Silvio Rodriguez is known in Latin America simply as Silvio.
This alone goes to show the status he has reached in his beloved America Latina.
"Cuba Classics" or "Canciones Urgentes" (Urgent Songs) is usually the album of his that you will find more readily in Britain. However, you can order most of them from amazon.co.uk. This one costs £11.99.
**************************************** Silvio Rodriguez Dominguez is a Cuban; a Cuban of the Revolution. Many will find that a put off, sadly few people really understand the Cuban Revolution and only heed what the media say about it, but that is a different topic. I urge you to pay more attention to the artistic side of his though, for his melodic music is simply matchless and for those who understand Spanish, his lyrics are pure poetry.
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It is very difficult to "judge" an album of this maestro, and indeed I will do no such thing. I will merely try to describe what I personally feel about his music, adding some information, only very little, as there is so much to say about this man.
To fully appreciate Silvio's music, an understanding of Spanish is extremely useful, although certainly not a necessity; but his lyrics are as important as his music, if not more so.
They are heart felt poems about various topics; love, life, personal reflections and injustice in the world. His is deeply and has always been deeply motivated by all the injustices going on in the world, including of course, the embargo on his native Cuba, where he has always resided and still does.
In his latest album "Cita Con Angeles" (Rendez-vous with Angels), there is a song which carries the same title as the album, in which he talks of angels who have frantically tried, throughout the ages, to protect atrocities from happening, but have failed; he mentions Martin Luther King's death, John Lennon's, Giordano Bruno's; he talks of Hiroshima, the two towers and other things… I have mentioned this song in particular because I find it particularly striking, but then again, most of his songs are.
I will write a separate review about "Cita Con Angeles", but I will now focus on the one this review is about.
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"Canciones Urgentes" is in a sense a "Best of" album, though I have always found this a scornful term to use, especially when dealing with seriously big artists such as Silvio Rodriguez.
However, it does contain two of his most renowned hymns:
"Playa Girón" is a song about the Bay of Pigs invasion, which happened on Playa Girón (Girón beach) in 1961. A very poignant song, using mainly acoustic guitars. It is a poetic and desperate cry to poets, historians, musicians… and the world as a whole. Silvio questions the way in which we should relate to and remember this event.
"Unicornio" has become a mantra to all Silvio lovers. It is a song about ideals; where he has lost his Unicornio Azul (Blue Unicorn) and is desperately searching for it, offering anything to anyone to find it again. The melody is very soft and deep, with hints of sadness intermingled with hope.
The other songs on the album are:
"Sueño de una noche de verano" (Midsummer night's dream), which starts very calmly and gets more lively throughout. Brass instruments, acoustic guitars and piano dominate. This one is about a dream, which is sadly reality, of planes darkening the skies, people killing each other and Silvio wondering why it is that, if we were born to enjoy life and love one another, we should so strive to commit such horrors.
"Causas y Azares" (Reasons and Chances of Fate) is a salsa, with a very contagious rhythm. The lyrics, as one would expect, are about what the title purports, I could not say more without having to write all the lyrics down. A very lively song!
"Como Esperando Abril" (As if waiting for April) is another lively melody, but not a salsa. Guitars, violins, flutes, drums and other instruments provoke almost instant visualisations of flowers and spring. The lyrics are not easy to explain, so I will not.
"Canto Arena" (Sand Song - or - I sing Sand! Not easy to translate!) is weaved with angelic flutes, but there are also percussions, drums, bass and keyboards. It is quite calm, but the chorus is very vivacious. Very metaphorical lyrics, as Silvio's tend to be, so as above, I will not go into this.
"La Maza" (The Bat, Stick orMallet!) is a very calming tune, played mainly with acoustic guitars. A chant to beliefs and their importance to summarise somehow too concisely.
"Canción Urgente Para Nicaragua" (Urgent Song for Nicaragua) is another very dynamic salsa, which tends to instantly make one want to get up and dance. As the title declares, it is a song in defence of Nicaragua.
"Sueño Con Serpientes" (I dream of Serpents), another of Silvio's hymns, is totally mesmerising, the acoustic guitars draw you as if by magic into the song. Again, very metaphoric, a dream where Silvio fights serpents who try to overpower him; each time he succeeds in killing one, a bigger one appears. But through love, goodness and truth, he ends up prevailing!
"Nuestro Tema" (Our song) is a tender and very enjoyable lively love song.
"No hacen falta Alas" (Wings are not necessary) starts very gently and builds up more energy as it flows. Another poem, about dreams and life and to put it much less poetically than he does, about the fact that dreams can still be realised without wings.
"Oh Melancolía" (Oh Melancholy!) streams you into a feeling akin to its title; the piano gently touches the soul, while the words, about loneliness and sadness, paint these sentiments with lyrical beauty. This may sound contradictory, but though the subject is not a happy one, the music and the poem are very uplifting.
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Silvio's guitar playing is unique; although he is extremely self-critical, there is no doubt to the fact that he is an absolute genius at creating intricate melodies that stick in your mind. Intense, deep, moving melodies that go straight to your heart and are as gentle as a tender kiss. Most of his music is quite serene and sometimes even melancholic, but he does have a lot of lively songs as well.
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When I started learning Spanish, I used to translate Silvio's songs to help me learn more of the language, and the more I understood his lyrics, the more I wanted to learn the language, so for anyone interested in Spanish, this would be a great idea.
Although his music itself is sincerely beautiful and … I can hardly find the words to describe it… there is a lot of acoustic guitar, flutes, harp, violin, African drums, percussions… I find it imperative to emphasize the importance of his lyrics.
It is difficult to find artists who give much weight to what they sing about nowadays, if any at all, but Silvio is one of those artists who can only sing something worthwhile, because he does it naturally and always has done.
This does not mean that his lyrics are too complicated, although they often are, and he uses a lot of metaphors, but many of them ooze the meaning and wisdom that sometimes only the simplest words can unveil.
I would of course…ahem…recommend this album to anyone who is wondering whether it would be worth it. I do believe that any person who truly enjoys music and feels it is as much a balm and a friend as it is an enjoyment, will know how to appreciate the work of this grand maestro.
And just in case you do enjoy it and are interested in knowing more, and although I have no doubt that you could find the following information on one of the tens of thousands of websites about Silvio Rodriguez, here is a list (by no means comprehensive) of some of his albums.
"Cita Con Angeles" "Expedición" (Recorded with a whole symphonic orchestra) "Mariposas" (with Rey Guerra) "Descartes" "EnVivo (Live) en Argentina" (with Pablo Milanés) "Silvio" "Domínguez" "Rodríguez" "Silvio Autobiográfico" "En Vivo en Chile" "Oh Melancolía" "Causas y Azares" "Tríptico- Vol I" "Tríptico Vol II" "Tríptico Vol III" "Arboles" (with Roy Brown and Afrocuba" "Unicornio" "Rabo de Nube" "Mujeres" "Al Final de este viaje…" "Te doy una canción" "Días y Flores"
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