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songs of Victor Jara (1932-1973)

DigiTrad:
BLOOD UPON THE GRASS


Related threads:
Viva Victor Jara ! (14)
Lyr Add: Abre la Ventana (Victor Jara) (4)
film: The Resurrection of Victor Jara (5)
Victor Jara killer arrested-36 yrs late (36)
Lyr Req: Allende (Don Lange) (13)
Obit: Chilean Dictator Augusto Pinochet(1915-2006) (66)
Chord Req: Victor Jara (A Mitchell, A Guthrie) (6)
BS: Hey Mr. Pinochet ... (16)
Lyr Add: Allende (Don Lange) (6)
BS: Other anniversaries this week (Chile ?) (20) (closed)
Pinochet What? (43)


Karen Jonason 11 Jan 99 - 04:07 AM
Joe Offer 11 Jan 99 - 01:13 PM
Susan A-R 11 Jan 99 - 09:55 PM
KickyC 12 Jan 99 - 01:53 AM
Brian Hoskin 12 Jan 99 - 03:03 AM
karen jonason 12 Jan 99 - 03:40 AM
Joe Offer 12 Jan 99 - 03:57 AM
Joe Offer 12 Jan 99 - 04:01 AM
Joe Offer 12 Jan 99 - 04:43 AM
Felipa 12 Jan 99 - 07:27 AM
me again 12 Jan 99 - 07:44 AM
An unregistered anonymous person 14 Jan 99 - 09:31 PM
Susan A-R 14 Jan 99 - 10:56 PM
Felipa 16 Jan 99 - 08:49 AM
18 Jan 99 - 07:26 AM
karen jonason 21 Jan 99 - 04:00 AM
Felipa 22 Jan 99 - 02:15 PM
Felipa 06 Feb 99 - 01:20 PM
Felipa 10 Jun 99 - 01:44 PM
GUEST 29 Jan 00 - 09:14 PM
Joe Offer 29 Jan 00 - 09:23 PM
GUEST,Dia Critical 01 Sep 00 - 07:17 PM
Peter T. 01 Sep 00 - 07:31 PM
GUEST,Felipa 02 Sep 00 - 04:38 AM
Susanne (skw) 03 Sep 00 - 09:20 AM
GUEST,Alistair 03 Sep 00 - 07:55 PM
Jim Dixon 28 Aug 01 - 02:48 PM
GUEST,Felipa 11 Dec 06 - 12:40 PM
The Borchester Echo 11 Dec 06 - 12:53 PM
GUEST,Victor ..An Unfinished Song 11 Dec 06 - 01:05 PM
Maryrrf 11 Dec 06 - 02:27 PM
Andy Jackson 11 Dec 06 - 02:30 PM
Andy Jackson 11 Dec 06 - 02:32 PM
McGrath of Harlow 11 Dec 06 - 02:41 PM
The Borchester Echo 11 Dec 06 - 02:41 PM
The Borchester Echo 11 Dec 06 - 02:59 PM
McGrath of Harlow 11 Dec 06 - 03:41 PM
Andy Jackson 11 Dec 06 - 04:29 PM
Franz S. 11 Dec 06 - 05:08 PM
Peace 11 Dec 06 - 06:04 PM
McGrath of Harlow 11 Dec 06 - 07:20 PM
Wolfgang 12 Dec 06 - 09:09 AM
Charley Noble 13 Dec 06 - 08:57 AM
GUEST 07 Jul 09 - 01:37 PM
Monique 07 Jul 09 - 08:19 PM
GUEST 15 Feb 10 - 12:15 PM
GUEST,Felipa 02 Jun 11 - 08:52 AM
Black belt caterpillar wrestler 02 Jun 11 - 10:02 AM
Monique 02 Jun 11 - 06:06 PM
GUEST,Felipa 03 Jun 11 - 11:35 AM
Stringsinger 03 Jun 11 - 03:45 PM
GUEST,Felipa 07 Jun 11 - 02:48 PM
Black belt caterpillar wrestler 08 Jun 11 - 07:25 AM
Joe Offer 21 Feb 15 - 05:38 AM
Joe Offer 21 Feb 15 - 05:41 AM
Monique 26 May 21 - 06:02 PM
Joe Offer 26 May 21 - 06:20 PM
Monique 30 May 21 - 10:28 AM
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Subject: songs of Victor Jara
From: Karen Jonason
Date: 11 Jan 99 - 04:07 AM

I am seeking lyrics/music for songs by Victor Jara


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Joe Offer
Date: 11 Jan 99 - 01:13 PM

Hi, Karen - I thought that there'd be some Victor Jara songs in the database or forum, but I couldn't find a one. In 1993, Pete Seeger published a book called Where Have All the Flowers Gone?. That book has Jara's Spanish version of "If I Had a Hammer" and a song called "Estadio Chile." I guess I'd better get some work done today, so I don't have time to transcribe them. Maybe somebody else has the book and can transcribe at least one of them, and I'll do the other later. Anybody have any other Jara songs, or can you tell us his story?
-Joe Offer-


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Susan A-R
Date: 11 Jan 99 - 09:55 PM

There is at least one good recording of him doing his own songs. Also, Inti Illmani (my spelling can be creative, so this may be approximate) has done a number of his songs, and they tend to include words in their album jackets. I'll rummage and see what I can find. His widow, Joan Jara wrote a pretty good biography of him which I read some time ago. His work in theater and music in Chile was pretty amazing. From the songs it seems that he really spent time with working folks everywhere. He was killed in the coup in '73...Anyway, I'll see what I can find. I know that I can lay my hands on L'arado (the plough) as well as one song about him, probably "winds of the people" as well. I believe that Joan is still alive. Perhaps she could be persuaded to put together a book with words and music of his songs. They are still apt.

Susan


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: KickyC
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 01:53 AM

Rise Up Singing as several Victor Jara song lyrics and a short explanation of his history on page 56. They don't list him in the artist section, but check out the songs in the Spanish section. He was a supporter of Salvador Allende and was shot in the coup in which Allende committed "suicide" by shooting himself several times and then jumping out of a window.

KickyC


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Brian Hoskin
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 03:03 AM

A new compilation of Victor Jara's songs, 'Manifesto', was released in the UK last year on Castle Communications (ESMCD 657). I don't know whether it was also released in the US, but it was relatively cheap in the UK so it probably wouldn't cost too much to import.

I believe the material on this cd was originally issued in 1974 on Transatlantic XTRA 1143. It includes transcriptions of the lyrics to all the songs, some in both Spanish and English.

