11/26/2011

The song of a generation.

Where there is a despot, a system that tries to control basically every aspect of society and the lives of the ones living in it, there are always some individuals who resist - maybe it means helping others, the way Oskar Schindler did during World War II, maybe they decide it's time to get together and start a revolution because they just have to try, just like in Hungary in 1956. Then, of course, there are the artists, who know how to touch people and how to make them realize that together we can do more.
Luis Llach's song L'estaca was translated to many languages and is the symbol of resistance, of not accepting tyranny. It was written in 1968 using metaphors to prevent the censorship from banning it and - like many other songs composed in that era - it still has a meaning and it is still very inspiring.




The lyrics in English would be something like this:


Grandpa Siset spoke with me
early in the morning, in the frontdoor
while we were wainting for the sun
and we saw the cars passing by
Siset, don't you see the stake
where we all are tied?
If we cannot undo it
we won't be able to walk!

If we all pull it, it will fall
and it can't last much time,
surely it falls, falls, falls,
it must be worm-eaten by now.
If I pull hard towards here,
and you pull it towards there,
I'm sure it falls, falls, falls,
and we'll be able to be free!

But it's been a long time, now
My hands are peeling
And when my force goes
it's wider and bigger.
Yes I know it's rotten,
but you know, Siset, it's so heavy,
sometimes force forgets me.
Sing to me again your song:

If we all pull it, it will fall
and it can't last much time,
surely it falls, falls, falls,
it must be worm-eaten by now.
If I pull hard towards here,
and you pull it towards there,
I’m sure it falls, falls, falls,
and we'll be able to be free!

Grandpa Siset doesn't speak anymore
bad wind who took him away
he, who knows where,
and me, here under the door
and when new boys pass by
I strech my neck to sing
Siset's last song,
the last thing he taught me

If we all pull it, it will fall
and it can't last much time,
surely it falls, falls, falls,
it must be worm-eaten by now.
If I pull hard towards here,
and you pull it towards there,
I’m sure it falls, falls, falls,
and we'll be able to be free!

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