The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #158637 Message #3753228
Posted By: keberoxu
24-Nov-15 - 01:36 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Ecuador: Vasija de Barro
Subject: Origins: Ecuador: Vasija de Barro
Inti-Illimani include this song in their repertoire, that is how it was introduced to me. Max Berru, a co-founder of the group, is an Ecuador native (settled in Chile, though, to be with his descendants there). Berru usually sang the lead vocal when Inti-Illimani performed this song. For one thing, it was included in their soundtrack for BBC's Flight of the Condor I believe -- either that, or Return of the Condor.
Vasija de Barro has a very solemn lyric about returning to the earth, to Mother Earth, when it is time to be buried. I have seen statements that in Ecuador this song has the status of a national hymn (usually states that there is more than one such?). I would not know, but there are opinions that this song goes back to pre-Columbian languages although as far as I can make out, it is sung in Spanish.