Aquí Me Quedo (I’ll stay here)

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Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I could write a second post this week, as I arrived Thursday late back home from the trip to Southern Germany, and I was almost flat after a long drive with many car crashes and some pile-ups (thank goodness we were just spectators in the traffic jam). Yet, I know a specific resistance within me calls for expressing my feelings for freedom and justice. Therefore, I decided to share some artwork from Victor Jara, one of my favourites in the matter of resistance, in company with another warrior, Pablo Nerud.

I discovered Victor Jara and his music in the early 1970s when Chile began its transition towards democracy. Following the fall of the Shah’s regime, I learned more about his work. Victor Jara was undoubtedly a legend, and I loved his music.
He composed music for Pablo Neruda’s poems. He performed at a ceremony honouring him when Neruda was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1972, so we have two masters of art here to speak about human rights!

By Rec79 – Own work

I am sharing this with you because there is a lot of talk about separatism in Iran at the moment, which is causing fear that Iran will be split up. However, this justification is baseless because all the people and ethnicities of Iran are united in seeking human rights and fair politics. Here, Pablo Neruda, through Victor Jara’s music and voice, says what it’s all about!

Aquí Me Quedo (I’ll stay here)

I do not want the country divided
Not even bled by seven knives
I want the light of Chile raised
About the new house built

I do not want the country divided
We all fit in my land
And those who believe they are prisoners
They go away with their melody

The rich have always been foreigners
Let them go to Miami with their aunts
I do not want the country divided
They go away with their melody

I do not want the country divided
We all fit in my land
I stay to sing with the workers
In this new history and geography

And in this song, one of his masterpieces, he humbly highlights the importance of rights and justice!

I do not sing for singing
Yo no canto por cantar

not even for having a good voice,
ni por tener buena voz,

I sing because the guitar
canto porque la guitarra

It makes sense and reason.
tiene sentido y razón.

It has a heart of earth
Tiene corazón de tierra

and dove wings,
y alas de palomita,

It’s like holy water
es como el agua bendita

holy glories and sorrows.
santigua glorias y penas.

This is where my song fits
Aquí se encajó mi canto

as Violeta said
como dijera Violeta

working guitar
guitarra trabajadora

with the smell of spring.
con olor a primavera.

It’s not a rich man’s guitar
Que no es guitarra de ricos

not anything that looks like
ni cosa que se parezca

my song is from the scaffolding
mi canto es de los andamios

to reach the stars,
para alcanzar las estrellas,

that the song has meaning
que el canto tiene sentido

when it beats in the veins
cuando palpita en las venas

of the one who will die singing
del que morirá cantando

the true truths,
las verdades verdaderas,

not fleeting flattery
no las lisonjas fugaces

nor foreign fame
ni las famas extranjeras

but the song of a market
sino el canto de una lonja

to the bottom of the earth.
hasta el fondo de la tierra.

That’s where everything comes
Ahí donde llega todo

and where it all begins
y donde todo comienza

I sing that it has been brave
canto que ha sido valiente

It will always be a new song.
siempre será canción nueva.

I wish you a happy Easter filled with leisure and joy. Stay safe and stay tuned. 💖🙏🌹💕💥🍷

24 thoughts on “Aquí Me Quedo (I’ll stay here)”

  1. Happy Easter.

    I don’t know if some countries aren’t better off separated – I wouldn’t make that determination FOR them – but even with the best intentions, some unions (marriages included) don’t last.

    Good breakup: the Soviet Union (even though Putin keeps trying to put it back together).

    I don’t know if Czechoslovakia is better in pieces, but they decided. And Britain left the EU. FWIW.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Well, all said, dear Alicia, though humans are my most critical thoughts. For me, a country’s borders don’t matter; the main thing is the justice that affects people. Also, justice for all!🖖🤙✊ Happy Easter. 💖🙏🦋🌹

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Easter Blessings dear Aladin! I hope you enjoyed your recent spring break! Thank you for introducing Victor’s music and poetry to me. What an incredible creative soul he had, much like Pablo’s. Both have and will continue to inspire generations to come! Love and light, Deborah.

