Free (Libre)

Music piece by:
José Luis Armenteros and Pablo Herrero, popularised by Nino Bravo.
Testimony by:
anonymous
Experience in:

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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Published on: 13 January 2015


He’s almost twenty and already
tired of dreaming
but behind the cement is his home
his world, his city.
He thinks the fence is only
a piece of metal
something that can never stop
his desire to fly.

Free
like the sun at dawn
I am as free as the sea
Like the bird that escaped from its cage
and can at last fly.
Like the wind that embraces my cry
and my grief
an endless path
in search of the truth
and finally, I shall know what freedom is.

Crowned by his love he strode off
singing a song
He strode so happily that he heard
the voice that called him
and lying on the ground he remained
smiling and speechless
on his chest crimson flowers
blossomed incessantly.

Free
like the sun at dawn
I am as free as the sea
Like the bird that escaped from its cage
and can at last fly.
Like the wind that embraces my cry
and my grief
an endless path
in search of the truth
and finally, I shall know what freedom is.