"Hasta Siempre" is a 1965 song by Cuban composer Carlos Puebla. The song's lyrics are a reply to Che Guevara's Farewell Letter, at the moment he left Cuba. The lyrics recount key moments of the Cuban Revolution, glorifying Che Guevara and his role in this revolution.
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The title is a kind of farewell - means “Always faithful” or (directly translated) “Until always”.
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This is my favorite Cuban song. As a matter of fact it was the first Spanish song that I have learned. Two years ago I spent two nice weeks in Cuba, traveling through the whole country. In every hotel at the evening they used to play this song and I always wanted to learn what was is it about, ‘cause at that time my whole Spanish was reduced only to so called “four letter” words (a lot of them in fact, but in Latin America it’s better advised to know them, just for your own safety - in Spain you don’t have to, as almost nobody uses them).
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There are many versions of this song. Almost every popular singer sang it. I have chosen this one because it’s with acoustic guitar and it resembles what I heard in Cuba.
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In different versions some part of this song have been slightly changed, as it is in this one, but it does not change the meaning. The main difference is that Cuban singers mostly instead of “y con Fidel te decimos” sing “y con Cuba te decimos”.