The biography written by his wife, Joan, is called 'Victor' and was originally published in 1983 by Jonathon Cape.

Victor Jara was playing at the University of Santiago on 12 September 1973 (the day after the murderous, undemocratic, CIA sponsored, coup). The military took over the university, 'arresting' both students and professors. They took them all to a boxing stadium, where Jara apparently kept morale up by playing and singing until the military smashed his hands and then, after two days, killed him with machine guns.

Brian


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: karen jonason
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 03:40 AM

Thanks for the info on Victor Jara so far. I have Rise Up Singing and will go back to it. Unfortunately it doesn't contain the music.


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Subject: Lyr Add: EL MARTILLO^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 03:57 AM

Here's what I found.
-Joe Offer-

El Martillo
(translation by Victor Jara
of "If I Had a Hammer," by Lee Hays & Pete Seeger)


Si tuviera un martillo
Golpearía en la mañana
Golpearía en la noche
Por todo el país.

Chorus:
Alerta el peligro
Debemos unirnos
Para defender
La paz.

Si tuviera un martillo
Golpearía en la mañana
Golpearía en la noche
Por todo el país.

Si tuviera una campana
Tocaría en la mañana
Tocaría en la noche
Por todo el país.

Si tuviera una canción
Cantaría en la mañana
Cantaría en la noche
Por todo el país.

Ahora tengo un martillo
Y tengo una campana
Y tengo una canción que cantar
Por todo el país.
Martillo de justicia
Campana de libertad
Y una canción
De paz.

Recording by Víctor Jara


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Subject: Lyr Add: ESTADIO CHILE^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 04:01 AM

Estadio Chile
Words by Victor Jara (1973)
Musical Setting by Pete Seeger (1974)
© 1975 Mighty Oak Music, Ltd., London, England
(spoken poem with guitar accompaniment)


We are five thousand, here in this little part of the city.
We are five thousand, how many more will there be?
In the whole city, and the country ten thousand hands
Which could seed the fields, make run the factories.
How much humanity, now with hunger, pain, panic, and terror?

There are six of us, lost in space among the stars,
One dead, one beaten like I never believed a human could be so beaten.
The other four wanting to leave all the terror,
One leaping into space, others beating their heads against the wall
All with gazes fixed on death.

The military carry out their plans with precision;
Blood is medals for them, Slaughter is the badge of heroism.
Oh, my God, is this the world you created?
Was it for this, the seven days, of amazement and toil?

The blood of compañero Presidente is stronger than bombs,
Is stronger than machine guns.
O you song, you come out so badly when I must sing - the terror!
What I see I never saw. What I have felt, and what I feel, must come out!
"Hará brotar el momento! Hará brotar el momento!"*
(*the moment will bloom.)


Somos cinco mil
en esta pequeña parte de la ciudad.
Somos cinco mil
¿Cuántos seremos en total
en las ciudades y en todo el país?
Solo aquí,
diez mil manos que siembran
y hacen andar las fábricas.
¡Cuánta humanidad
con hambre, frío, pánico, dolor,
presión moral, terror y locura!

Seis de los nuestros se perdieron
en el espacio de las estrellas.
Un muerto, un golpeado como jamás creí
se podría golpear a un ser humano.
Los otros cuatro quisieron quitarse todos los
temores uno saltando al vacío,
otro golpeándose la cabeza contra el muro,
pero todos con la mirada fija de la muerte.

¡Qué espanto causa el rostro del fascismo!
Llevan a cabo sus planes con precisíon artera
sin emportarles nada.
La sangre para ellos son medallas.
La matanza es acto de heroísmo.
¿Es este el mundo que creaste, dios mío?
¿Para esto tus siete días de asombro y de trabajo?
En estas cuatro murallas sólo existe un
número que no progresa,
que lentamente querrá más la muerte.

Pero de pronto me golpea la conciencia
y veo esta marea sin latido,
pero con el pulso de las máquinas
y los militares mostrando su rostro de matrona
lleno de dulzura.

¿Y México, Cuba y el mundo?
¡Que griten esta ignominia!
Somos diez mil manos menos
que no producen.
¿Cuántos somos en toda la Patria?

La sangre del compañero Presidente
golpea más fuerte que bombas y metrallas.
Así golpeará nuestro puño nuevamente.

¡Canto que mal me sales
cuando tengo que cantar espanto!
Espanto como el que vivo
como el que muero, espanto.
De verme entre tanto y tantos
momentos del infinito
en que el silencio y el grito
son las metas de este canto.
Lo que veo nunca vi,
lo que he sentido y lo que siento
¡Hará brotar el momento! ¡Hará brotar el momento!

Source: Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, by Pete Seeger.
Seeger says the this is an abridged English translation of the last poem written by Victor Jara, killed by Chilean fascists in September, 1973, on the day when General Pinochet took over the government of Chile, bombing the presidential palace of elected socialist Salvador Allende, and murdering him.
Victor was singing for students at the university when the whole area was surrounded. All within were taken prisoner and marched to a large indoor soccer stadium, Estadio Chile. For three days, it was a scene of horror. Torture, executions.

An officer thought he recognized Victor, pointed at him with a questioning look and motioning as if strumming a guitar. Victor nodded. He was seized, taken to the center of the stadium and told to put his hands on a table. While his friends watched in horror, rifle butts beat his hands to a bloody pulp.

"All right, sing for us now, you ___," shouted the officer. Victor staggered to his feet, faced the stands, and said,
"Compañeros, let’s sing for el commandante."

Waving his bloody stumps, he led them in the anthem of Salvador Allende’s Popular Unity Party. Other prisoners hesitantly joined in.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT.
The guards sprayed him and the stands with machine guns.


This last poem of Jara’s was smuggled out of Chile, in several different versions. This translation was given to Seeger by a woman at a Chicago concert in 1974. A few minutes later, Seeger stuck the words on a mike stand and improvised a guitar accompaniment as he recited them.

Estadio Chile by Pete Seeger


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Subject: ADD: Victor Jara^^
From: Joe Offer
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 04:43 AM

Victor Jara
words by Adrian Mitchell, music by Arlo Guthrie
©1977, Adrian Mitchell & Arlo Guthrie.


