Until recently all I had of his was the compilation "Canciones Urgentes" put together by David Byrne. Recently I've acquired two early albums 'Al Final De Este Viaje' and 'Mujeres' where Silvio is simply accompanied by his acoustic guitar and also his most recent album of orchestrated songs 'Expedicion'. Are there any other Silviophiles here? Do you need to understand some Spanish to appreciate his work? Are there any English versions of his songs? What are the best albums in his extensive discography?
― Amarga (Amarga), Thursday, 31 July 2003 11:15 (twenty-two years ago)
I wasn't expecting many answers but I was hoping for a couple to my first attempt at a thread. He's one of those artists, like B Dylan, The Beatles etc. for whom doing a classic or dud would be ridiculous, which is not the same as saying that everyone would like his work.
― Amarga (Amarga), Friday, 1 August 2003 11:17 (twenty-two years ago)
I have to admit, he's just an unfamiliar name to me. :-(
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 1 August 2003 14:18 (twenty-two years ago)
I've seen his name dropped in discussions of nueva trova(new ballad) and nueva cancion(new song) semi-political singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist performers but I figured my Spanish wasn't good enough to properly appreciate him. But maybe his melodies and playing are striking enough that i would like him anyway if I checked him out.
I recently saw an ad in a Spanish language paper for a Ricardo Arjona show at a 4,000 seat arena outside DC. I briefly checked him out online and he sounds like a more mainstream singer/songwriter/acoustic guitarist type. None of these folks get much if any attention from the English-language press. Arjona I think is Guatemalean but popular in Mexico.
― Steve Kiviat (Steve K), Friday, 1 August 2003 15:06 (twenty-two years ago)
five months pass...
I've just done a search on this thread to find some answers, apart from my own that is. Fab!
I found some basic translations of the lyrics to Expedicion on Silvio's site (done by someone in Melbourne funnily enough considering how hard it is to find Silvio albums here). I've been amusing myself improving upon them (I'm not quite up to taking on a project like that from scratch. It's so much easier to piggy back of someone else's work.) Here are the lyrics to the first track on Expedicion called Toti, a paean to the Cuban Blackbird.
Blackbird
One afternoon I climbed
On the back of a blackbird,
A singing piece of charcoal,
As it took flight.
I had time to take
A little spray of flowering cactus
And rosemary with me
So that I would feel safe.
And I left in a flurry of darkness
Like a horseman in a gale,
With the scent of the nocturnal
On my iridescent jewel of jet.
Beautiful, dusky blackbird,
Backdrop of the universe,
Plaything, gateway,
Inverted phantom,
Prayer of a divine devil.
Expedicion is one of the very best albums I bought last year. It's quite a good album for a non Spanish speaker because you can get into the music (Silvio did the orchestral arrangements himself and they're interesting) without having to understand the words. It's important to know though that there's a bittersweet dynamic going on in the work. It might appear deceptively (and probably for some people) off-puttingly sweet on the surface but it's a lot darker when you look deeper.
Some of the songs have political meanings but they're not necessarily what you'd expect. The song Expedicion (Expedition) was inspired by the Elian Gonzalez case. It takes place upon the doomed ship. I've come to wonder whether Silvio is using it (the ship) as a metaphor for Cuba which would be a rather subversive reading whereas he has a reputation for supporting the government.
― Amarga (Amarga), Saturday, 10 January 2004 06:32 (twenty-two years ago)
Giveme back my fucking unicorn you theif! ANd while you're there, don't you dare tell Yolanda what I said about her. Ojala that I don't see your name in all my canciones.
― ain't nuthin but a queen g thang, Saturday, 10 January 2004 11:24 (twenty-two years ago)
Well, as you know his songs, why don't you give your search and destroy opinion? I'm sure Silvio would like to know where is unicorn has gone to.
― Amarga (Amarga), Saturday, 10 January 2004 12:10 (twenty-two years ago)