    Liked by 1 person

    • You always read not only the lines but also between them, my dear teacher. Thank you so much for your wisdom and inspiration. Have a blessed season, dearest Jeane.🙏🤗💖😘🌹🦋

      Like

  7. I’ve read and listened to the wonderful (and so sad) Victor Jara several times. And about Pablo, always. Thank you.

    Let’s hope that Iran comes up, like Chile after the dictator, Pinochet.

    By the way, Happy Easter for yesterday, Aladin! 💛🌻🌼

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Beautiful. Thank goodness for the arts and the artists.

    I love guitar. I think I already told you that I married a guitar player, long ago. He still plays.

    I’m listening to the second song now. I never heard these before. Love them . Thank you!

    Countries separating… can we not all just get it together, get on same pages…or maybe different pages, but in the same book.

    There is a segment of Canada that wants to separate. Their movement has bee around my entire life. They have their own political party, whose mandate is to separate – Parti Québécois.

    They claim the British took Quebec (civilized Canada at the time)from them. They lost the war in 1759.

    They have their nerve! They stole Quebec from the native inhabitants, out aboriginal population.

    All of our country was stolen by our forefathers. We need to get that in perspective!

    Thank you for this thoughtful post, Aladin!

    You always make me think.

    💖🎼🌺💓

    Liked by 1 person

    • Honestly, the issue of Quebec, or Canada as a whole, is a frequent example in Iranian discussions about how different nations can live together in peace. You’ve made it clear with your wonderful sentence.:
      “Countries separating… can we not all just get it together, get on same pages…or maybe different pages, but in the same book.”
      I am happy you enjoyed this littleness from me, my dear Resa. Your wise words also help me think to a great extent.

      🙏🥰💖🌟🌹

      Liked by 1 person

      • Interesting, I wasn’t sure if any place/people in the world know about Canada’s separation issue.
        In many ways, it is a good example.

        There’s a true story.
        Bouchard, who was the Bloc leader at a time when separation was very heated, went to the Prime Minister’s office, and plopped a massive book on the desk.

        It was a book tracing the history of how the French settled Canada, and how the English stole it.
        He demanded separation!
        It made all the news.
        A few days later, the chief of the aboriginal tribes of Quebec showed up at Bouchard’s office. He plunked a massive book on Bouchard’s desk.
        The book was about the lives of the original inhabitants of Canada, their culture, their history and how the French stole their lands from them.
        The chief demanded a major share of Quebec, if separation happened. He cited the area of the existing settlements that were stolen long ago. What the chief was demanding was the major and most important lands of Quebec.

        Do the original inhabitants own the land? Do the peoples who stole it through war and violence own the land?

        Anyway, I always saw some karma at play when Bouchard got flesh eating disease and lost a leg.
        Who now owns the leg?

        💖💓☀️😘

        Liked by 1 person

      • Well said, my lovely, wise friend! It is the same story in America, where Spain has brutally stolen the land of the Mayas, Incas, and Aztecs. It is also the same in Northern America.🤙💖🌻🙏
        Flesh-eating disease is terrible luck, and I don’t know who this leg belongs to now, but it’s definitely not his anymore! 🙄🤗

        Liked by 1 person

  9. elainemansfield

    I love that the guitar has the “heart of earth.” Hearing loss has been a punishment because I no longer hear the heart of the earth in complex ways. In earlier days, I shared poetry readings with a close Spanish speaking friend. She first read Neruda in English and then the same poem in Spanish–twice. I loved hearing his song in his native tongue. Sending blessings to you with the peace that comes from your poetic passion.

    Liked by 1 person

    • Heartfelt thanks, my lovely, wise Elaine. It had to sound beautiful in Spanish, as I love that language. And I am so happy this time I have put the words too, that you can read them. Be blessed and safe, my dear friend.🙏🙏💖💖💕😘

      Like

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