Victor Jara of Chile
Lived like a shooting star
He fought for the people of Chile
With his songs and his guitar
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

Victor Jara was a peasant
He worked from a few years old
He sat upon his father's plow
And watched the earth unfold
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

Now when the neighbors had a wedding
Or one of their children died
His mother sang all night for them
With Victor by her side
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

He grew up to be a fighter
Against the people's wrongs
He listened to their grief and joy
And turned them into songs
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

He sang about the copper miners
And those who worked the land
He sang about the factory workers
And they knew he was their man
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

He campaigned for Allende
Working night and day
He sang "Take hold of your brothers’ hand
You know the future begins today"
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

Then the generals seized Chile
They arrested Victor then
They caged him in a stadium
With five-thousand frightened men
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

Victor stood in the stadium
His voice was brave and strong
And he sang for his fellow prisoners
Till the guards cut short his song
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

They broke the bones in both his hands
They beat him on the head
They tore him with electric shocks
And then they shot him dead
His hands were gentle, his hands were strong

Repeat first verse
chords: D - G D / G D Em / A7sus A7 D -

JRO

Recording by Arlo Guthrie
Live rendition by Sara Lee Guthrie & Caitlin Stubbs
1975 live rendition by Dick Gaughan


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Subject: Add: VIENTOS DEL PUEBLO^^
From: Felipa
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 07:27 AM

I read the Joan Jara book under the title "Victor-An Unfinished Song". It includes some lyrics and there's a tape available to go with it.

Here's some lyrics from an anonymously compiled US publication "Winds of the People" [the book gives no music, only recommended guitar chords]:

VIENTOS DEL PUEBLO (Winds of the People)

De nuevo quieren manchar
Mi patria con sangre obrera
Los que hablan de libertad
Y tienen las manos negras
Los que quieren dividir
A la madre de sus hijos
Y quieren reconstruir
La cruz que arrastrara Cristo
[Em D/Am Em/Am B7/-Em(orE)
Em G/Bm Am/-C/C B7 -- w/ capo up 2]

Quieren ocultar la infamia
Que legaron desde siglos
Pero el color de asesinos
No borrarán de su cara
Ya fueron miles y miles
Los que entregaron su sangre
Y, en caudales generosos
Multiplicaron los panes.

Ahora quiero vivir
Junto a mi hijo y mi hermano
La primavera que todos
Vamos construyendo a diario
No me asusta la menaza
Patrones de la miseria [pause]
La estrella de la esperanza
Continuará siendo nuestra.
[chords for last 4 lines: E G/ G Bm (tacit)/ (tacit) Am/Am Em]

Vientos del pueblo me llevan
Vientos del pueblo me arrastran
Me esparcen el corazón
Y me aventan la garganta
Así cantará el poeta
Cuando la muerte me lleve
Por los caminos del pueblo
Desde ahora y para siempre.
[as first 2 verses, adding: B7Am - Em]
On Victor Jara's Monitor album and on Inti-Illimani 2.

trans: " Once more they want to stain my country with workers' blood -- those who talk of liberty yet have blackened hands, those who want to separate the mother from her children & reconstruct the cross Christ carried./ They want to hide the infamy they've bequeathed down the centuries. but the color of the murderers cannot be wiped from their face. Already thousands and thousands have sacrificed their blood, & its generous streams have multiplied the loaves of bread./ I want to live now with my child and my friend, to go together toward the springtime we're building each day. Your masters of misery can't scare me with your threats; the star of hope continues to be ours!/ Winds of the people bear me, carry me, scatter my heart and blow thru my throat. So that the poet can go on singing even when death takes me down the roads of the people, both now and forever."

Recording by Víctor Jara
2009 live rendition by Inti Illimani Histórico + Quilapayún


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Subject: RE: formatting//It could've been me
From: me again
Date: 12 Jan 99 - 07:44 AM

Help, Joe or Somebody. There are loads of repeats of my message so could you please wipe all but the final sending. I tried giving a command to underline a word and instead it sent my message about 8 times! Well, I won't do that again, but can you explain how to keep verses in line. I'm at a university computer where the modem is always on and I typed directly on to the reply form, rather than pasting in from another application. I pressed 'return' after each line in the verses, but they don't appear in that format on the forum. Yeah, I suppose I should go to the forum help pages or the 'administrivia' thread rather than trivialising the Jara thread?
- thanks, Felipa

I think Violetta Para also recorded Victor's songs.

There's a verse about Jara in Holly Near's "It could've been me":
The junta took the fingers from Victor Jara's hands
They said to the gentle poet, "Play your guitar now if you can."
Well, Victor started singing until they shot his body down
You can kill a man, but not a song, when it's heard the whole world round.

[chorus] - It could have been me, but instead it was you
so I'll keep on doing the work you were doing as if I were two
I'll be a student of life. a singer of songs, a farmer of food and a righter of wrongs
It could have been me but instead it was you
And it may be me, dear sisters and brothers before we are through
But if you can fight for freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom
If you can fight for freedom, I can too!


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: An unregistered anonymous person
Date: 14 Jan 99 - 09:31 PM

OK, Felipa (known as Phillippa in the help column) - if you can read this message, it means that Max probably fixed things and you, too, can post messages without registering. That being the case, please end your anti-Mudcat cookie protest and post the lyrics to the other Victor Jara song you promised. Thank you muchly.
-Joe Offer's unregistered alter ego-


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Subject: Lyr Add: EL ARADO^^, CANCION A VICTOR^^
From: Susan A-R
Date: 14 Jan 99 - 10:56 PM

The tape "Victor Jara; an unfinished Song" is well worth acquiring. Mine came out of Redwood Records. Are they still otu there? The address I have on the cassette jacket is: r76 W MacArthur Blvd, Oakaland, CA. 94609.

Also, from "Inti Illimani II" come the following songs.

EL ARADO by Victor Jara

Aprieto firme mi mano
y hundo el arado en la tierra
hace años que llevo en ella
cómo no estar agotado

Vuelan mariposas,
Cantan grillos,
La piel se me pone negra
y el sol brilla, brilla, brilla,
el sudor me hace surcos,
yo hago surcos a la tierra
sin parar. . .

Afirmo bien la esperanza
cuando pienso en la otra estrella:
nunca es tarde, me dice ella,
La paloma volará

vuelan mariposa,
cantan grillos
la piel se me pone negra
y el sol brilla, brilla, brilla
en las tardes cuando vuelvo en el cielo apareciendo
una estrella.

