LISTEN: A Cuban Protest Singer On The State Of U.S.-Cuba Relations
Over the past couple of weeks — on All Things Considered, over at Parallels, on Tumblr and on this blog — we've been reporting on Cuba. We've touched on the Internet, on baseball, on Havana's decay and on the revolution's fraying egalitarian promise.
Today, our reporting comes to an end with a final piece on All Things Considered.
Host Robert Siegel spoke to Carlos Varela, who is perhaps the most interesting political critic on the island in the past few decades.
You might have expected him to be a dissident. He's not. Instead, he's singer-songwriter who is part of a musical movement in Cuba known as la Nueva Trova. Folk singers such as Silvio Rodriguez are the torchbearers for that movement. But unlike Rodriguez, who wrote romantically and passionately about the socialist revolution, Varela's music came of age after the fall of the Soviet Union, at a time of serious economic crisis in Cuba.
It means that Varela has — with metaphors — been intensely critical of the Cuban regime. Somehow, he's managed to thrive both as a voice for Cubans on the island and as a voice for Cubans in exile in Miami.
Varela says this is an important moment for Cuba.
"Cubans are living in very interesting times," Varela said about the present. It's a time of great change and lots of hope, and that's a good thing for a country full of dreamers, he said.
We'll post much more of Varela's conversation with Robert at the top of this post later today. But we'll leave with a song that Varela sang for us at the bar of the Havana's Hotel Nacional, a landmark just full of reminders of the Cuba from the past — the one that glimmered with Hollywood stars, the place where members of the mob could drink with abandon despite prohibition back at home.
Varela said the song, "Walls and Doors," captures the sentiment of the country at the moment. It begins: "Ever since the world's existed / There's one thing that is certain / There are those who build walls / And those who open doors."
The refrain goes: "That's how it's always been / And I know you know it
There can be freedom only when nobody owns it"
Jackson Brown recorded an English version of the song. His translation is here. With that, here's the performance, which was recorded and produced by NPR's Theo Balcomb:
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
Robert, we've been hearing your reports from Havana all week and I'm excited because you have a big finale for us, right?
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
You should be excited. This is a very interesting character named Carlos Varela. He's a Cuban protest singer.
CORNISH: All right, a protest singer - should I assume he's protesting the Cuban government?
SIEGEL: Yes and no. Varela is a singer who can draw big crowds, both in Havana where he lives, but also in Miami, also in Canada, in Europe. And his most famous song, which we'll hear in a moment, has actually been translated into English. It's been recorded by Jackson Browne. It's called "Walls And Doors."
CORNISH: So on your visit, where did you interview him?
SIEGEL: Well, as you'll hear, it was not in a sound studio.
CORNISH: Nice, nice.
SIEGEL: It was at the Hotel Nacional in a bar that celebrates 20th century Havana, right down to photos of some of the American mobsters who used to hang out there. Our colleague Eyder Peralta interpreted and producer Theo Balcomb recorded. I should say, this bar mixes mojitos on an industrial scale...
CORNISH: (Laughter).
SIEGEL: ...And we ordered a round as Varela, dressed all in black with Prada shades - a guy who's known by sight to the hotel staff, I should say - took out his guitar and he talked with me about changes in Cuba's dealings with the U.S.
CARLOS VARELA: (Through interpreter) No one yet knows whether this is good or bad, but what we know is that a path has been established and that the chips have been dropped. And what we need is for this process not to be stopped, for this game not to be blocked.
SIEGEL: Do you want to get to your mojito before - I don't want to keep you from your drink.
VARELA: Salud.
SIEGEL: Salud. Let me just describe - we're sitting in a bar at the Hotel Nacional in Havana. And as we've been talking about this present moment in Havana, right, a tour group has come through and they're taking pictures of all of the displays on the walls here of the bar which show all these famous people who came to the Hotel Nacional. I mean, John-Paul Sartre, Ava Gardner. And you know, people come and they like to catch a glimpse of what this was, what Havana used to be. And I wonder if people have a forward-looking view, a future-oriented view of this place.
VARELA: (Through interpreter) Havana is a marvelous, magical place, but to many people it's a place that has been suspended in a certain time. And that tends to be an enchantment for tourists who want to see something that has been battered by the wind and the salt, but that's not the way people who live in it see it. They don't see it in that poetic way. They'd like to fix the place in which they live without fleeing. And Cubans have a good sense of humor. So how do Cubans think about the future? You know, that's why when the U.S. and Cuba got put on this path, you know, you got a call from a lot of Cubans and they said, you know, when is the Home Depot coming to Havana?
SIEGEL: I'm speaking in the bar at the Hotel Nacional in Havana with Carlos Varela, very famous protest singer from Cuba. And I wonder Carlos, do you have a song that you can sing for us that is about what people feel these days in Cuba?
VARELA: (Through interpreter) The song is called "Walls And Doors."
SIEGEL: This is the song that was translated and recorded in English by Jackson Browne. It begins, ever since the world has existed, one thing is certain - there are those who build walls and those who build doors.
VARELA: (Singing in Spanish).
SIEGEL: The refrain of this song as it was translated for Jackson Browne's English version is, there can be freedom only when nobody owns it.
VARELA: (Singing in Spanish).
SIEGEL: The music and lyrics of Carlos Varela, Cuban singer-songwriter in Havana, earlier this month. You're listening to ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad