, the flag was raised every morning at dawn and then it was taken down at nightfall. »
[...]
« We would arrive marching and singing military songs to the place where the flagpole was located and, when the order was given, it was our duty to sing the National Anthem. »
[Read full testimony]

Go Tell It to the Rain (Ve y díselo a la lluvia)

Music piece by:
Clan 91
Testimony by:
Eduardo Ojeda
« We had a comrade who sang beautifully. He was called Peye and was a student at the State Technical University. »
[...]
« When I met Peye again in the Alpha Barracks, he started singing the song 'Ve y díselo a la lluvia' ('Go tell it to the rain'), in the most spectacular voice. »
[Read full testimony]