On last.fm there are two entries for the same artist: Alí Primera & Ali Primera (without accent mark).
It would be useful to merge them.
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Alí Primera was baptized as Alí Rafael Primera Rosell by his parents Antonio Primera and Carmen Adela Rossell. Poor from the start, he lost his father when he was three. His father, who worked served as an official in Coro, died accidentally during a shooting incident that occurred when some prisoners tried to escape from the jail in town in 1945. As Primera was still quite young when his father died, he travelled with his mother and 2 siblings through different towns on the Paraguaná Peninsula, including San José, Caja de Agua, where he graduated from elementary school; Las Piedras and finally, La Vela, near Punto Fijo. It was in this town that Primera worked a number of jobs, from a shoeshiner at the age of 6 to a boxer, due to the miserable conditions his family lived in. These jobs did not, however, discourage him from continuing his studies.
In 1960, Primera and his family left La Vela looking for a better life and moved to Caracas, where he enrolled in the “Liceo Caracas” in order to complete his education. After he graduated in 1964, he enrolled at the Central University of Venezuela to study Chemistry at the School of Science. While at the university, he started singing and composing music. At first, it was a just a hobby for him, but it gradually came to take up all of his time. His first songs, Humanidad and No basta rezar, the latter of which was presented at the Festival of Protest Songs organized by the Universidad de los Andes in 1967, propelled him to fame.
Between 1969 and 1973, Primera lived in Europe thanks to a scholarship he was received in 1968 from the Communist Party of Venezuela to continue his studies in Romania. Once in Europe, he earned a living by washing dishes and occasionally sang in places that respected his work. He recorded his first album Gente de mi tierra in a studio in Germany. Primera’s compositions talk about the suffering of the people, destroyed by poverty and social inequality. Because of his songs, he quickly made his way into the hearts of the people and soon became known as El Cantor del Pueblo or The People’s Singer.
Primera died in a car accident on February 16, 1985 on the Autopista Valle-Coche in Caracas. Before his death, Alí Primera had started a new album at the end of 1984 that combined the recurring themes of his songs with beats that he had never used before such as the gaita from Zulia in Venezuela.
Even though the Venezuelan government declared in 2005 his music to be national property, the reality is that the rights to his albums were turned over years ago to the now defunct Venezuelan record company Top Hits, which was acquired by the Mexican record company Balboa Records.
El cantor de Bolivia
Alí Primera Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Y abrazó su corazón
Y fue formando con versos
Para su tierra una flor
Y marchó hacia el sacrificio
A quemarla junto al sol
Eran versos contra balas
Y una bala lo mató
Su cuerpo cayó en la selva
Y su sangre se regó
Y se acercaron los cholos
A levantar su canción
Los cholos que hoy la cantan
La trajeron desde el sol
Eran versos contra balas
Y su canción no murió
Y su canción no murió
Voy siguiendo mi camino
Conciente voy de mi suerte
Voy desandando el destino
Seguro voy de mi muerte
Y como sé que yo muero
Dejo al pueblo mi canción
Porque nosotros los hombres
Hoy somos mañana no
Así cantaba el poeta
Así cantaba el juglar
No porque lo hayan matado
Ha dejado de cantar
Al indio le critícan
Porque masca coca
Sin sacarle por eso
El chicle de la boca
Al niño le critican
Porque no se baña
Pero que pase hambre
No les extraña
Su sangre era un poema
Y abrazó su corazón
Y fue formando con versos
Para su Patria una flor
Se llamaba Benjo Cruz
Era el cantor de Bolivia
Y marchó hacia el sacrificio
A quemar su alama en el sol
The lyrics to Ali Primera's "El Cantor de Bolivia" tell the story of a Bolivian singer-songwriter named Benjo Cruz who used his blood, his poetry, and his music to fight against oppression and injustice in his country. The opening lines of the song describe his blood as a poem, implying that his very essence was devoted to creativity and expression. With his heart full of love for his homeland, Cruz wrote verses that bloomed like flowers, each one representing a piece of his soul that he wished to share with his people. However, his bravery and defiance ultimately led to his death, as he was shot down by a bullet from those who sought to silence him.
Despite his passing, Cruz's music lived on, inspiring the indigenous "cholos" of Bolivia to take up his cause and continue his struggle. His songs were a rallying cry for the oppressed, a way to keep their culture and heritage alive, and a reminder that the fight for freedom must never cease. In the end, Primera himself takes up the mantle of the fallen troubadour, proclaiming that even though he knows his fate is sealed, he will continue to sing for the people until his final breath.
Overall, "El Cantor de Bolivia" is a moving tribute to the power of art and the role that music can play in social and political change. It is a call to arms for artists, musicians, and anyone who believes in the transformative power of creativity to use their talents to fight for justice, even in the face of great adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
Su sangre era un poema
His blood was a poem
Y abrazó su corazón
And he embraced his heart
Y fue formando con versos
And he made with verses
Para su tierra una flor
For his land a flower
Y marchó hacia el sacrificio
And he marched towards sacrifice
A quemarla junto al sol
To burn it with the sun
Eran versos contra balas
They were verses against bullets
Y una bala lo mató
And a bullet killed him
Su cuerpo cayó en la selva
His body fell in the jungle
Y su sangre se regó
And his blood spilled
Y se acercaron los cholos
And the cholos approached
A levantar su canción
To raise his song
Los cholos que hoy la cantan
The cholos who sing it today
La trajeron desde el sol
Brought it from the sun
Eran versos contra balas
They were verses against bullets
Y su canción no murió
And his song did not die
Voy siguiendo mi camino
I am following my path
Conciente voy de mi suerte
Aware of my fortune
Voy desandando el destino
I am undoing my destiny
Seguro voy de mi muerte
Sure of my death
Y como sé que yo muero
And since I know I am dying
Dejo al pueblo mi canción
I leave my song to the people
Porque nosotros los hombres
Because we men
Hoy somos mañana no
Today, we are tomorrow not
Así cantaba el poeta
Thus sang the poet
Así cantaba el juglar
Thus sang the minstrel
No porque lo hayan matado
Not because they killed him
Ha dejado de cantar
Did he stop singing
Al indio le critícan
They criticize the Indian
Porque masca coca
Because he chews coca leaves
Sin sacarle por eso
Without taking away from him for that
El chicle de la boca
His chewing gum from his mouth
Al niño le critican
They criticize the child
Porque no se baña
Because he doesn't shower
Pero que pase hambre
But that he goes hungry
No les extraña
Doesn't surprise them
Se llamaba Benjo Cruz
His name was Benjo Cruz
Era el cantor de Bolivia
He was the singer of Bolivia
Y marchó hacia el sacrificio
And he marched towards sacrifice
A quemar su alama en el sol
To burn his soul with the sun
Contributed by Nathan P. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
villacaya
Qué belleza...al escuchar las canciones del gran cantautor venezolano Alí Primera me remonto a mi niñez, mi papá tenía todos los discos y me crié con estas obras maestras...es increíble e irónico que Alí haya homenajeado a tantas personas ilustres, tanto nacionales como internacionales, a través de sus poemas, no hayan canciones que den tributo a su arte.
Alí, no porque te hayas ido de este mundo, has dejado de cantar
BlackHouse
Ali ali....lo sentia como familia...de niño ibamos mi padre y yo a sus conciertos en maturin cada vez que iba
ericolivo martinez
ali primera en canta en memoria de un héroe de américa latina a benjamín cruz conocido como benjo cruz el cantor de Bolivia