el profeta

luís sent me all these rockdrigo links recently, and an email that said: i consider him a working class revolutionary poet who really connects with the people...

i agree! and i'm surprised the beloved df roquero (epd) has not made an appearance here until now. oops! pues, better late than never.

i especially love this one, so mexico city ...

rockdrigo gonzález : balada del asalariado (ballad of the working man)

me asome a la ventana
y vi venir al cartero
me entretuve pensando
en una carta de amor.
mas no, no, no...
eran la cuenta del refri
y del televisor

...

me asome a mis adentros
solo vi viejos cuentos,
y una manera insolita
de sobrevivir
mire hacia todos lados
dije: dios que ha pasado?
nada muchacho
solo eres un asalariado

**

and this one, metro balderas. of course, performed in the estación balderas. classic.

you should check out the comments to his songs on youtube, so much love for this guy. mixed with sentimental laments about his death. mixed with complaints that the rocanrol of today isn't. so great, and really only he could elicit all that.

¡que viva rockrigo! thank you, luís!

mantenlo prendido

oh man, the bomba estereo show at the independent tonight is sold out! i'm supposed to go for a birthday present :) i hope we get in!!

last time i saw colombianos perform at the independent was a couple years ago at the aterciopelados show in april 09. and i remember i got into it with this guy from barranquilla. he came up next to me, and wanted to talk. about colombia. had i ever been, do i know barranquilla, bla bla bla. he was telling me how beautiful it is, his country. and how safe for visitors now. i must of looked at him like he was insane when he said that. excellent, i said. safe for tourists, but one of the most dangerous places on earth if you're a trade unionist.

and then i told him, i know it's beautiful. my colombian friend spoke to me often about exactly that, how very very very beautiful it is. how he missed it every day, how more than anything he longed to go back. the guy looked confused and concerned. he was exiled, i said. pause, more confusion / concern. because he was a militant in the armed struggle. his eyes opened wide and that was the end of the conversation.

**

incidentally, i'm an aries, born in the year of the dragon, specifically the year of FIRE dragon. can you get more FUEGO than that? i don't think so.

fuego : bomba estereo