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English
Translation
Girón Beach
My fellow poets,
Taking into account
The latest trends in poetry,
If you would allow me to ask (I feel that I must)
What kind of adjectives should one use to write
A poem about a ship?
Without sounding sentimental,
Old fashioned,
Or sounding like a polemical pamphlet
If I should I use words
Like Cuban fishing fleet
And Girón beach
My fellow musicians,
Taking into account
Today’s daring polytonal songs,
If you would allow me to ask (I feel that I must)
What type harmonies should one use to write
The song about this ship
With men who hardly had a childhood
Men who are just tough sailors on deck
Men black, red and blue,
The men who populate Girón beach
My companions in history
Taking into account
How unforgiving the truth must be,
If you would allow me to ask (I really feel that I must)
What should I say? Which rules should I respect?
If someone steals food and then gives up his life,
What should we do?
How far should we follow these truths?
How much do we really know?
Well, let them write the story,
Their own story, the men of Girón beach
marcos.sullivan✕
Comments
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About translator
Silvio Rodríguez is a Cuban singer-songwriter, a key figure in the folk protest movement known as Nueva Trova. In his early twenties he worked for 5 months on a fishing boat called Playa Girón. This provided the inspiration for this song, included on his debut album “Días y Flores” (1975). However, it is also the name of the beach which was a landing site during the infamous ‘Bay of Pigs’, the 1961 attack on Cuba engineered by the USA. Hence the title is loaded with meaning, and Rodriguez is acclaimed for this ability to combine poetry and politics in his lyrics.