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Guantanamera Revisited |
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#1 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern England
Posts: 2,596
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Guantanamera Revisited
I just love this song which is interesting and has had many many different arrangements through the years. When I have time I'll tell you its story and translate some of the lyrics but for now here are three different versions. Such an uplifting song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci_2ETb3Gj4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRTC3cfWfGk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLLRNfnPi0w |
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#2 |
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I like this version by Celia Cruz with The Fania All Stars, recorded in 1974 in Kinshasa Zaire (i'm not too keen on the violin solo though):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W777MIR8-ko |
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#3 |
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Quote:
I like this version by Celia Cruz with The Fania All Stars, recorded in 1974 in Kinshasa Zaire (i'm not too keen on the violin solo though):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W777MIR8-ko As well as differing arrangements there are often different verses and verse order is changed - the song is made for improvisation. Some of the verses were taken from the poet and political activist Jose Marti. It became a nationalistic song and a protest/revolutionary one. Here is the earliest I can find - get past the odd modern beginning first! : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfNj-oBOyRY This is my possibly dodgy translation of often the first verse usually heard (but not in the link above) - Guantanamera means female from Guantanamo, Cuba. Guajira means country or peasant girl. Yo soy un hombre sincero I am a truthful/honest/sincere man De donde crece la palma From the land of the palms / or from where grows the palm (ie Cuba) The two lines above repeat then: Y antes de morirme quiero Before dying I want to Echar mis versos del alma Share/pour out/relate poems/verses of my soul More verse translation follows when I have time
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#4 |
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Forum Member
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern England
Posts: 2,596
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The chorus then
Cultivo una rosa blanca I grow a white rose En julio como en enero In July just as in January The two lines repeat then Para el amigo sincero For the honest friend que me da su mano franca Who gives me his open hand CHORUS Mi verso es de un verde claro My verse/poem is of light green Y de un carmin encendido And of flaming crimson The two lines repeat then Mi verso es un ciervo herido My verse/poem is like a wounded deer Que busca en el monte amparo Seeking refuge in the forest CHORUS and there's more.... |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Northern England
Posts: 2,596
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Con los pobres de la tierra
With the poor people of the earth Quiero yo mi suerte echar I want to share/tell my fate The two lines repeat then El arroyo de la sierra The stream of the mountain Me complace mas que el mar Pleases me more than the sea CHORUS Y para el cruel que me arranca And for the cruel one who tears out El corazon con que vivo The heart by which I live/my living heart The lines repeat then Cardo ni ortiga cultivo Thistle nor nettle do I grow Cultivo la rosa blanca I grow the white rose (Alfonso X sings oruga in my first post instead of ortiga - a caterpillar - at the end he says 'love') CHORUS There are other verses too |
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#6 |
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Join Date: Mar 2008
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Quote:
I like this version by Celia Cruz with The Fania All Stars, recorded in 1974 in Kinshasa Zaire (i'm not too keen on the violin solo though):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W777MIR8-ko I see what you mean about the violin solo at the end - I have no idea what they were trying to do but it spoilt the performance which had been very good until then
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#7 |
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