Nunca es tarde, me dice ella,
la paloma volará, volará, volará
tengo el puño esperanzado
porque todo cambiará

translation
]I steady my hand
and sink the plow into the earth
for many years I have pressed her
as if she were not worn out.

butterflies fly
crickets sing
my skin is black
and the sun always shines
The sweat makes furrows on me
as I make furrows on the land
ceaslessly

When I think of the other star
my hope is sustained
She tells me it's never too late
The dove will fly.

butterflies fly
crickets sing
my skin is black
and the sun always shines.
In the evenings when I return
a star
appears in the sky

She tells me it's never too late.
The dove will fly.
Like a tightened yoke
I am full of hope
because all will change.

Recording by Víctor Jara
Studio rendition by Inti Illimani in Argentina
Live rendition by Peter Gabriel & Inti Illimani (1990)

CANCIÓN A VÍCTOR by Jorge Coulón Horacio Salinas

Trigo y maíz, era tu voz
mano de sembrador
alma de cobre, pan y carbón
hijo del tiempo y del sol
(repeat last two lines)

Tu canto fue flor de metal
grito de multitud
Arma en el puño trabajador
viento del norte y del sur

Caíste allí junto a otros mil
cuando nació el dolor
hoz y martillo tu corazón
rojo de vida se abrió

El pueblo así te regarrá
en tu jardín de luz
serás clarín de lucha y amor
canto de Chile serás.

translation

Wheat and corn were your voice
hand of the planter
soul of copper, bread and coal
son of the time and the sun

Your song was a flower of metal
Shout of the multitude
Arm of the worker's fist
Wind of the north and the south

You fell together with thousands
When the pain was born
With hammer and sickle in your heart
The red blood of life was spilled.

And thus the people will nourish you
In their garden of light
You will be the beacon of struggle and love.
You will be Chile's song.

Canción a Víctor:
Recording by Inti Illimani


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Subject: Lyr Add: CANCION A VICTOR^^
From: Felipa
Date: 16 Jan 99 - 08:49 AM

CANCIÓN A VÍCTOR - A Song for Victor (Inti-Illimani)

Trigo y maíz era tu voz
Mano de sembrador
Alma de cobre, pan y carbón
Hijo del tiempo y del sol.
[Am Dm Am Dm/ Am-Em-/Dm-Am Dm
Am E Am Am7/Dm-Am Dm/Am E A -]

Tu canto fue flor de metal
Grito de multitud
Arma en el puño trabajador
Viento del norte y del sur…


Caíste allí junto a otros mil
Cuando nació el dolor
Hoz y martillo tu corazón
Rojo de vida se abrió…


El pueblo así te regarrá
En su jardín de luz
Serás clarín de lucha y amor
¡Canto de Chile serás!…

Trans: Wheat and corn were your voice. Hand of the planter, soul of the copper, bread and coal. Son of the time and the sun./ Your song was a flower of metal, shout of the multitude, arm of the worker's fist, wind of the north and the south./ You feel together with thousands when the pain was born. With a hammer and sickle in your heart the red blood of life was spilled./ And so the people will nourish you in their garden of light. You will be the beacon of struggle and love; you will be Chile's song!

-for, not by, Jara. I think I have the words for 'Te recuerdo, Amanda' somewhere - not in my head unfortunately; whenever I find that or any other Jara songs I'll refresh the thread.


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Subject: ADD: Plegaria a un Labrador (Victor Jara)
From:
Date: 18 Jan 99 - 07:26 AM

Another song from an anonymously compiled US publication "Winds of the People" [the book gives no music, only recommended guitar chords]:

PLEGARIA A UN LABRADOR (Prayer to a farm worker)

Levántate y mira la montaña
De donde viene el viento el sol y el agua
Tú que manejas el curso de los ríos
Tú que sembraste el vuelo de tu alma.
[chords /Am Dm -Am(2x) Am G E Am (2x)]

Levántate y mírate las manos
Para crecer estréchala a tu hermano
Juntos iremos, unidos en la sangre
Hoy es el tiempo que puede ser mañana.

Líbranos de aquel que nos domina en la miseria
Tráenos tu reino de justicia e igualdad
Sopla como el viento la flor de la quebrada
Limpia como el fuego el cañón de mi fusil.
[Dmaj7 - A- (2x0 CG DA (2x)]

Hágase por fin tu voluntad aquí en la tierra
Danos tu fuerza y tu valor al combatir
Sopla como el viento ...

Levántate y mírate las manos
Para crecer estréchala a tu hermano
Juntos iremos, unidos en la sangre
Ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte - ¡amen!

notes - "Written as a plea to Chile's farm laborers to join urban workers in taking their implements and lives into their own hands. Even as Jara was being tortured and murdered during the coup a TV technician risked his life to dub this song over a movie as a message of hope to all Chileans." On VICTOR JARA, QUILAPAYUN (Monitor Records, New York)) on Judy Collins BREAD AND ROSES, & on LUCHA MEANS STRUGGLE (Editorial Lagos, Argentina/was available from 1720 Newton ST NW, Washington DC 20010 at time of "Winds of the People" publication).
TRANS: "Stand up, look at the mountain, the source of the sun, the wind, the water. You who change the course of the rivers have sown the seeds of your soul's own flight./ Stand up, look at your hands: to grow you must extend them to your sisters and brothers. We'll go together united by blood, the future can begin today. Free us from those who keep us hungry, bring in your kingdom of justice. Blow like the wind blows the flower to a ravine. Cleanse us like fire cleans the barrel of a gun./ Let your will be done once and for all here on earth. give us your strength and courage to fight.../....united by blood, now and in the hour of our death. Amen"

'Plegaria a un Labrador' is also published in "Rise up Singing". The copyright details are given as: 1971 & 1976 Editorial Lagos, Buenos Aires, Argentina TRO - Essex music International Inc, NY controls all publication rights for the USA and Canada

apologies to Susan A-R; I didn't notice at the time I pasted in 'Canción a Víctor' that I was duplicating part of your contribution.

