“Vivo en un país libre, Cual solamente puede ser libre, En esta tierra, en este instante, y soy feliz porque soy gigante”
What is the one decent thing that comes from dictatorship? Protest music.
One of the most iconic music movements of the 20th century, “Rock Nacional ” and “The Nueva Ola ” derived from the andean country of Argentina and its neighboring countries. Throughout the 60s and on, Leftist political ideals and American influence paved and permeated the growing scene spreading the Rock hysteria extensively. However in 1966 the country underwent yet another political turmoil, creating a significant amount of police brutality where the government saw rock culture as a promoter to leftist ideals. Thankfully in the early 70’s the return of democracy allowed artists to once again see the light of day and continue their performances. With musical influence from Pan-European folk, Bluegrass and Country, Argentina captivated a new side to Rock. Through the biggest names of Rock in Argentina, Charly Garcia, Gustavo Cerati, Luis Alberto Spinetta the new wave began.
Influenced by The Beatles and The Police, Cerati founded Soda Stereo, in 1982 which is considerably one of the most influential Latin Rock groups of all time. However after the group broke up in 1997, Cerati went on to make “Bocanada”, filled with beautiful atmospheres. The eclectic album makes for the perfect hypnotic trip hop-esque beats. Through the political dismay in Argentina, Cerati said, “The protest songs were not attractive to me from a musical standpoint, with everything focused on the lyrics and political issues. That’s all well and good, but not what I needed. As a young musician, my ideas were quite the contrary. And people would call us plastic and frivolous, but I wanted energy—to move, to dance, to amuse myself. There were musicians like Silvio Rodriguez and [Joan Manuel] Serrat who nevertheless had an impact on me. But I needed something else—a contrary influence. I needed noise. I was living in the punk era”. Similarly artist, Charly Garcia, first formulating his music through the band, Sui Generis, created loose concept albums that were carefully adjusted as a means to bypass censorship. Primarily experimenting with Psychedelic Rock and later classifying as Folk Rock, Sui Generis’s “Pequeñas Anécdotas sobre las Instituciones (Little Anecdotes about the Institutions)” reflected the unstable nature of the political and social state of Argentina. Songs were primarily about the Catholic Church, the government, the judicial system and on. When the band broke up in 1975, Garcia went on to formulate the supergroup, Seru Giran. One of my favorite groups of all time. Many of their songs used the apathy of middle-class society under dictatorship. One of the most influential albums (in my opinion) to come out of the multi-faceted Garcia would be “Peperina”, Seru Giran’s fourth studio album. In order to combat the censorship, Seru Giran would incorporate an invented language that challenges interpretation. The piquant words of protest challenged the impoverishment of lyrical work through the censorship.
On the other hand, Luis Alberto Spinetta avoided the description of Argentine politics through his music, instead offering an escape to the harsh realities of the people through mythical lands. One of his groups, Almendra, released a self-titled album in 1969 which avoided common places and created an audibly unique listening experience.
Making our way to the Caribbean to one of the most culturally rich countries, Cuba. In 1967 a movement was formed called, “La Nueva trova Cubana” emerging after the Cuban revolution of 1959. The main proponents of this movement being Pablo Milanes and Silvio Rodriguez created painstaking, poetic ballads that intertwined identity and the revolution. The lyrics of these songs were politically charged/socially conscious. Rodriguez sings of revolution and its heroes, colonialism and his condemnation of it, and overall reflects the human experience. Taking the song, “Te doy una canción”, which had become an anthem of the revolution, opened people up to the Cuban reality. Through his bitingly sarcastic commentary on censorship, and his combination of the romanticism with existentialism, his pieces became an emblem to leftist culture. Through the common goal of these musicians being to defeat the censorship policies whilst conveying messages of protest against the regime.
