Victor Jara and Che Guevara
HISTORY REVEALS PATTERNS and patterns reveal truths. Truth is not always beautiful. Sometimes it is very brutal and bloody, like freedom. Freedom is a time for music and so is war. A revolutionary hand can strum a guitar or wield a machete. Or both.
FROM ONE REVOLUTIONARY HEART TO ANOTHER, this song was written by Victor Jara about Che Guevara. I learned about Victor Jara when I learned about Chile which was part of my learning about the CIA and the USA’s historical manner of toppling or propping up governments on the sly and all the harm this can lead to, and where I arrived by way of studying Mexican American history. Because it all interweaves—which is part of why I do feel solidarity with raza. It’s not about some idea of Us vs Them. Nuestra historias intertwine and struggles overlap. The story of the Pinochet coup alone is a horrendous tale of pain and injustice all by itself. Then you begin peeking in on Latin America overall, or CIA-aided mayhem overall, and so much about today’s world and peoples and happenings becomes crystal clear.
A sage soul once said “If you know your history, then you will know where you’re coming from. Then you won’t have to ask me who the hell do I think I am!”
This song is really beautiful. The melodies and harmonies flow like nectar over a sharp knife.
Tags: Allende, Che Guevara, Chile, Coup, Harmony, Melody, Music, Pinochet, Revolutionaries, Ronald Reagan, Victor Jara, Youtube
Posted in Cultura, History, Music
dropping by to say hello.
A Cubano played this for me in Cuba once. Now, it’s like a tourist song. sad. I have mixed feelings about Che….
i actually think bob words had more of an impact on me than ernesto’s. bob was a beautiful man and if you ask the people in jamaica what gave them the strength to resist, they’ll tell you about bob and if you ask them what gave them the conscience to step back and think before acting in anger, they’ll also tell you about bob. now, that’s impressive–to control the machetes of others with the strum of a guitar.
I hope all is well, comrade.
agreed…marley’s words are integrated to my thoughts and early learnings and i kick back his quotes on the regular and its organic because my beliefs intertwine and are bolstered by an effortless constant recollection and identification of his message. and that is a manifestation of his power (or power of the energy he channeled) too. and the one you underline is a strong one, simón.
it’s good to see you. really. it’s been a little bit.
OH and i’m glad that this is not a tourist song to me. that would indeed feel sad!
but perhaps after all it would make more sense to compare jara’s words/energies with marley’s than marley’s with che’s?