El bimbó

Music piece by:
Georgie Dann
Testimony by:
César Montiel
Experience in:
Colonia Dignidad, April 1975

I have a story about 'El bimbó', a song that shaped us in those difficult moments in Colonia Dignidad. It was a song with a tropical rhythm that was very trendy in the 1970s. It was played every day on the radio. Also on Eurovision, in European festivals, and on the TV programme 300 MillionSpanish television programme that was broadcast in the 1970s and 80s..

The DINA agents played this song when they were torturing us. It was a sick joke that they were playing a happy tropical theme while they were beating us. It sounds strange, but they enjoyed it and they sang it.

If we heard them singing “El bimbó”, it was because they were beating another comrade like a bomboLarge bass drum played with a mallet, used in various regions in Latin America.. When the song began, you knew what was waiting for you.


Tags:

Published on: 03 July 2022


Let’s dance the bimbó
it’s causing a sensation
with that melody that goes
directly to your heart.

Dancing, you will sing
its romantic music
letting yourself go to the swing
of its magic rhythm.

You will see how easy it is
to dance the bimbó
following its beat
you’ll get there.

Let’s dance the bimbó
it’s causing a sensation
with that melody that goes
directly to your heart.

You will see how easy it is
to dance the bimbó
and forever its memory
will remain in you.

Testimonies from the Cantos Cautivos platform can be cited and shared as long as they are attributed (including the author, our project’s name and URL), for non-commercial purposes and without modifications, as per the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authorisation is required for 1) any reuse different from citations and sharing via the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license of the platform data and its associated metadata, and 2) any use in events, concerts, plays, films, etc., of musical works written or recorded by project participants. To that end, we request that you send a proposal at least one month in advance to contact@cantoscautivos.org. For uses of musical works written or recorded by people outside the project, please contact copyright holders.