455 results where found for «Zamba so as Not to Die»


Anthem of Puchuncaví (Himno de Puchuncaví)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« 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. »
[...]
« That song was called 'Die Moorsoldaten' ('Soldiers of the mud'), which prisoners of the Burgermoor concentration camp sang during their backbreaking working days. »
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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 prison had four floors. It was meant for 400 people but there were 1400. We were piled up. I was on the second floor with other political prisoners. I was lucky to land there. There were other lumberjacks, teachers and intellectuals. I also met a seminarian that I knew from when I studied in the seminary. »
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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. »
[...]
« I was sitting down, handcuffed, and at some point, the song 'Volver a los diecisiete' ('To Be Seventeen Again') came on; I don’t know if it was the radio or a record being played. A guard came up to me, pulled me up and said: 'Look, girl, listen to this song, it’s yours, you revolutionaries; let’s see, sing it!' I told him I couldn’t sing and he said 'Yes you can - sing to your comrades, they’re all feeling screwed'. »
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Balderrama

Music piece by:
Manuel José Castilla (lyrics) and Gustavo Leguizamón (music). Popularised by Mercedes Sosa
Testimony by:
Eduardo Ojeda
« We arrived at Camp Compingin on Dawson Island on the afternoon of 11 September. We knew that we had been arrested that morning, and we knew nothing else yet. »
[...]
« The next day, another group of prisoners arrived. They told us that Salvador Allende had died. We paid tribute to him around a bonfire. It was deeply meaningful. »
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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. »
[...]
« In this play, Ñaca-Ñaca’s guards – his soldiers – were the Puínes, which directly alluded to the barbed wire. It would have been difficult to make it any clearer: what we were doing was a staged and metaphorical enactment of our own story. And we did it with a good measure of optimism, as shown in the fact that at the end Ñaca-Ñaca loses his voice – that is, his power - and he loses his mind. Thus the captives become free. »
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Song of the Seed and the Plant (Canción de la semilla y la planta)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
« The history of the seed and the plant, of which this song forms part, was performed as a play to entertain our audience of children during a family visit to the prison. Imagination had no limits when it came to kindling a small flame of hope in our hearts. »
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Prayer So You Don't Forget Me (Oración para que no me olvides)

Music piece by:
Óscar Castro (words) and Ariel Arancibia González (music)
Testimony by:
Rosalía Martínez
Experience in:
« 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. »
[...]
« Since I used to sleep with her curled up in a 'spoon' at the head of the bed – while another person slept at the foot - I sometimes felt the slight movements and small kicks of the baby she was carrying against my back. These brief moments of life passing between entwined bodies are some of the most powerful experiences I have ever had. »
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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
« 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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Melody by Jorge Peña Hen

Music piece by:
Jorge Peña Hen
Testimony by:
Eliseo González
Experience in:
Cárcel de la Serena, October 1973
« Jorge Peña Hen was in solitary confinement that day. I don’t know how, but someone brought him matches. With his saliva, he made ink from the phosphorus tips, which he then used to write a score of music on a scrap of paper. »
[...]
« They performed songs from their own repertoire and also covers. They made up a song called '210' in honour of a common prisoner whose two surnames were Diez Diez (Ten Ten). »
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Why does the afternoon cry (Por qué llora la tarde)

Music piece by:
Antônio Marcos. Popularised in Chile by Claudio Reyes
Testimony by:
Carolina Videla
Experience in:
« My prison term happened during the last year of the dictatorship after the No vote won. I was set free because of 'lack of evidence', after a year and a half in prison. »
[...]
« But in the morning soldiers and policemen arrived and arrested us all, except a comrade’s partner, who was pregnant. »
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