ENCOUNTERS & FAREWELLS (1996)

SIDE A
A1. LAST JOURNEY

With such refined simplicity
With such precious efforts
With such profound sadness
With so many happy smiles.

Thus you lived your life,
My dear old one
With thunderous silence
With supreme sweetness
With terrific fits.

With an ailing body
With your soul violated
With so much pain imposed on you
By those who repress life.

For some reason you didn't want
To be called Maria
You preferred Lucila instead
Which sounds like "light of an island".

Perhaps, of that Mechuque Island
From where your parents brought you
To grow in Punta Arenas
To love in Punta Arenas.

To suffer in Punta Arenas
To learn in Punta Arenas
To be a mother in Punta Arenas
To rest at last in Punta Arenas.

Finally, we have arrived here
I leave you in your land my dear old one
Together with your own mother and your people
For you to rest in peace in Punta Arenas.

A2. THREE FAMOUS MUSICIANS

Three famous female singers
Have been born in our country
Singing "cuecas" and "tonadas"
They've been everywhere in Chile.

One of them was Violeta
Who sang to the working class
Known throughout the planet
For her wonderful works.

The others are Margot Loyola
And Gabriela Pizarro
Who sing like birds
When they are on stage.

Our folk music
Margot has compiled
And knows how to teach it
To her dear students.

Gabriela Pizarro has been
Singing in so many places
To her victimized people
For the love of art only.

To all who are present here
Little fruits of plum (*)
I have sung to our beloved Violeta,
to Margot and to Gabriela.

(*) These endearing terms relating to animals or fruits are used as a literary device in rhyming verses. They are only allowed as the poem approaches the end.
- Cuecas, tonadas: Two popular Chilean folk rhythms.

A3. SALVADOR ALLENDE

Everyone, pay attention
As I start my song
And tell about Allende-Gossens
A man who ruled this nation.
Medical doctor by profession
Concerned about people's health
Although from wealth he came
He confronted the capitalists
There are few socialists now
Like Salvador Allende.

He was the friend of the workers
A true Latin Americanist
For sure anti-imperialist
Loved the world over
This is why I want today
To tell my audience
About this principled man
And honor his memory
There will be no other president.
Like our "Chicho", compañero.

Finally to conclude
My verses for "Chicho" Allende
I demand that September 11th
Be a National Day of Mourning
Because this exemplary man
Was killed by traitor generals.
Yet, his ideals they couldn't kill
They will remain forever.
Let's erect a monument to his memory
Right here, where they killed him!

-Chicho = Allende's nickname.

A4. NO MORE DECEPTION

I want no more deception
I want no more hunger
I want no more suffering
I want no more lackeys
I want no more faintings
I want no more malnourishment
I want no more submission
I want no more alcoholism
I want no more fascism
I want no more gangsters.

I want no more tyranny
I want no more repression
I want no more persecution
I want no more high prices
I want no more slavery
I want no more beheadings
I want no more missing people
I want Chile no more in pain
I want no more people set on fire

I want no more sadness
I want no more prostitution
I want no more damnation
I want no more poverty
I want no more gagged journalists
I want no more beatings
I want no more internal exiles
I want no more political prisoners
I want no more aries
I want no more exiles.

I want no more divisions
I want no more ignorance
I want no more thugs
I want no more intervention
I want no more stoolpigeons
I want no more restlessness
I want no more cruelty
I want no more torture
I want no more dictatorship
I want no more impunity.

Here I end my poem
I want no misunderstandings
I want no more prisoners
I want no innocents to go to jail
I want no more perversion
I want no more games
I want no more deception
I want no more classism
I want no more stupidity
I want no more bullshit!

A5. FABIOLA LETELIER

A TOAST:
For those human rights
That we must all defend
We have to give it to her
She has always done so much.
Her courage is impressive
Her people can attest to it
She has confronted the jackals
Demanding justice
From the dictatorship's early days
Fabiola, this is how I remember you.

CUECA:
I greet on this day
All who are in attendance
I salute Doña Fabiola
For her persistence.

Our human rights
She has defended
I make a toast to the courage
She's always displayed.

