Hasta siempre, comandante
"Hasta Siempre, Comandante" or "Hasta Siempre" (Spanish for: Until Eternity, Commandant ) is a song by the Cuban composer Carlos Puebla from 1965. The lyrics are a response to a farewell letter possibly written by Che Guevara .
History of origin
In April 1965, Che Guevara left Cuba and went to the Congo , first there and then in Bolivia to promote the liberation struggle. He did not return to Cuba alive. On October 3, 1965, Fidel Castro had a farewell letter allegedly written by Che Guevara read out to him and the Cuban people. “Hasta Siempre, Comandante” was Carlos Puebla's musical answer to this letter.
text
The title of the song quotes Guevara's well-known motto “¡Hasta la victoria siempre!” (“Always until you win!”). Puebla's text tells the most important moments of the Cuban revolution and of Che Guevara's role as revolutionary commander.
Original text
- Aprendimos crossed
- desde la histórica altura
- donde el sol de tu bravura
- le puso cerco a la muerte.
- Refrain :
- Aquí se queda la clara,
- la entrañable transparencia,
- de tu querida presencia,
- Comandante Che Guevara.
- Tu mano gloriosa y fuerte
- sobre la Historia dispara
- cuando todo Santa Clara
- se despierta para verte.
- [ Refrain ]
- Vienes quemando la brisa
- con soles de primavera
- para plantar la bandera
- con la luz de tu sonrisa.
- [ Refrain ]
- Tu amor revolucionario
- te conduce a nueva empresa
- donde esperan la firmeza
- de tu brazo libertario.
- [ Refrain ]
- Seguiremos adelante,
- como junto a tí seguimos,
- y con Fidel te decimos:
- "¡Hasta siempre, Comandante!"
Cover versions
There are more than 200 cover versions of the song. By: Robert Wyatt , Silvio Rodríguez , Maria Farantouri , Wolf Biermann (in German), George Dalaras , Jan Garbarek ( Witchi-Tai-To ), Giovanni Mirabassi and Al Di Meola , Nathalie Cardone , Mohsen Namjoo (in Persian), Boikot and Enrique Bunbury . There are also versions critical of Che Guevara such as B. El Chacal by Jose Conde and Ola Fresca .
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.marxists.org/deutsch/archiv/guevara/a_s_abacuf.html Text of the farewell letter (accessed on July 24, 2012)