Its Throwback Thursday once again and this week we’re talking about the legendary Spanish artist Nino Bravo. Despite being from Spain, Nino Bravo has had political impacts throughout Latin America. Read on to learn how.
Nino Bravo was born in Valencia, Spain on August 3rd, 1944. Bravo began singing early in life and began to attract attention when he was just 15 years old. Bravo began to sing with groups throughout Spain before going solo. His solo albums were well received with his final album “Libre” being a massive success. Bravo’s career was tragically cut short in 1973 when he was killed in a car accident southeast of Madrid.
This week’s song is “Libre”. In keeping with the Cuban theme of the last week or so, this song has taken on political contexts in South America since it’s release. The lyrics speak of being a free man and yearning for the inherent freedom that we’re granted by birth. It’s a song about escaping from a prison and achieving a freedom that has yet to be realized.
The song in many ways parallels the story of Peter Fetcher, a 18 year old German man who was murdered trying to flee Communist East Germany into West Germany. This interpretation of the song was widely circulated in Spain while the author of the song Pablo Herro intended the song to be a critique of Francisco Franco’s Spain.
The original intention of the song and it’s criticism of authoritarian regimes was widely spread throughout Latin America. The song became a rallying cry for anti-communist protesters. “Libre” was banned by the communist regimes of Cuba and Chile for that very reason.
From 1972, “Libre”
For last week’s post on Celia Cruz, click here.
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