187 results where found for «Today I Sing Just for the Sake of Singing»

Free (Libre)

Music piece by:
José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, September - November 1973
Tags:
« While waiting in the grandstands to be interrogated for the first, second or more times, we would sing 'Free' to those who were being lined up to be released. 'Free' was a catharsis, a mixture of joy for those who were going and hope for those of us left behind. Unfortunately, the dictatorship and its civil and military henchmen employed the song for their own propaganda. »
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Tacit Song (Canción tácita)

Music piece by:
All the women present at that moment in Chacabuco
Testimony by:
Mónica García Cuadra
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, Summer of 1974
Tags:
« I am the daughter of a former political prisoner who spent a long time imprisoned at Chacabuco, among other places. I am Monica, a little 9-year-old girl who travelled with a heavy heart full of sadness to visit her father, Gerardo García Salas, held at the Chacabuco concentration camp. I am an only child and in my young life, he is my sole reference point and, in essence, my image of masculinity. »
[...]
« From the guard tower, the order was given for the comrades to come, and they appeared behind the bars that separated our lives, but never our purpose and meaning in life. With heartache and streaming tears, several prisoners began to appear, as well as the love and silent solidarity that vibrated and pulsated through those moments waiting for, anticipating the embrace, the looking directly into his eyes, making contact with the loved one’s heart, the touch of skin against skin among equals. »
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Anthem of Puchuncaví (Himno de Puchuncaví)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975
Tags:
« A few weeks before being transferred to Valparaíso Jail - where I would face a war council on account of alleged violations of the State Interior Security Law and other military regulations that existed during the state of siege - I wrote a song that I called anthem, because I wanted it to be sung as a group at the end of our cultural events on Fridays. »
[...]
« The version I recorded for the album Documento  includes an instrumental introduction, inspired by the tune of an anthem sung in a concentration camp in the first years of Nazism in Germany. »
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Valparaíso

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976
Tags:
« This song was written and sung in cell number 198 of Valparaíso’s former prison, that is to say, on the top floor of the main building, which was higher than the walls that surrounded it. »
[...]
« This had several advantages for the prisoner, for if they perched on a stool to peer through the skylight, they could enjoy the company of a good part of the city during their hours of confinement. »
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Sinner, come to sweet Jesus (Pecador, ven al dulce Jesús)

Music piece by:
Unknown
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:
Cárcel de Valdivia / Cárcel de Isla Teja, September 1973
Tags:
« One time, a group of male and female evangelicals came to Teja Island to preach. They were taken to the visitors’ yard. »
[...]
« Something very funny happened that stayed with me for the rest of my life. After the music finished one of the evangelicals asked: 'Who wants to receive Jesus Christ as their saviour?' One prisoner replied: 'but what if they put us in prison again?' »
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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. »
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St John Passion (Pasión según San Juan)

Music piece by:
Ángel Parra
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, January - February 1974
Tags:
« This song is the third track on the cassette recorded in the Chacabuco concentration camp by the band Los de Chacabuco, formed by Ángel Parra and conducted by him until his release. »
[...]
« This song, like the Gospel of Luke, was performed by Los de Chacabuco during the masses offered by the chaplains for the benefit of both prisoners and soldiers. The narrator, as was the case for other religious pieces, was Antonio. »
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Everything Changes (Todo cambia)

Music piece by:
Julio Numhauser
Testimony by:
Carolina Videla
Experience in:
Cárcel Pública de Arica, 1989-1990
Tags:
« My guitar accompanied me for the entire time that I was deprived of freedom. It was like a magnet. In the afternoon we would sing and play in the courtyard. »
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Shadows (Sombras)

Music piece by:
Rosario Sansores and Carlos Brito Benavides. Popularised in Chile by Lucho Barrios
Testimony by:
Juan Carlos de Luján Peralta Aranguiz
Experience in:
Cárcel de Menores Blas Cañas / Centro de Reinserción Abierto Manuel Rodríguez, September 1974
Tags:
« I arrived in this place as a war prisoner when I was 16 years old. »
[...]
« After three months, I regained freedom and went back for the last days of secondary school. I never knew what happened to my cellmates. »
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Cantata Santa María de Iquique

Music piece by:
Luis Advis
Testimony by:
Alfonso Padilla Silva
Experience in:
Campamento Prisioneros Estadio Regional, 1975
Tags:
« Between March 1974 and July 1975, I had the opportunity to arrange about 200 songs and direct the production of the Cantata de Santa María de Iquique. In truth, the prison was my conservatoire. That’s where I learnt the basics of the profession of musician. »
[...]
« The rehearsals lasted a month and we held them in a tiny punishment cell with walls and a door so thick, that outside of it nothing could be heard. That’s why the performance of the piece was a complete surprise for the political prisoners. During the ‘concert’ dozens of common prisoners and guards came to listen. »
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