192 results where found for «Song of a Middling Man»


Words for Julia (Palabras para Julia)

Music piece by:
José Agustín Goytisolo (lyrics) and Paco Ibáñez (music)
Testimony by:
Amelia Negrón
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 1975 and 1976, until the closure of Tres Álamos
« There were so many of us women prisoners. Despite the circumstances, we had managed to invent our own world, one with our rules, according to what we thought and wanted for ourselves, our families and all the Chilean people. »
[...]
« One song went like this: 'La vida es bella ya verás, como a pesar de los pesares, tendrás amigos, tendrás amor, tendrás amigos. Un hombre solo, una mujer, así tomados, de uno en uno, son como polvo, no son nada, no son nada'. (Life is beautiful you'll see, despite everything, you’ll have friends, find love, have friends. A man alone, a woman alone, are like dust, are nothing, are nothing.) »
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Lucía

Music piece by:
Joan Manuel Serrat
Testimony by:
Beatriz Bataszew Contreras
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, December 1974 - May 1976
« 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. »
[...]
« We would sing songs by Joan Manuel Serrat. I remember ‘Lucía’ because I liked it a lot, but no doubt there were others. »
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Poet of Destiny (Poeta del destino)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
« This song is a tribute to Miguel Enríquez, Secretary-General of the MIR, who was gunned down by a commando of the dictatorship’s secret police on 5 October 1974. »
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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
« 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. »
[...]
« What was it about that song that generated so many different points of view regarding what Milanés meant to say? »
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Coplas of El Yopo (Coplas de El Yopo)

Music piece by:
Unknown. Traditional Venezuelan song. Popularised in Chile by Isabel and Ángel Parra
Testimony by:
Carlos Muñoz
Experience in:
« A comrade whose last name was Saavedra (if I recall correctly) sung this song passionately. This song earned him the nickname of ‘El Yopo’ (also ‘Chopo’), as is usual in popular culture. »
[...]
« The song was well-known in Chile, as sung by Ángel and Isabel Parra, who called it 'Décimas del folklore venezolano' or 'Coplas Venezolanas'. It was one of the most popular songs in prison and was performed at many of our musical events. It was also sung at Ritoque and Puchuncaví. »
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Three White Lilies (Tres blancos lirios)

Music piece by:
Unknown composer. This song probably relates to European early-years pedagogy.
Testimony by:
Domingo Lizama
Experience in:
« They arrested me at my workplace in October 1973 . I was 31 years old and worked as a porter at a logging business in Chumpullo, near Valdivia. »
[...]
« The teacher had to leave because we sang 'Tres blancos lirios' ('Three White Lilies'), a children’s song which spoke about an unhappy horse rider who destroyed a garden. Really, the song said that the squaddies had broken the garden. After the teacher left, the choir dismantled. »
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Luchín

Music piece by:
Víctor Jara
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
« They said that once you got to the prison of Teja Island, you were safe. »
[...]
« The owner of the guitar was an academic who knew songs by Víctor Jara, Quilapayún and Inti-Illimani. They were popular at that time and we identified with them. Their songs represented the people and the peasants. »
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Let’s Break the Morning (Rompamos la mañana)

Music piece by:
René “Popeye” Cárdenas Eugenin
Testimony by:
María Soledad Ruiz Ovando
Experience in:
« Music was very important for us (my mother Sylvia, my sister Alejandra and myself) while my dad, Daniel Ruiz Oyarzo, 'el Negro Ruiz', was imprisoned during the dictatorship, when Alejandra was seven and I was four. »
[...]
« My dad told us that as they could not sing songs like the ones we sang in the car, a comrade had created 'Rompamos la mañana' (Let’s Break the Morning) and that they would sing it as they went out to do various jobs in the forest. I remember that I imagined them singing with a tree trunk on their shoulders. »
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The Salamander (La salamanca)

Music piece by:
Arturo Dávalos
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January - February 1974
« A salamanca is a type of salamander that lives in caves in northern Argentina. By extension, it also represents the cave. In this song, the lyricist turns the salamanca into a place where a coven of witches gathers. »
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You Can Blame Me (Échame a mí la culpa)

Music piece by:
José Ángel Espinoza, aka Ferrusquillo
Testimony by:
Marcia Scantlebury
« Mexican songs - and this one in particular - have always moved me. When I shared a cell with Miriam Silva, a young woman who belonged to the Communist Youth, arrested by the DINA when she was handing out leaflets on the street, we killed time in an organised fashion to keep ourselves from getting depressed and overcome by anxiety due to an unknown fate. »
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