Guantanamera
It is 1966. The Sandpipers record the song “Guantanamera.” It rises to #9 on Billboard’s Top 100, and the song gains wide exposure to the Enlish-speaking world. I am in high school. I and my friends ignore the song. We consider it elevator music. Decades later and a universe away is a rap version by Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill with a cameo appearance by Celia Cruz, the great Cuban salsa singer. Jean’s version was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. A good version of the song somewhere between the above two in style is this version from Playing For Change. And here is Celia Cruz’s solo effort.
“Guantanamera” is a Cuban song based on poems by the Cuban revolutionary José Martí. The poems are from Martí’s book Versos Sincero published in 1890. The song’s lyrics are based on selections from several of the poems, primarily from “Yo Soy Un Hombre Sincero.” The poems and the song are outpourings from the soul of the poet expressing a love for Cuba and its beauty and an expression of solidarity with all the world’s poor. “Guantanamera” is “the most popular patriotic song of Cuba and was popularized in the US in the 1960s during the American folk revival.”* Versos Sincero was published only four years before Marti’s death. Some of his lyrics seem prescient: “Before I die, I want to pour out my soul’s verses.” Martí fought in Cuba’s war of independence from Spain and was killed in the war in 1895.
These snippets from the lyrics give the flavor of the song:
I’m an honest man
From where the palm trees grow
. . .
And before I die I want to let my verses out of my soul
. . .
With the poor of the earth
I want to make my destiny.
Joseíto Fernández wrote the song and first performed it on radio about 1929. The authorship of the lyrics was contested until 1993 when a Cuban court awarded credit for both the music and lyrics to Fernández. Here is Fernández singing. Pete Seeger sang the song at Carnegie Hall and recorded a version that included an introduction about José Martí. Seeger intended the song to be a protest song and wanted it used by the peace movement as a symbol of unity between the peoples of the US and Cuba during the Cuban missle crisis of 1963.
The Wikipedia entry on Guantanamera says that besides the versions I’ve already mentioned, 35 groups and individuals have recorded the song. Here are some more versions:
Compay Segundo and a collection of veteran Cuban musicians
A mariachi version by Mariachi Acapulco
Los Sabandeños, a band with a large chorus singing harmony
In this world with a lot of problems, all we need is a little loving. —Jon Batiste
* Wikipedia entry Guantanamera.