Candombe for José (Candombe para José)

Music piece by:
Roberto Ternán
Testimony by:
Alejandro Olate
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, 1974

The youngest among us, aged 17 or even 16 years, did the heaviest work on Dawson Island. We had to fell trees, cut them, split them in two, cut them into wedges, and walk the several hundred meters back to the barracks carrying the logs on our shoulders.

Our older comrades sawed them and cut them into small logs to fill the woodsheds that fed three large heaters in the barracks.

At some specific moment, we were able to approach the commanders and the guards in a different way. I was one of several comrades who proposed the idea of putting on a show on the weekends, in order to entertain, to unwind, and to relax from the constant psychological pressure and torture.

That was the birth of artistic expression. Each of the sections in the camp would contribute a number. We would sing, do impressions, put on costumes, put on impressive plays, all performed with much affection. The song 'Candombe para José'(1) was a hit on Dawson Island.


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Published on: 03 October 2015

In a God-forsaken town, I don't know why
His black dance makes him move
People in the town call him Negro José
My friend Negro José.

With much love Negro José dances candombe
The color of the night on his skin
He is very happy dancing candombe, lucky him
My friend Negro José.

Forgive me if I tell you, Negro José
You are a devil but also a friend, Negro José
Your future goes with mine, Negro José
I tell you because I know it.

All eyes are upon him when he dances
And the drumbeat of his eyes seems to speak
And his devilish shirt wants to leap out
My friend Negro José.

You don’t appear to have sorrows
But sorrows are plenty, Negro José
That you leave them behind when you dance, I surely know
My friend Negro José.

Forgive me if I tell you, Negro José
You are a devil but also a friend, Negro José
Your future goes with mine, Negro José
I tell you because I know it
My friend Negro José
I tell you because I know it
My friend Negro José.




Related testimonies:

  • They Say the Homeland Is (Dicen que la patria es)  Sergio Reyes Soto, Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, 1973 - 1974

    This song, like so many others, was not at all “captive”. The revolutionary songs we sang behind bars imbued us with a sense of freedom. Rolando Alarcón, and later Quilapayún, introduced “Dicen que la patria es” (or “Canción de soldados”) to Chile.

  • National Anthem of Chile  Eduardo Ojeda, Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, September 1973

    We arrived at Dawson Island on the afternoon of 11 September. All we knew was that we had been arrested in the morning - nothing else.

  • Far Away (Tamo daleko)  Eduardo Ojeda, Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, 1973

    At Compingin Camp on the island, Mario started telling us about the Spanish lyrics of the Yugoslav song 'Tamo daleko'. The song was not Croatian: it was Serbian.

  • Let’s Break the Morning (Rompamos la mañana)  María Soledad Ruiz Ovando, Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, 1973 - 1974

    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.

  • Go Tell It to the Rain (Ve y díselo a la lluvia)  Eduardo Ojeda, Campamento de Prisioneros Isla Dawson, 1973

    We had a comrade who sang beautifully. He was called Peye and was a student at the State Technical University.

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