She's always displayed, yes
I can say it again
She deserves praise
from every part of Chile.

Your people adore you
Doña Fabiola!

A6. THE ECONOMY

The Chilean economy
Is applauded in the world
They say we are the Latin tigers
But I say it is all lies.

More than four million people
There are in our country
Poor people who live
In miserable conditions

In miserable conditions, yes sir
With empty pockets
These Chilean jaguars
Are not in such good shape.

I can't figure it out
I'm flipping out!

 
A7. THE MISSING

There will be no reconciliation
If there is no repentance
Our people want justice
Truth and clarification.

Twenty five hundred cases
It is no joke
Of people missing
Under the dictatorship.

Under the dictatorship, yes
Ay! How macabre!
And the soldiers continue
To threaten us.

Joint maneuvers, green berets,
And also demonstrations of officers
at Punta Peuco jail. (*)

(*) It refers to recent army maneuvers to intimidate the population. This included a demonstration of army officers in 1995 at Punta Peuco Jail --a special jail for generals. These officers rejected the decision of the Supreme Court that found the head of Pinochet's secret police guilty of participating in the Letelier assassination in Washington, D.C. Letelier was a diplomat in the Allende administration who was living in exile in the U.S.

A8. EUROPE

Escaping from the dictatorship
I ended up in exile
In passing I've been to Norway,
Belgium and Paris.

Then I left for Italy
For a while I lived in Venice
In London I got divorced
Got married again in Sweden.

Theses "gringos" impressed me so
I really dug consumerism
Now I am an entrepreneur
Don't give a darn about socialism.

When the walls started to crumble
It made no difference to me
I was already renewed
I knew what I wanted to be.

For all those present here
Little daisies in bloom
To Chile I went back with money
And a little "gringa" on our honeymoon.

CHORUS
All things change, all things change
That is what the song says
Europe certainly changed me
I couldn't resist temptation.

A9. WHO DID YOU COME WITH?

RECITED
From Palos Port he left
With his heart full of emotion
Christopher Columbus the admiral
Surrounded by ex-cons.
JOROPO
October, 1492 was the year
When a weird man from Genoa
Full of himself, pretty gutsy
Arrived in Spain with his story
And a cape over his shoulders
He said, "Now I will begin
To organize this trip"
And soon with a bunch of savages
From Palos Port he left.

The Santa Maria, the Nina
and the Pinta, were the ships
Which we all know they used
These bandits set sail
Better criminals than sailors
And soon the stage was set
For the drama of this invasion
Which has not ended yet
Pretty bad company he brought
Christopher Columbus, the admiral.

The prisons were emptied
With these men he made his crew
The church gave its blessing
To the criminals and to him oo.
The open seas were rough and dark
They didn't know where they were
In spite of more than one shark
Mutinies and revolts
Columbus arrived at these lands
Surrounded by ex-cons.

In the end they destroyed all
Blessed by the Lord and swords
To the terrorized natives
They stole their lives and gold
Three hundred years pillaging
Were the Spaniards in all
Without any consideration
They cleaned out our continent
And when there was nothing left
They became honorable business men.

A10. OF THE JACKASS

Very tense are the relations
Between the army and civilians
The old gizzard in uniform still does
Whatever the hell he wants.

Justice he says
Is nothing but revenge
The past should be forgotten
He certainly is no fool.

He is no fool, yes sir
And a salary increase he wants
So that the military
Doesn't get so upset.

He wants forgiveness,
Have his cake and eat it too.

SIDE B
B1. "FLACO" VERGARA

Zamba for Flaco Vergara
Zamba for our friendship
Many years have gone by
And we still love you truly.

You are a friend to friends
And even to those who are not
Walking through life you go
With happiness in your heart.

This small zamba from Punta Arenas
From the south has arrived
Has been around the world
But eventually came back to you.
And while everything is changed
You good friend did not.

I have only what I have on
Door after door closed on me
And you will know how to explain it
When they ask, "Why did he leave?"

But I leave you my zamba
And also I leave you my heart
The heart of a true friend
Who no matter how far away it was
Has never forgotten you.

-Flaco = skinny
-Zamba = traditional Argentinean folk rhythm.

