Earworm of the day: Chile lindo by Omara Portuondo
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnCGJyeSYWoI love Omara Portuondo’s CD Dos Gardenias, from which this version of Chile lindo is taken. My favorite song on it is actually Gracias a la vida, but as I was unable to find a decent-sounding version on YouTube, and Chile lindo comes a close second, here it is!
I understand very little Spanish, so I don’t understand the text. But I love the music, the voice and the rendering of the song.
What songs in the Spanish language do you like especially?
– Rike Horstmann[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Rike, like you, I don’t understand or speak Spanish, even after having taken a few semesters of it. But I love to listen to songs sung in Spanish. My all-time favorite group is Los Lobos, and I agree that Omara Portuondo, who I first heard sing in the Wim Winders documentary The Buena Vista Social Club, is wonderful.
Hmm, the only one I can think of off the top of my head is Feliz Navidad. But I’m sure there are others! :)
Oh, that’s nice. It’s a paean to the country of Chile. It starts “Please help me, my friend, to shout out a “Viva Chile”! :)
Gracias a la Vida is a beautiful song as well. How about these two versions? First the original, Violeta Parra version:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UW3IgDs-NnA
And then this cover by Mercedes Sosa, which is probably the version I heard the most growing up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIrGQD84F1g
I especially like a Spanish singer from the 70s, Nino Bravo. He’s got a song called Libre (Free), which just hits me in the gut.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGfNvVIwsTs
Every time I hear it I tear up, because it makes me miss my dad. Back when I still lived in Uruguay, he and I used to sit and listen to his Nino Bravo record together. In fact, I think I’ll ring him now :) Anyway, I also like several others of Nino Bravo’s, like Un Beso y Una Flor and America.
More modern stuff, completely different: I love Clara, by a band called No Te Va Gustar, especially the second half of the song where they incorporate some “murga”, which is a traditional Uruguayan choral genre. The official version is here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vt28KeXI9Hc
but my favourite is a live version, where they bring in a singer from another band, and they do a sort of medley of Clara and another song, Cosa Linda, which is also great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxEq3ls-WfA