Letra de Acompáñeme civil
I was coming down Tiradentes, in my car heading towards the Sea.
Then in front of me, at a frequent traffic stop, I was instructed to pull over.
He asked for my driver’s license with feverish eyes.
What else are you supposed to do?
His hands carried a thousand papers, fundamentals of bureaucracy
All in all, my voter’s registration isn’t worth a thing
‘Your drivers license’ he said to me,
‘Expired in the month of April’
‘Come with me quietly, to the police barracks’
‘Or we can resolve this here…’
‘Pay me to not report you, and forget this ever happened.’
[Repeats several times]
Come with me quietly…
Come with me quietly…
Come with me quietly…
Come with me quietly…
Avenida Tiradentes in Santo Domingo got its name in 1948 as an insult to the ideals of a democratic republic forming in Brazil. The name was chosen by Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in gratitude to the totalitarian military government of Eurico Gaspar Dutra, which ruled Brazil at the time and had begun to supply military aid to the Trujillo regime after the United States had withdrawn support for Trujillo’s rule.
‘Tiradentes’ is a reference to Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, who was a member of the Brazilian Independence movement known as Inconfidencia Mineira (1789). He is widely regarded as a Revolutionary Hero who fought to establish an Independent Republic in Brazil and sought to end Portuguese colonial rule. The rebellion was unsuccessful and Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier was hanged after a three year trial.
It was during that trial that he was first referred to as ‘Tiradentes’, which literally means ‘tooth puller’. The origins of the pejorative term go back to a time when poor people would sell their teeth. During a very political trial, it was intended to discredit the separatist forces and as an accusation that the failed revolutionary movement was an attempt to defraud the poor.
The mention of ‘Tiradentes’ in Juan Luis Guerra’s Acompaneme Civil can be interpreted as a reminder of those events and a reference to corruption and abuse of power. Themes that recur frequently in Guerra’s political songs.