A Million Friends (Un millón de amigos)

Author:
Roberto Carlos
Testimony by:
Pedro Mella Contreras
Place & date:
Recinto CNI calle Pérez Rosales 764, Valdivia, September 1986
Tags:

I was arrested when I was 32 years old, along with approximately twenty-three other people.

I was imprisoned in Valdivia and also in Santiago, for four years in total.

I spent seven days in the CNI detention centre of Valdivia. Among all the atrocities that the agents did to us, they played music while they were torturing us.

They played a lot of songs but ‘A million friends’ is the only one I remember.

The experience of being tortured with that song left a strong mark on me. The song was in fashion at that time.

After being released, when “A million friends” was played on the radio, I didn't want to listen to it.


Published on: 28 September 2019


I just want to see the fields
I just want to sing my song
But I don’t want to sing on my own
I want a choir of little birds.

I want to take this friendly song
To who might need it
I want to have a million friends
So I can sing louder
I want to have a million friends
So I can sing louder.

I just want a strong wind
To take my boat north
And during the trip I will fish
So I can split the catch when I land.

I want to make the peace of the future
I want to have an abode without walls
I want my son to walk on firm ground
Singing out loud, smiling free.

I want love always in my life
Feel the warmth of a friendly hand
I want my brother to always be smiling
See him cry but from happiness.

Come with me to see the fields
Sing my song with me
But I don’t want to sing on my own
I want a choir of little birds.

I want to take this friendly song
To who might need it
I want to have a million friends
So I can sing louder
I want to have a million friends
So I can sing louder.

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