B2. CHE

Che Guevara is not dead
I tell you comrades
Che Guevara is live
In every guerrilla fighter.

Montonero guerrillas
I don't mean the peronistas
But rather the communists
Who struggle alongside the workers.

Chacarera, chacarera
Chacarera for social change
Sing out this chacarera
Because it's a freedom song.

If Che Guevara were
Among us at this moment
Those who call themselves socialists
Wouldn't be so happy.

Che Guevara understood clearly
The fundamentals of our struggle
Eliminate capitalism altogether
Anything else is nonsense.

Chacarera, chacarera...

In the end I say good bye
I hope we will wake up
To say with Che Guevara
Patria o Muerte, We Shall Overcome!

- Montonero = Means guerrilla in Spanish. But it was also the name of the most radical followers of Domingo Peron in Argentina.
- Chacarera = Argentinean folk rhythm.

B3. VICTOR JARA

RECITED
Yesterday you sang for me
To give me hope
Your songs gave me strength
Today I sing for you.

SONG
Lonquen, fertile land
Where this singer grew up
With valor and dignity
Principled in the struggle
You interpreted our people needs
Singing about their feelings
To the bitter end you fought
For a dignified future for all
And thus you showed me the way
Yesterday you sang for me.

To the very end
You fought for freedom
And also for unity
Among all peoples in this continente
Victor Jara you are present
And also your teachings about
Persistence in the struggle
Until the day they killed you
Your singing was like the wind
That gave me hope.

To the poor of my nation
You gave the gift of your songs
You were a brave singer
And have my admiration
And also of a new generation
Who will sing like you did
To honor you and continue
The people's struggle
The assassins couldn't kill you
Your songs still give me strength.

This musician of the people
Who loved his country so much
In a concentration camp
Was killed by a jackal
They say that an officer
Was the ruthless murderer
Who tortured you to death
Until your voice was silenced
My heart is bursting with anguish
Yet, today I sing for you.

Here I say farewell
To a great man and singer
Good example to follow
A man of courage
The country still mourns
Our brother Victor's agony
My heart is broken
For such horrible crime
I promise you compañero,
Justice will be served!

B4. TO OUR HEROES

Long live Simon Bolivar
And our America of dark people
Long live Manuel Rodriguez
and the Carrera brothers.

Long live San Martin
And also Artigas
Emiliano Zapata
and Pancho Villa.

And Pancho Villa, yes
Because he was astute
Long live Che Guevara
and long live Sandino.

I make a toast to Lautaro
and also to Tupac Amaru.

B5. POWER BRINGS THEM TOGETHER

The new Congress building, is so nice
There on Argentina Avenue
Yet so many people are in ruins
Because it has been built.
Prices in Valparaiso are sky high
Both for food and for housing
A few are smiling so happily
Those are the wealthy
While the poor townspeople
Suffer in profound misery.

In my opinion, a hospital
Should have been built instead
To take care of the poor
Rather than build such an ugly monster.
From the very beginning
Millions were spent
While in the shantytowns
The shacks pile up
And in the open fields
Adults and children live.

This is my farewell
Ladies and gents
I told about this Congress
And how I feel about it.
Today, I feel repugnance
When I see our elected officials
Holding hands with the military
Eating out of the same dish
They have all sold out
In exchange for millionaires' wages.

B6. I AM A CHILEAN "ROTO"

I am a Chilean "roto"
Very smart and sharp
I like to drink fire water,
Punch, and also wine.

I know many crafts
Let me tell you
Brick layer, plain laborer
And fruit picker.

And fruit picker, yes
Also horse rider
Fisherman and pretty good
wine drinker, too.

I am always drunk
And dress like a bum.

- Roto = Literally, "broken", or down and out, a name given to very poor people, mostly men who are homeless. These men go from town to town, doing whatever work they can find. In Chile, there is a holiday dedicated to them, on January 20th. This song was composed and performed on that day in 1996, at a book fair in Viña del Mar.

B7. THE SYMBOLS

With this wave of "renewal"
Taking place all over the world
One day, gentlemen, I wondered, and so
To get their opinion, I asked scientists
"What will socialists do now
With their beautiful hymns
And their rudimentary symbols
Under the new capitalist order?"

