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Lamento
Borincano
(el
Jibarito) |
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The History of Lamento Borincano Latin Beat Magazine Author: Frank M. Figueroa Latin American writers of popular songs, drawing upon their mixed cultural heritage, further developed this music form. There was no shortage of sorrow and sadness among the population groups in America. The Spaniards longed for their Iberian home. The Africans endured slavery, separation from their native land, and later, oppression and discrimination when they became free. The Indians were driven from their land, enslaved and generally brutalized. Once the Spaniards were forced to leave, many countries in Latin America became colonies of the United States and the native citizenry continued to suffer. Facing this reality, the composers of "lamentos" provided people the opportunity to vent their frustrations and pain through singing or crying. The Spanish expression llori-cantar (to sob and sing) perhaps best describes this mixed reaction. The lamentos have been called the protest songs of their time, but they
lacked the anger and demanding tone of today's protest songs. They were
truly lamentations directed at God or to any sympathetic ear. In many
cases, the composers were not members of the oppressed groups and their
message was more conformist than rebellious. Among the best known lamentos
are Lamento Africano, Lamento Bohemio, Lamento Borincano, Lamento
Campesino, Lamento Cubano, Lamento Español, Lamento Gitano, and Lamento
Jarocho. In the years that followed, Rafael endured the miserable economic conditions forced upon his homeland by its status as a colony. The island's economy was strictly dependant on sugarcane production anti the sugar industry was almost totally in the hands of foreign investors. Thousands of sugarcane cutters worked the field for fifty cents a day. There was no running water or electricity in most of the rural areas. Trying to escape those conditions, the jíbaros sold their land for anything they could get and moved into the city slums of San Juan, Ponce, and Mayagüez. Life in the cities proved to be even more pathetic for them. Employment opportunities were scarce or nonexistent. They could no longer depend on homegrown products for food, and under nourishment made them victims of tuberculosis and anemia, the scourges of the time. Rafael Hernández internalized the woeful plight of his people and expressed their sorrow in songs such as Lamento Borincano. Puerto Ricans were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917, making possible migration to cities on the mainland such as New York. Those who could afford the price of a steamship ticket reluctantly left their island paradise for the uncertainty of life in a foreign land. Among the expatriates were several musicians and composers such as Pedro Flores and Rafael Hernández. They are responsible for some of the most patriotic and inspirational songs in Puerto Rican music. Flores and Hernández wrote under conditions of exile and this intensified their passion for their country. In 1929, Rafael Hernández wrote his Lamento Borincano while living in New
York City. There are several versions of where he wrote the song. It is
clearly established that he wrote it in Spanish Harlem, but the exact
place is under question. Latin music historian Max Salazar claims that
Rafael's sister, Victoria, told him that the composer wrote the tune on
the sidewalk in front of the Hernández Music Store in the Spanish Barrio.
