The Clock (El reloj)

Music piece by:
Roberto Cantoral
Testimony by:
Ana María Arenas
Experience in:
Calle Irán Nº 3037 / Venda Sexy / La Discotheque, December 1974

The day I was captured, after the first torture session, I asked for permission to sing a Christmas carol, the name of which I cannot remember. I did it to let one of my captive friends know that I was also at the Venda Sexy.

Before being imprisoned, my friend and I rehearsed this Christmas carol in the Coro Mozart, where we sang. This choir was an amalgamation of members of the Coro de Cámara of the Universities of Chile, the Católica and the Técnica del Estado.

We were all from the left and were looking to have a safe space to share music and ideas.

After the Christmas carol, my comrades from Venda Sexy asked me to sing some more. I sang the boleroTerm referring to both the Spanish bolero of the 19th century and the Cuban bolero associated with the trova genre and tradition of itinerant musicians. “El reloj”, which I learned as the version of the trio Los Panchos.


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Published on: 24 August 2019

Clock, don’t mark the hours
Otherwise, I’ll go insane
She is going to leave forever
When the sun rises again.

We only have this night left
To live our love
And your tick-tock reminds me
Of my helpless pain.

Clock, stop your course
Because my life is extinguishing
She’s the star
that lights my being
I'm nothing without her love.

Stop the time in your hands
Make this night eternal
So that she will never leave me
So that the sunrise will never rise.

Related testimonies:

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Amelia Negrón, Campamento de Prisioneros, Tres Álamos, 31 December 1975

    Preparations for that Wednesday night became more intense. It would be a different night. We women prisoners had secretly organised ourselves, but more importantly, we had also coordinated with the male prisoners.

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Renato Alvarado Vidal, Campamento de Prisioneros Cuatro Álamos, 1975

    Once upon a time, there was a good little wolf. … No. That’s another story.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

  • Casida of the Dark Pigeons (Casida de las palomas oscuras)  Luis Alfredo Muñoz González, Campamento de Prisioneros Cuatro Álamos, February - March 1975

    According to scientists, memory and music processing are situated in a deep, ancestral part of the brain, where it is zealously guarded.

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