Live rendition by Víctor Jara - The song starts at 2:30.
Recording by Víctor Jara
Live recording by Mercedes Sosa (1980)
Live rendition by Quilapayún (1983)


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: karen jonason
Date: 21 Jan 99 - 04:00 AM

The replies to my request for songs of Victor Jara all seem to originate in America. I live in London, England. I am have been involved with folk and world music since childhood, brought up on The Weavers, Joan Baez and Ewan McColl. I have always sung and was fortunate to be at university during the "folk revival" when folk events attracted as large audiences as rock gigs. I carried on listening to folk, buying records and singing through the many years of folk being unfashionable. In England in recent years we've seen the growth in recent years of folk choirs, many of them calling themselves socialist choirs, which sing at political events and have an annual Street Music Festival where all the choirs perform around the town where the festival is located and together in a big concert. This year the festival is in Bradford, Yorkshire. I sing in the Strawberry Thieves Socialist Choir and also at folk clubs in London. If anyone is interested in corresponding, my e-mail address is: karen.jonason@HWLC.ac.uk


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Subject: Lyr Add: TE RECUERDO, AMANDA^^
From: Felipa
Date: 22 Jan 99 - 02:15 PM

Te recuerdo Amanda [I remember you, Amanda]


Te recuerdo Amanda
la calle mojada
corriendo a la fábrica
donde trabajaba Manuel.
La sonrisa ancha
la lluvia en el pelo
no importaba nada
ibas a encontrarte con él
con él, con él, con él
son cinco minutos
la vida es eterna
en cinco minutos
suena la sirena
de vuelta al trabajo
y tú caminando
lo iluminas todo
los cinco minutos
te hacen florecer.


Te recuerdo Amanda
la calle mojada
corriendo a la fábrica
donde trabajaba Manuel.
La sonrisa ancha
la lluvia en el pelo
no importaba nada
ibas a encontrarte con él
con él, con él, con él
que partió a la sierra
que nunca hizo daño
que partió a la sierra
y en cinco minutos
quedó destrozado
suena la sirena
de vuelta al trabajo
muchos no volvieron
tampoco Manuel.


Te recuerdo Amanda
la calle mojada
corriendo a la fábrica
donde trabajaba Manuel.

Víctor Jara's live rendition
Live rentition by Quilapayún (Soloist Guillermo García)

It's worth doing a search for Victor Jara websites. Or just try these:
spin.com.mx/~hvelarde/Chile/Victor/ good comprehensive site, in Spanish (or for a laugh, try a machine translation) song lyrics
canciones
Las Canciones de Víctor Jara (songs of V J - in Spanish) Contents: El arado, Duerme negrito, El pimiento, La plegaria a un labrador, Te recuerdo Amanda, Vientos del pueblo

latinolink
a 1998 article about Joan Jara's work with the Jara Foundation in Chile (in English)

www.msu.edu/~chapmanb/jara/eindex.html in English, essay on Jara's life, links to other sites


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Felipa
Date: 06 Feb 99 - 01:20 PM

Note re Jan 16 lyrics. I put diacritical marks on letters in that song by use of number codes such as alt130=‚. That accented letter e looks okay to me now as I'm typing, and the 16 Jan lyrics used to look fine too. Can their appearance be restored? I see that Joe's 12 Jan offering has run into the same difficulties.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Felipa
Date: 10 Jun 99 - 01:44 PM

Regarding the previous message, the texts have been properly restored.
As a coda to Karen Jonason's message of 21 Jan, labor choirs are known in America too:
This Sunday afternoon 13 June, the New York City Labor Chorus sings at 4 p.m. at the Haft Auditorium of the Fashion Institue of Technology, 27th Street between 7th and 8th Avenue, Manhattan, NYC. For ticket information and reservations phone Bobbie Rabinowitz (212-677-3900) or Barabra Bailey (212-226-6565). Information on the choir's tapes and CDs should be available from Bobie Rabinowitz, SSEU Local 371, 817 Broadway, New York 10003.


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Subject: Victor Jara
From: GUEST
Date: 29 Jan 00 - 09:14 PM

Does anyone know the chords to Arlo Guthries song about Victor Jara, or the chords to any of Jaras songs? thanks


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Subject: RE: Lyr/Chords Req: Victor Jara
From: Joe Offer
Date: 29 Jan 00 - 09:23 PM

Hi, you'll find lyrics and chords in this thread (click). For chords to common folk songs, I'd suggest you pick up a copy of the Rise Up Singing songbook, a collection of lyircs and chords for 1200 songs.
-Joe Offer-


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Dia Critical
Date: 01 Sep 00 - 07:17 PM

Just to show that Irish language songs aren't the only ones which can have problems with the appearance of the text. I hope someone on the technical side of things can repair the affected lyrics. Or will we have to resubmit them using the ampersand codes?


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Peter T.
Date: 01 Sep 00 - 07:31 PM

Don't know about that, but just to note that it is very difficult to get a decent album of Victor Jara in NordAmerica. The british compilation which is all you can find in the stores has ridiculously overdubbed translations as the song is going on!!!
yours, Peter T.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 02 Sep 00 - 04:38 AM

what about the cassette accompanying Joan Jara's biography of Victor, "Victor-An Unfinished Song"?

I'm amazed to hear about the overdubbing.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 03 Sep 00 - 09:20 AM

Another song about the aftermath of Victor Jara's murder.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Alistair
Date: 03 Sep 00 - 07:55 PM

I just finished reading the Phil Ochs biography `Death of a Rebel´ and was interested to find out about his meeting with Victor way back when the Alllende government had just come into power. And they spent a night together swapping songs...so it sez here anyway.


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Subject: Lyr Add: IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME^^
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 28 Aug 01 - 02:48 PM

Here is the complete text of Holly Near's, "It Could Have Been Me," of which Filipa posted only one verse and the chorus, back at 12-Jan-99 - 07:44 AM. I found it at Holly Near's Art and Activism page:

IT COULD HAVE BEEN ME
(Holly Near, 1974)

CHO: It could have been me, but instead it was you,
So I'll keep doing the work you were doing, as if I were two.
I'll be a student of life, a singer of songs,
A farmer of food, and a righter of wrongs.
It could have been me, but instead it was you,
And it may be me, dear sisters and brothers, before we are through.
But if you can work for freedom,
Freedom, freedom, freedom,
If you can work for freedom, I can too.

Students in Ohio at Kent and Jackson State,
Shot down by a nameless [or "vicious"] fire, one early day in May.
Some people cried out angry, "You should have shot more of them down,"
But you can't bury youth, my friend. Youth grows the whole world 'round.

CHO: ... if you can die for freedom...

The junta broke the fingers on Victor Jara's hands.
They said to the gentle poet, "Play your guitar now if you can."
Victor started singing but they brought his body down.
You can kill that man, but not his song, when it's sung the whole world 'round.

CHO: ... if you can sing for freedom...

A woman in the jungle so many wars away,
She studies late into the night, defends the village in the day.
Although her skin is golden like mine will never be,
Her song is heard, and I know the words, and I'll sing them till she's free.

CHO: ... if you can live for freedom...