The Indian hatchet, so archaic
And even their party song
Must make them feel so ordinary
For what they mean to them now
Afraid of offending the rich
Maybe this is why they are so silent
Haven't you noticed when they sing
How uptight they look?
But, the funniest thing is
When they make a revolutionary fist!

Can you imagine that Mr. Mayonnaise
Singing the Socialist Marseillaise?
I cannot imagine
Don Carlos doing such thing.
He would make a fool of himself
A renewed refined gentleman saying:
"Long live workers' socialism,
Source of our liberation"
I would tell the rascal
Goddamn it! What a liar you are!

Lastly, I ask this question:
Will Chilean radicals
Erase the hammer and sickle
From communist flags
Like the Russians did?
I remember when I was young
The same ones who are now renewed,
Advocating revolutionary violence
Willing to eat bourgeois babies
If it were necessary.
They all had their umbrellas ready
In case it rained in Russia!

B8. A RENEWED "HUASO"

In the past I was a peasant
I worked in agriculture
And also in horticulture
I had a wood stove
Then I changed my destiny
When I moved to the city
I dressed to impress
When I became an urbanite
And now I am telling you
I am a renewed "huaso."

I confess through my verses
To all you poor peasants
My calluses and corns vanished
When I threw away my sandals
Today I live in a different manner
No longer a farmboy
Shovels and ploughs for me
Are a thing of the past
And now I am telling you
I am a renewed "huaso."

We must adapt to new times
Don't be so orthodox
It might sound funny to you
I am a different person now
The apartment I live in
Is fully air conditioned
Men and women work for me
In the company I now own
And now I am telling you
I am a renewed "huaso."

I have planes and yachts
And farms down in the South
In Florida and Costa Azul
Where I spend my vacation time
I have millions of dollars
In very special accounts
In Switzerland and other places
My profits are increasing
And now I am telling you
I am a renewed "huaso."

Finally I tell you farewell
Little sprouts of "maiten"
Since I left the village of Caren
My life has been wonderful
Much experience I've gained
In Viña I've set up residence
To spend my retirement days
And now I am telling you
I am a renewed "huaso."

- Huaso = Pronounced "wasso", is the name given to peasants from the central valleys of Chile.

B9. CUECA TRILOGY TO VALPARAISO

B9a. HOW BEAUTIFUL IT IS

A TOAST:
A toast to Valparaiso
To its crazy architecture
To its hills and plains
Precipices and ravines.
A necessary toast also
To its brave fishermen
To its poets and musicians
Who have given fame to the port.
A toast to La Sebastiana
And honor to Neruda.

CUECA:
Valparaiso is beautiful
With its illuminated hills
Lights seem to quiver
Like a sky full of stars.

The moon over the ocean
Brightly lights the night
The houses all bunched up
A marvelous sight.

A marvelous sight, yes sir
Are all those outside elevators
And so are the painters, poets
And graphic designers.

A toast to Pancho Gancho *
and to my crumbling old shack.

* Pancho Gancho = Valparaiso.

B9b. THE MUSES

A TOAST:
A toast to Valparaiso
To its hills and hillsides
To its beaches and coastal roads
And to its old buildings.
A toast to my good luck
Since I can be today
Residing here on this port
Admiring the bay
A toast to my poetry
Which I throw to the four winds.

CUECA:
There have been many painters
Who have painted the port
There hav been many poets
Who in Pancho found inspiration.

It has all the ingredients
That anyone needs
A source of inspiration
For any artist on earth.

Any artist on earth, yes sir
Would wish
To live in Valparaiso
All of his life.

There is no other like it
Anywhere in the world!

B9c. PICTURESQUE PORT

There isn't in the world
--I say it without arrogance--
A more picturesque port
Than Valparaiso Port.

The wind makes them flap
When they hang from the balconies
Underskirts and brassieres
And also colorful panties.

Colorful panties, yes sir
White and beige
Yellow and black
Nobody is ashamed to show them.

The nice lady next door
Prefers to wear pink ones.
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Translation: Sergio Reyes
Proof: M. Witham