The group was formed by students at Universidad Técnica del Estado at Santiago, Chile in 1967. In 1973 as they were on tour abroad, General Augusto Pinochet launched a coup d'etat and took power. Having heard of the numerous extra-judicial killings of many fellow artists by Chile's army, they took up residence in Italy, resulting in "the longest tour in history" for Inti-Illimani as they lived in de facto exile. They continued their efforts supporting Chilean democracy internationally; magnitizdat copies of their work continued to be widely distributed in Chile. In September 1988, days after they were no longer banned from Chile, they began touring Chile again. They helped organize the voting down of the referendum that would have re-elected Pinochet. Recently, they were actually supported by Chile as representatives of Chilean culture.
In the past the group was musically led by Horacio Salinas and politically led by Jorge Coulon. However, in 2001 there was a controversial split of the group, which started when three key members left the group (José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas). They were replaced by Manuel Meriño (from Entrama), Cristián González and Juan Flores. Due to the importance of departed members, many called into question the ability of the remainder to carry on the Inti-Illimani name. Meanwhile, the three departed members started their own group they call Inti-Histórico. From 2005 there are two groups:
Inti-Illimani New (Coulon brothers)
Inti-Illimani Histórico (José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas)
Membership
In August 1967 Inti-Illimani's earliest membership consisted of:
Horacio Durán
Max Berrú
Jorge Coulon
Luis Espinoza
Oscar Guzmán
Ciro Retamal
Pedro Yáñez
In 1968 Inti-Illimani's membership consisted of:
Horacio Salinas (Musical director and main composer)
Horacio Durán
Max Berrú
Jorge Coulon
Ernesto Perez de Arce
Current line-up of the "Inti-Illimani Nuevo":
Jorge Coulon
Christian González
Daniel Cantillana
Juan Flores
Efren Viera
Marcelo Coulon
Manuel Meriño
César Jara
Current line-up of the "Inti-Histórico":
Horacio Salinas
Horacio Durán
José Seves
Jorge Ball
Fernando Julio
Camilo Salinas
Danilo Donoso
Other members in the history of the group:
Ernesto Pérez de Arce
Homero Altamirano
José Miguel Camus
Renato Freyggang
Pedro Villagra
Sobre tu playa
Inti-Illimani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Noche sin luna
Se fueron las estrellas
Llegó la bruma
El mar mece los botes
Como una cuna
Y al horizonte viajan
Trenes de espuma
Vistió la vieja noche, mujer
Su negra saya
Y se perdió la aurora
Sobre tu playa
Como tus negras trenzas
El mar en calma
Como tu cuerpo quieto
La arena blanca
Asómate a la noche
Y enciende el fuego
Mira que nos acecha
El frío ciego
No es bueno estar desnudo, mujer
En noche Iría
Esperaré a tu abrigo
Que llegue el día
In this poetic song, Inti-Illimani describes a dark and starless night where the only thing present is the sea. The night has fallen and the stars have disappeared, leaving the mist to cloak everything in its wake. The sea rocks the boats like a baby's cradle while creamy foam trains travel towards the horizon. The artist compares this empty night to an old woman dressed in a black skirt who vanishes like the dawn unceremoniously. He then identifies the peaceful sea with the tranquility of a woman's body at rest, and the white sand with her intact body.
The song has a romantic tone to it, and the artist calls upon his lover to look out into the night and light a fire to beat back the freezing blindness that the night can bring. The artist acknowledges the importance of warmth on a bitter night, urging his partner that "it is not good to be naked in the night." He promises to wait for her until daybreak and finds an escape in her embrace.
Overall, the song is about finding comfort and safety in a partner's embrace during a dark and dangerous night. The artist uses poetic imagery to create a serene and mesmerizing scene that allows the listener to picture the peace that the beach brings.
Line by Line Meaning
Cayó la noche negra
The black night fell
Noche sin luna
Night without moon
Se fueron las estrellas
The stars went away
Llegó la bruma
The mist arrived
El mar mece los botes
The sea rocks the boats
Como una cuna
Like a cradle
Y al horizonte viajan
And trains of foam travel to the horizon
Trenes de espuma
Trains of foam
Vistió la vieja noche, mujer
The old night dressed, woman
Su negra saya
Her black dress
Y se perdió la aurora
And the dawn was lost
Sobre tu playa
Over your beach
Como tus negras trenzas
Like your black braids
El mar en calma
The calm sea
Como tu cuerpo quieto
Like your still body
La arena blanca
The white sand
Asómate a la noche
Look out at the night
Y enciende el fuego
And light the fire
Mira que nos acecha
Look, the blind cold threatens us
El frío ciego
The blind cold
No es bueno estar desnudo, mujer
It's not good to be naked, woman
En noche Iría
In the dark night
Esperaré a tu abrigo
I'll wait for your embrace
Que llegue el día
Until the day arrives
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Fanny
on Hermanochay
Hola, mi padre tenia un grupo de musica andina y cantaba esta cancion. Mi padre hoy ya no está y me hubiera gustado entender la letra, no encuentro traducción por ningún lado, alguien sabe la traducción?