Holly Near's live rendition


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:40 PM

refreshing this thread as a sort of commemoration of Pinochet!


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 12:53 PM

Indeed, though as I posted earlier on a different thread, it's a great shame that 33 years have elapsed since the murder of Victor Jara and the smashing of the New Chilean Song Movement and the death of Pinochet. And that he remained unpunished.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Victor ..An Unfinished Song
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 01:05 PM

Only a few short weeks after the military coup and the first mass murders,the great chilean poet Pablo Neruda died .His funeral cortege became the first act of civil disobedience when hundreds follwed his coffin singing songs of defiance and resistance while the military butchers stared at them with weapons ready to fire.
Pinochet......torturer,mass killer and a thief of state.
Huw


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Maryrrf
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 02:27 PM

I knew several Chilean musicians in exile who had worked with Victor. A great poet, a great singer, and a great man. He didn't deserve to die as he did, and neither did the others who were in the stadium in those days after the coup. I really wish justice had been done while Pinochet was alive. He, and many others, should have gone to prison.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 02:30 PM

Further to Joe's message earlier see
Mike Harding ( clck on music - non comedy - Plutonium Alley)
this is for me the definitive version of Victor Jara of chile. Sung By Mike Harding on his CD Plutonium Alley. Buy the CD and be surprised at some of the brilliant stuff on there.
Andy


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 02:32 PM

Sorry that wasn't meant to be just a blatant plug, I thought there were sound samples on there as well.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 02:41 PM

Here is Victor Jara introducing and singing one of his songs - Luchin

And here are the words. Anyone up to making a (non-babelfish) translation?

Fragil como un volantín
En los techos de barrancas
Jugaba el niño Luchín
Con sus manitos moradas
Con la pelota de trapo
Con el gato y con el perro
El caballo lo miraba

En el agua de sus ojos
Se bañaba el verde claro
Gateaba a su corta edad
Con el potito embarrado
Con la pelota de trapo
Con el gato y con el perro
El caballo lo miraba

El caballo era otro juego
En aquel pequeño espacio
Y al animal parecía
Le gustaba ese trabajo
Con la pelota de trapo
Con el gato y con el perro
Y con Luchito mojado

Si hay niños como Luchín
Que comen tierra y gusanos
Abramos todas las jaulas
Pa' que vuelen como pájaros
Con la pelota de trapo
Con el gato y con el perro
Y también con el caballo


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 02:41 PM

Oh right. Just been there and couldn't get it to work. Is this the Adrian Mitchell poem set to music by Arlo Guthrie?

Victor Jara of Chile lived like a shooting star
He fought for the people of Chile with his songs and his guitar
His hands were gentle his hands were strong . . .
?


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 02:59 PM

Ah, THAT one. It's called Luchin in my book.

Fragile as a kite over the roofs of Barrancas little Luchin was playing, his hand blue with cold, with the rag ball, the cat and the dog and the horse looked on.

Green light was bathing in the water of his eyes. Bare-bummed and in the mud his little life was crawling with the rag ball, the cat and the dog and the horse looked on.

The horse was another toy in that small space and it seemed that the animal understood his job, with the rag ball and the cat and the dog and with Luchin wet through.

If there are children like Luchin who are eating earth and worms, let's open al the cages so they can fly away like birds with the rag ball, the cat and the dog and with the horse as well.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 03:41 PM

Thanks! Here it is spaced out - makes it easier to see where the words fall in the somg:

Fragile as a kite
over the roofs of Barrancas
little Luchin was playing,
his hand blue with cold,
with the rag ball,
the cat and the dog
and the horse looked on.

Green light was bathing
in the water of his eyes.
Bare-bummed and in the mud
his little life was crawling
with the rag ball,
the cat and the dog
and the horse looked on.

The horse was another toy
in that small space
and it seemed that the animal
understood his job,
with the rag ball
and the cat and the dog
and with Luchin wet through.

If there are children like Luchin
who are eating earth and worms,
let's open all the cages
so they can fly away like birds
with the rag ball,
the cat and the dog
and with the horse as well.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Andy Jackson
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 04:29 PM

Countess R.
The "Mike Harding song" I refd to above is as noted by Joe to be:

Victor Jara
words by Adrian Mitchell, music by Arlo Guthrie
©1977, Adrian Mitchell & Arlo Guthrie.
Mike says he learned the song from Dick Gaughan

Andy


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Franz S.
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 05:08 PM

In the winter of 1972 a friend of mine visited Chile and brought me back a number of books and lps, one of which was Victor Jara's album "Pongo En Tus Manos Abiertas..." (on the Jota label). It got badly warped somehow and the first track on each side is unplayable, at least by me. But it is still a treasured posession.

A Luis Emilio Recabarren
A Desalumbrar
Duerme Duerme Negrito
Juan Sin Tierra
Preguntas por Puerto Montt
"Movil" Oil Special
Camilo Torres
El Martillo
Te Recuerdo Amanda
Zamba del Che
Ya Parte el Galgo Terrible
A Cochabamba Me Voy

All beautiful songs. Puerto Montt was the site of a massacre of workers by police BEFORE Pinochet. Camilo Torres was a Colombian priest who joined the guerrilla in 1965 and was killed in 1966. Cochabamba was where Chr Guevara was captured and killed.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Peace
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 06:04 PM

'Victor Jara
Canciones Postumas

Support a Worthy Cause

About half of the Victor Jara cds sold at Del Canton were purchased directly from Fundacion Victor Jara in Chile. Therefore when you choose to purchase Victor Jara cds from us, you are contributing to a worthy cause. By purchasing this cd from Del Canton, you help the foundation meet its aims of seeking to demonstrate how the rich heritage of Victor`s creations and his teaching as an artist can serve as a tool for "preserving the roots and cultural identity of Latin America and bringing the violence of extreme poverty and lack of justice to an end."


Brief Biography of Victor Jara

On September 16, 1973, Chilean political songwriter and activist Victor Jara was brutally murdered in Santiago's boxing stadium during the aftermath of the U.S.-backed September 10-11 coup d'etat which resulted in the death of the democratically elected president, Salvador Allende, and the installation of a repressive military dictatorship. The US-influenced regime change frustrated the Chilean people's hope for a government that would bring their country socio-economic justice, replacing it instead with a despair that would continue for the next 17 years under the repressive leadership of Augusto Pinochet, who after the coup abolished civil liberties, dissolved congress, banned unions activities and workers' strikes, and reversed the agrarian and economic reforms of Allende's socialist government. More than twenty-two hundred people were 'disappeared' under Pinochet's authoritarian rule.

