Guantanamera - the most famous song in the Spanish language

Our song this week is Guantanamera, a folk song from the island of Cuba. The title means a woman from Guantanamo, a place now notorious as an American prison. Guajira is Cuban slang for a woman from the country (a peasant woman) and is also a style of Cuban song.

It is probably Cuba’s most famous song and has been recorded by many international artists including Joan Baez, José Feliciano, Wyclef Jean, Trini Lopez, Nana Mouskouri and Bobby Darin; also by such groups as Los Lobos, and the Gipsy Kings. Our version is by Celia Cruz (pictured left), one of the most popular Latin American singers ever. The song has a background video of Cuban scenes and listed to her roll those Rs. Click here to see it.

Guantanamera uses words from Cuban poet and independence fighter José  Martí, who was killed fighting against Spanish troops in the Battle of Dos Ríos on May 19, 1895 while trying to liberate Cuba from Spanish imperial power. It was radio host José Fernández who popularised the song in Cuba in the 1920s. He used it in his radio programme and composed new, contemporary words each day as a satirical commentary on news and politics on the island.

The popularity of the song in Western culture is down to American folk singer Pete Seeger. He performed the song as a symbol of unity between the Americans and Cuban people during the Cuba missile crisis. He insisted it be sung in Spanish to “hasten the day when American becomes a bi-lingual country.” He recorded it on his 1963 album We Shall Overcome and it was picked up by the easy-listening group The Sandpipers in 1966 and became a massive international hit.

There are many verses, but these are the most common.

Yo soy un hombre sincero

De donde crece la palma,

Y antes de morir yo quiero

Cantar mis versos del alma.

Cultivo una rosa blanca

En julio como enero,

Para el amigo sincero

Que me da su mano franca.

Mi verso es de un verde claro

Y de un carmín encendido:

Mi verso es un ciervo herido

Que busca en el monte amparo.

No me pongan en lo oscuro
A morir como un traidor
Yo soy bueno y como bueno
Moriré de cara al sol

Con los pobres de la tierra

Quiero yo mi suerte echar:

El arroyo de la sierra

Me complace más que el mar.

Celia Cruz does not sing the last verse (which is my favourite). This version by Julio Iglesias does have the last verse.

So what do the lyrics mean? It is hard to translate poetry, but here goes:

1. I am an honest man from where the palm tree grows and before I die, I want to sing the verses of my soul.
2. I grow a white rose in July and January for the honest friend, who offers me his open hand.
3. My verses are clear green and bright red and like the wounded fawn that seeks shelter in the mountains.
4. Don’t put me in the dark to die like a traitor. I am a good man and I will die with the sun on my face.
5. With the poor people of the earth I cast my lot. The mountain brook pleases me more than the sea.

If you think the tune is familiar, football fans sing: “There’s only one ...” to the tune of Guantanamero.