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Published in 1971, Mediterranean It is the eighth studio album by Joan Manuel Serrat. There are many who consider him the best of the Spanish singer-songwriter’s career and one of the most important in Spanish-language music of the 20th century. Composed of ten songs, the album has some of the hymns from the Serratian songbook. There is no doubt that songs of the dimension of Lucía, Pueblo Blanco, Those little things, Mediterranean and wander They have a special place in the feelings of at least three generations of Spanish speakers.
Each of these songs distills Serrat’s lyricism, one that was nourished by the poems of the Generation of ’27the one defeated in the Spanish Civil War, and some of the voices of Latin American letters.
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Both for long-time lovers of Serrat’s music and for those who are only now coming to his music, the songs of Mediterranean They recall the validity of a poet who took up the guitar and a musician who was not intimidated by free verse.
1). Lucya letter to nowhere
There has been much speculation about the identity of the recipient of this song. It has been said that she is a stewardess with whom the young Serrat fell in love and with whom he could not build a family. Serrat himself has fueled the legend by refusing to clarify whether Lucía is a character from the real world or the one in his imagination. Speculations aside, the truth is that this song has some of the most beautiful love verses in Spanish music.
If I was ever a bird of passage/ I forgot it to nest in your arms/ If I was ever beautiful and I was good/ It was tangled in your neck and your breasts/ If I was ever wise in love/ I learned it from your singing lips / If I ever loved, if someday after loving I loved, / it was for your love, Lucía, Lucía.
Numerous versions have been made of this song. Here we share one recorded by Joan Manuel and by Silvio Rodriguez.
Keep reading: New laurel for the singer of the sea and wine: Joan Manuel Serrat is the winner of the Princess of Asturias Award for the Arts
2). Mediterraneanthe anthem of the waves
Sometimes comparisons serve to get an idea of the relevance of something. With this clear it can be said that Mediterranean has for Spanish the importance that Like a rolling stoneof Bob Dylanhave for English; Ne quitte pas, of Jacques Brelfor French, and Garota of Ipanema, of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes, for Portuguese. What’s more, in 2004 Rolling Stone magazine named it the most important song written in Spanish during the 20th century.
3). wanderthe ethics of the traveler
In wander The Catalan composer reminds the listener of the greatness of the world, its breadth. This song is a kind of creed of the benefits of staying awake, of not losing the habit of traveling and crossing. The lyrical self of this song is very close to that of the Chinese poets of ancient times, who went from one town to another with their verses on them.
I don’t feel like a foreigner anywhere/ Where there is light and wine I have my home/ And so as not to forget what I was/ My country and my guitar I carry with me, Serrat sings.