Victor Jara was born in the small town of Lonquen, Chile on September 23, 1932 to Manuel and Amanda Jara. As a child, Victor experienced first-hand what it was like to live a humble life. His father provided for his family with the wages he earned as a day laborer while his mother added to the family's income by working odd jobs. When Victor was still a young child his father, who had an alcohol problem and was an abusive husband, left home to work as a field laborer in the countryside. Conditions were rough for his mother who was left alone to raise Victor and his siblings. Notwithstanding, she managed to spend a great deal of time with her children, often playing the guitar and singing Chilean folk songs for them. Victor's mother died when he was only fifteen years old.

After spending a short time in a seminary and then in the military, Victor went on to study theater at the University of Chile, where he developed an interest in directing. After finishing school, he began his career as a director and was involved in numerous theater productions. It was during this time that Victor Jara experienced a renewed interest in traditional Chilean folk songs as well as national politics. Also during this time, he met Violeta Parra, another Nueva Cancion artist, who was the owner of a small café. In 1966, Victor Jara released his first LP, the self-titled "Victor Jara." That same year, he joined another Nueva Cancion group, Quilapayún, serving as the band's art director until 1969. In 1970, Victor ended his career as a director and turned his energy towards furthering the Chilean people's struggle for peace and justice through his songs, political activism, and support for leftist Chilean President Salvador Allende.

Allende, who belonged to the leftist coalition party, Unidad Popular, had been voted into office on a platform promising to take-over large foreign companies and monopolies, expropriate all landholdings over 80 hectares, and increase spending on social programs. His first year in office was a remarkable success - the working population saw their income increase by 50% while the real income of all Chileans rose an equally impressive 30%. But in spite of these early advances, by 1973, dissatisfaction with his presidency grew when economic conditions soured. While these difficulties were in part due to general market conditions and the side effects of his socially progressive policies, a major factor in the decline were the activities of his domestic and foreign critics. At home, the entrenched conservative elite controlled 95% of the radio stations, 90% of the newspapers, and all of the weekly magazines. The Catholic Church was adamantly opposed to his policies and the working class was divided largely as a result of the conservatives' stranglehold over public discourse. Overseas, hostile foreign interests had successfully influenced a significant reduction in both foreign investment and multilateral aid. Moreover, between 1970 and 1973, the United States Government spent $8 million pursuing a policy intentionally aimed at destabilizing the Chilean economy - a policy that had been authorized by then Secretary of State Henry Kissinger (who was just recently honored by President George Bush with an appointment as the chairman of the 'Independent' 9/11 Investigative Commission, which Mr. Kissinger declined)

Internal bourgeoisie resistance and U.S.-backed sabotage eventually culminated in the September 11 coup d'etat, which ended Chile's three-year experiment with socialism and transferred political power to a four-man military junta headed by General Augusto Pinochet. The repression began immediately and with full force. In the ensuing crackdown, several of Allende's supporters were detained, tortured and killed, including Victor Jara. On the day of the coup, Victor was seized by military troops as he arrived at the university where he worked. He was taken to a Santiago boxing stadium where he and others were tortured. Survivors of the dragnet later said that despite the horrible conditions that Victor endured during his detainment, the folksinger was primarily concerned with the well-being of others and encouraged them to be hopeful as he played his guitar and sang his songs of resistance and struggle. During his detainment in the stadium, the troops, frustrated by Victor's determination and continued resistance, broke his hands and taunted him to play his guitar. Despite this it is said that he continued singing the Unidad Popular's anthem, 'Venceremos' (We Shall Overcome). While in the stadium, Victor also composed the verses of his last song, which he did not finish. On September 16, Victor Jara was brutally beaten and then shot to death. His body was later discovered by a resident of a slum who then contacted his wife, the ballerina Joan Jara. The scraps of paper that Victor had used to write his final composition were smuggled out by survivors. The unfinished lyrics ended with the words, "Silence and screams are the end of my song."'


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 11 Dec 06 - 07:20 PM

Victor Jara's words, smuggled out of the football stadium in Santiago Chile were:

Canto qué mal me sales cuando tengo que cantar espanto!
Espanto como el que vivo, como el que muero, espanto.
De verme entre tanto y tantos momentos del infinito
en que el silencio y el grito son las metas de este canto.
Lo que veo nunca vi, lo que he sentido y lo que siento
hará brotar el momento...

How hard it is to sing when I must sing of horror
Horror which I live, horror which I die.
Seeing myself among so much and so many moments of infinity
in which silence and screams are the end of my song.
What I see I have never seen. What I have felt and what I feel
will give birth to the moment...


That comes from page seventeen of this intriguing looking article about music and death.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Wolfgang
Date: 12 Dec 06 - 09:09 AM

A truly great singer and songwriter.

Wolfgang


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Dec 06 - 08:57 AM

Refresh


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 01:37 PM

please, can you help me? I need text of song of Victor Hara "Zamba al Che"


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Monique
Date: 07 Jul 09 - 08:19 PM

Lyrics and mp3


ZAMBA AL CHE

Vengo cantando esta zamba
con redoble libertario,
mataron al guerrillero
Che comandante Guevara.
Selvas, pampas y montañas
patria o muerte su destino.

Que los derechos humanos
los violan en tantas partes,
en América Latina
domingo, lunes y martes.
Nos imponen militares
para sojuzgar los pueblos,
dictadores, asesinos,
gorilas y generales.

Explotan al campesino
al minero y al obrero,
cuánto dolor su destino,
hambre miseria y dolor.
Bolívar le dio el camino
y Guevara lo siguió:
liberar a nuestro pueblo
del dominio explotador.

A Cuba le dio la gloria
de la nación liberada.
Bolivia también le llora
su vida sacrificada.
San Ernesto de La Higuera
le llaman los campesinos,
selvas, pampas y montañas,
patria o muerte su destino.


Lyrics: Rubén Ortiz
Music: Víctor Jara (Chile)


Víctor Jara's recording


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST
Date: 15 Feb 10 - 12:15 PM

Vengo cantando esta zamba
con redoble libertario,
mataron al guerrillero
Che comandante Guevara.
Selvas, pampas y montañas
patria o muerte su destino.

Que los derechos humanos
los violan en tantas partes,
en América Latina
domingo, lunes y martes.
Nos imponen militares
para sojuzgar los pueblos,
dictadores, asesinos,
gorilas y generales.