In an article published in Latin Beat, Salazar wrote as follows: Other music historians say that the song was written in a restaurant in East Harlem. The real truth is that Rafael probably worked on the song in several places. The initial inspiration may have come in one place, he further developed the melody in the back room of his sister's music store, and worked on the lyrics in other locations. Latin music collector and historian Jaime Jaramillo supports this assumption in his account of an interview with singer Davilita. Lamento Borincano which depicts the harsh life of the Puerto Rican peasant, had been composed by Hernández, and one day when he was practicing the song in his music store, Davilita, who used to visit the store almost daily to sit alongside Hernández at the piano to sing Hernández songs, came by and sat as usual at the piano to sing the famous song. Although Hernández had been recording since 1925 with his Trio Borinquen for the Columbia label, he had never recorded this song because it was too "hillbilly." Davilita liked the song and asked Hernández to record it, but he refused and told him that the song was unfinished. A few days later, Canario came by and liked the song also and practically took it away from Hernández's hands. According to a conversation that Canario had with his musical collector friend Ovidio Davila, he mentioned that after he took the papers with the lyrics, Hernández ran after him claiming that the song was unfinished and, in a corner of New York, he tried to complete the lyrics. The song was recorded by Canario and proved to be a success despite the fact that the song was incomplete. Hernández eventually finished the lyrics. The missing part mentions "Y alegre también su yegua va..." or "merrily the mare trots along..." That was included later, after the first recording. Canario's persistence earned him the distinction of being the first to record Lamento Borincano. Fate, however, would give Davilita the opportunity to also participate in that recording. On July 14, 1930, the day of the recording, the first voice, Ramón Quirós, had a throat ailment and could not sing because the day before they had been at Coney Island Beach drinking and having too great a time. Canario asked Davilita to sing first voice and since he already knew the song, he nervously stepped in and with his thin voice sang it accompanied by the legendary Fausto Delgado. In the lyrics of Lamento Borincano, Rafael Hernández recalls the Puerto Rico he knew as a child. He delineates the jibarito, symbol of the Puerto Rican people, surrounded by the beauty of that tropical island. He presents him to us descending from his Garden of Eden in the hills of Puerto Rico on his mare loaded with the products of his small farm. The jibarito is full of optimism and looks forward to selling his wares in the public market. He is totally unsuspecting of what he will find once he reaches the tragic realism of the city. Unable to sell his produce, the jibarito heads back home frustrated and despondent. The composer himself refers to this bittersweet song as "a joyous hymn" when the jibarito sets out on his journey of hope and a sad lamento on his return. Rafael Hernández was a master storyteller and in his Lamento Borincano he summarizes the pathetic situation of the poor people in Puerto Rico in the 1930s. Here is what he wrote: Sale loco de contento,
Apparently Rafael felt it was important to show that even nature shared the happiness and optimism of the moment. These verses also heighten the dramatic impact of the next few scenes. As if in a theater, night's dark curtain rises and the jibarito's eyes are soon filled with the stark vista of the city market. pasa la mañana entera Stunned by the full impact of the harsh reality, the jibarito resigns himself to the fact that his homeland and his way of life are in peril. His only salvation is to return to the hills and live in communion with nature until the calamity subsides. Se oye este lamento
The song now turns into a lamento heard everywhere in Borinquen. The
entire population is suffering the effects of the economic depression. In
this composition, Rafael Hernández never uses the name Puerto Rico to
refer to his home-land. He chooses Borinquen instead, the ancestral name
of the island. This term is symbolic of the mother country for Puerto
Ricans. Borinquen, In the last verses, Hernández joins another great Puerto Rican, Manuel Gautier Benítez, who raised his voice in defense of the island and extolled its beauty. The Lamento Borincano became an instant hit among Puerto Ricans at home and those living abroad. Although it specifically depicted the miserable conditions of the poor and peasant class of the island, all Puerto Ricans adopted it as a patriotic hymn. In time, many campesinos in Latin America adopted the song as well. They could identify with the jibarito's problems and found comfort in singing the lamento. Today, seventy years after it was written, Lamento Borincano is still relevant. When Rafael Hernández was asked why his song had remained popular and is timeless, he said: }Unless there is a better opinion, I believe that my Lamento Borincano still continues to press on the sensibility of the great Latin American public, notwithstanding the changes in musical taste that have occurred. I think that is due principally, if not exclusively, to the fact that the song expressed in its time, better than any other song, a social reality that far from being a "thing of the past" is still prevalent in most of the countries of the long-suffering subcontinent. The tragedy of the Puerto Rican jibarito, who was the victim of material misery and spiritual anxiety in the 1930s, today continues to be the tragedy of the Salvadoran, Guatemalan, Bolivian, Paraguayan and Ecuadorian campesinos. In Puerto Rico, let me say it clearly in order to avoid misunderstandings, misery has put on a cloak of opulence and spiritual anxiety is stifled under indifference. In spite of that, no Puerto Rican, no matter how misguided or irresponsible he may be, can avoid feeling the weight of those concerns on his shoulders.~ Dozens of artists have recorded the Lamento Borincano. You should be able to find one that suits your particular taste in the list below:
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