The Black King (El rey negro)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely

One cold winter night of 1975, the small clinic of Melinka, in the Puchuncaví Detention Camp, became the setting for a touching story.

A woman from the neighbouring village of Rungue, who was not a prisoner, gave birth to a daughter in that unusual place. Two political prisoners, both of them medical students, assisted the mother in labour while the other 208 prisoners slept in their respective cells, oblivious to what was happening.

At dawn, the news spread quickly and many of us took it as a sign of hope. A long line of prisoners formed outside the door to the infirmary in order to enter and greet the mother and the newborn baby. Many brought small but notable gifts. I wrote some verses on a piece of paper and I gave it to the mother.

A week later we held a cultural event in the dining room to celebrate the happy event occurrence. On that day I finished writing my song 'The Black King' and I sang it for the first time for an audience comprised of political prisoners and soldiers.


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Published on: 02 December 2014

A true story
my son, I’m about to tell you.
A long time ago
there was a black king in the land.

He lived next to a well
and his house was made of mud
he was the people’s friend,
they were all like his brothers.

[Chorus]
The sun shined on every tree
there were shepherds and oxen
there was music in the wind
there was music in the wind
in the times of the black King.

His Crown was made of tin
and his beard of chocolate,
he wore a seashell for a shoe
and his hair was of straw.

He never wanted wealth
nor did he ever command his countrymen,
he was kind because he was good
and people respected him

[Chorus]

His kingdom had no laws
he ruled freely,
working in the mornings
and meditating in the afternoon.

He invented a game for the children
they held hands
no one could dominate them,
that’s what his kingdom was like.

[Chorus]

My son, I am so sad,
the black king vanished
I haven’t seen him in a long time
ever since the day I grew up.

Now you shall go out to search for him,
you’ll tell him I remember him,
that I carry him in my suitcase,
you’ll tell him that I'm in tears.

[Chorus]




Related testimonies:

  • Lament for the Death of Augusto the Dog (Lamento a la muerte del perro Augusto)  Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

    Augusto the dog (not to be confused with the journalist Augusto Olivares, affectionately nicknamed 'Augusto the Dog', who was murdered in the Presidential Palace on 11 September 1973), was the mascot of the political prisoners held at the Ritoque concentration camp, and accompanied his master when the military junta decided to close that prison and transfer the inmates to the neighbouring Puchuncaví concentration camp.

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Luis Madariaga, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976

    In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.

  • Today Was Visitors’ Day (Hoy fue día de visitas)  Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

    Visitors’ day was an exceptional day that broke the monotonous routine of all the other days of the week.

  • Song of a Middle-Class Man (Canción de un hombre medio)  Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

    In our political discussions, we always spoke disdainfully of the middle class. In the view of the Marxist ideologues in prison, that sector of society supported the dictatorship and it was necessary to reverse that trend.

  • How Can I Describe This to You? (Cómo hacer para darte una idea)  Sergio Vesely, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1976

    This is one of two songs I wrote in prison for my beloved Graciela. In the song I tried to draw her closer to me, describing my everyday world and my experience of life as a captive.