Explotan al campesino
al minero y al obrero,
cuánto dolor su destino,
hambre miseria y dolor.
Bolívar le dio el camino
y Guevara lo siguió:
liberar a nuestro pueblo
del dominio explotador.

A Cuba le dio la gloria
de la nación liberada.
Bolivia también le llora
su vida sacrificada.
San Ernesto de La Higuera
le llaman los campesinos,
selvas, pampas y montañas,
patria o muerte su destino.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 08:52 AM

there are at least a few songs in English about Victor Jara, but what primarily English-speaking singers included Jara's own songs, either in Spanish or in translation, in their repetoires?


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 10:02 AM

I seem to remember Dr Price performing "The right to live in peace" a few years back.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Monique
Date: 02 Jun 11 - 06:06 PM

Songs that he wrote and songs that he sang (both in Spanish)


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 11:35 AM

Monique's links are to a site about Victor Jara, not Dr Price (whom I haven't heard of before)


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Stringsinger
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 03:45 PM

"Duerme, Negrito" (he sang this, it's on YouTube also covered by Mercedes Sosa.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: GUEST,Felipa
Date: 07 Jun 11 - 02:48 PM

I did a search for Te Recuerdo Amanda and came up with lyrics "recorded by" Joan Baez and Robert Wyatt. Also, interestingly, a Swedish translation.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 08 Jun 11 - 07:25 AM

The Dr Price I am refering to is Mudcat terminology for Mick Tems.


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Subject: ADD: Te Recuerdo Amanda (Victor Jara)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 05:38 AM

I think this is Victor Jara himself singing "Te Recuerdo Amanda."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRmre8ggkcY


With help from Monique, I came up with these lyrics to submit to the Rise Again songbook. Can anybody give us a translation and background information?

TE RECUERDO AMANDA
(Victor Jara)

CHORUS
Te recuerdo Amanda, la calle mojada
Corriendo a la fábrica donde trabajaba / Manuel
La sonrisa ancha, la lluvia en el pelo
No importaba nada ibas a~encontrarte / Con él (x4)

Con él, son cinco minutos
La vida es eterna en cinco minutos
Suena la sirena "De vuelta al trabajo"
Y tú caminando, lo iluminas todo
Los cinco minutos te hacen florecer

Con él - que partió a la sierra
Que nunca hizo daño, que partió a la sierra
Y en cinco minutos quedó destrozado
Suena la sirena "De vuelta al trabajo"
Muchos no volvieron, tampoco Manuel

Te recuerdo Amanda, la calle mojada
Corriendo a la fábrica donde trabajaba / Manuel

Victor Jara
On his Best of Victor Jara, Silvio Rodriguez Tribute a Victor Jara, Quilapayun Patria, José Garcia Huellas. Also rec. by Joan Baez.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Joe Offer
Date: 21 Feb 15 - 05:41 AM

Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Monique
Date: 11 Feb 15 - 06:09 PM

Here is a quite literal one:

I remember you, Amanda, the wet street,
Running to the factory where Manuel worked.
A wide smile, the rain on your hair,
Nothing mattered, you were going to meet him, him, him..
Him, it's five minutes,
Life is eternal in five minutes.
The siren sounds "Back to work".
The five minutes make you bloom.

I remember you, Amanda, the wet street,
Running to the factory where Manuel worked.
A wide smile, the rain on your hair,
Nothing mattered, you were going to meet him, him, him..
Him who went to the mountain,
Who never did harm, who went to the mountain
And in five minutes, he was wrecked.
The siren sounds "Back to work".
Many didn't come back. Neither did Manuel.

I remember you, Amanda, the wet street,
Running to the factory where Manuel worked.

The Quilapayún recorded an English version of it in "Alentours" but the lyrics aren't on the sleeve. I'll see if I can get them tomorrow if nobody's posted them before.



Here you have a less literal translation and some background to the song.
Btw, I'd forgotten to translate "y tú caminando, lo iluminas todo" = "as you're walking, you light everything up".


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara
From: Monique
Date: 26 May 21 - 06:02 PM

Here is a link to a YouTube video of Víctor Jara's concert in Peru,- July 17th 1973 (Complete recital).
Quilapayún live concert "Homenaje a Víctor Jara".
I have added a link to YouTube videos below a few songs within the posts so far. I'll add some more.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara (1932-1973)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 May 21 - 06:20 PM

Note that Victor Jara was murdered by the Pinochet Regime of Chile on 16 September 1973. Pinochet was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Chilean Army on 23 August 1973 by President Salvador Allende. Allende was overthrown by Pinochet on 11 September 1973 and died the same day, allegedly by suicide.


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Subject: RE: songs of Victor Jara (1932-1973)
From: Monique
Date: 30 May 21 - 10:28 AM

MANIFIESTO (1973 -released in 1974)
Víctor Jara

Yo no canto por cantar
ni por tener buena voz,
canto porque la guitarra
tiene sentido y razón.

Tiene corazón de tierra
y alas de palomita,
es como el agua bendita,
santigua glorias y penas.

Aquí se encajó mi canto,
como dijera Violeta,
guitarra trabajadora
con olor a primavera.

Que no es guitarra de ricos
ni cosa que se parezca.
Mi canto es de los andamios
para alcanzar las estrellas.

Que el canto tiene sentido
cuando palpita en las venas...
del que morirá cantando,
... las verdades verdaderas.

No las lisonjas fugaces
ni las famas extranjeras
sino el canto de una lonja
hasta el fondo de la tierra.

Ahí donde llega todo
y donde todo comienza,
canto que ha sido valiente,
siempre será canción nueva,
siempre será canción nueva,
siempre será canción nueva...
MANIFEST


I do not sing for singing
Nor for having a good voice,
I sing because the guitar
Has sense/consciousness and reason.

It has a heart of earth
And wings of little dove,
It's like holy water,
It crosses glories and sorrows.

Here my song was embedded,
As Violeta said,
Industrious guitar
With the smell of spring.

For it's not a rich man's guitar
Not a thing like that.
My song is from the scaffolding
To reach the stars.

For the song has sense/consciousness
When it beats in the veins ...
Of the one who will die singing, ...
The true truths.

Not the fleeting flattery
Nor foreign fames
But the song of a market
To the bottom of the earth.

There where all reaches
And where all begins,
A song that has been brave
Will always be a new song,
Will always be a new song,
Will always be a new song ...
Recording by Víctor Jara

Victor_Jara_Música YouTube channel


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