En last.fm hay dos entradas para este mismo artista: Alí Primera y Ali Prim… Read Full Bio ↴En last.fm hay dos entradas para este mismo artista: Alí Primera y Ali Primera (sin tilde) Sería útil unirlas

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.

Juanita la Lavandera
Alí Primera Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Juanita la lavandera
Era venezolana
Lavaba ropa de peón
Que le trabajaba al amo
Y remendaba el calzón
Del marido sin trabajo

Juanita la lavandera

Bien pudo llamarse Petra
Total que es la misma miseria
De Juanita, la que lava
Y Petra la que hace arepas

Ande muchacho e' mielda
No pida pan
Ande que tengo mucho que trabajal
Que desde ayer yo lavo pa' la pioná
Anda que tengo ropa que remendar
Ayayayay
Que remendar (bis)

Su papá se fue a ver
Al jefe civil
A que le arregle el pleito
Con el patrón
Porque si nos quitan
El barrancón
No tendremos donde vivir
Ayayayay
Donde vivir (bis)

Por ahí siento los pasos de su papá
Y le noto la cara muy preocupá
Parece que como siempre, el jefe civil
Hoy se puso de acuerdo con el patrón
Ayayayay, con el patrón (bis)

Anda muchacho e' mielda
Pelee su pan
Ande muchacho e' mielda
Luche su pan
Ande que afuera lloviendo está
Con chopos de agua vaya a jugar
Mi carricito no haga llorar a su mamá

Juanita la lavandera
Lavaba en venezolano
Cuando usaba detergente
El sucio se iba debajo
Pero pensándolo bien, Juanita
La sociedad y tu batea
Casi son la misma cosa
Con el grueso de la batea
Y el sucio que va debajo
Si dejas pasar el tiempo
Va a ser difícil romperla
Romperla cuesta trabajo

Del presidente, su mamá del Presidente

Overall Meaning

"Juanita la Lavandera" is a song by Alí Primera that speaks to the struggles faced by working-class Venezuelans. Juanita is a Venezuelan woman who does laundry for the peons who work for the landlord and mends her husband's trousers, despite him being unemployed. The song highlights the poverty and economic inequality that exist in Venezuela, specifically the struggles of the working class, and how they are often at the mercy of the wealthy landlords.

Primera makes a poignant observation about the universality of poverty by noting that Juanita and Petra, who makes arepas, are in the same boat of misery. This drives home the idea that people in poverty across different cultures and countries are fighting similar battles, ones of deprivation and lack of resources.

The song also references the agricultural situation in Venezuela. The working-class are under the threat of eviction, and if they lose their homes in the barrancón, they will have nowhere to live. This highlights the power dynamics that exist between the landlord and the tenant, where the latter is at the mercy of the former.

Line by Line Meaning

Juanita la lavandera
Introducing the subject of the song, a woman named Juanita who works as a laundress

Era venezolana
Establishing Juanita's nationality as Venezuelan

Lavaba ropa de peón
Describing Juanita's job as washing the clothes of a laborer

Que le trabajaba al amo
Identifying the employer of the laborer whose clothes Juanita washes

Y remendaba el calzón
Further elaborating on Juanita's duties, including mending her husband's pants

Del marido sin trabajo
Revealing that Juanita's husband is unemployed

Bien pudo llamarse Petra
Suggesting that Juanita's circumstances are similar to those of another woman named Petra

Total que es la misma miseria
Asserting that Juanita and Petra are subject to the same misery

De Juanita, la que lava
Highlighting the commonality between Juanita and Petra, both of whom suffer from poverty

Y Petra la que hace arepas
Describing Petra's job as making arepas, a Venezuelan cornmeal-based food

Ande muchacho e' mielda
Addressing a young man with a derogatory term for feces, telling him to go away

No pida pan
Advising the young man not to ask for bread

Ande que tengo mucho que trabajal
Explaining that the singer has a lot of work to do

Que desde ayer yo lavo pa' la pioná
Revealing that the singer has been doing laundry for the laborers since yesterday

Anda que tengo ropa que remendar
Mentioning that the singer also has clothes to mend

Ayayayay
An interjection expressing weariness or frustration

Que remendar (bis)
Repeating that the artist has clothes to mend

Su papá se fue a ver
Shifting the focus to Juanita's father

Al jefe civil
Indicating that Juanita's father is meeting with a government official

A que le arregle el pleito
Explaining that Juanita's father wants the official to help him with a dispute

Con el patrón
Identifying the other party involved in the dispute as Juanita's employer

Porque si nos quitan
Expressing concern that their living situation may be affected by the dispute

El barrancón
Referring to the place where Juanita and her family live

No tendremos donde vivir
Predicting that they will have nowhere to live if they lose their home

Por ahí siento los pasos de su papá
Noting that Juanita can hear her father approaching

Y le noto la cara muy preocupá
Observing that Juanita's father looks very worried

Parece que como siempre, el jefe civil
Suggesting that the government official is not being helpful

Hoy se puso de acuerdo con el patrón
Implying that the official and the employer are working together against Juanita's family

Anda muchacho e' mielda
Addressing the same young man as before, telling him to go away

Pelee su pan
Encouraging the young man to fight for his own livelihood

Luche su pan
Urging the young man to struggle for his own bread

Ande que afuera lloviendo está
Reminding the young man that it is raining outside

Con chopos de agua vaya a jugar
Suggesting that the young man should entertain himself with the rain

Mi carricito no haga llorar a su mamá
Advising the young man not to make his mother cry

Lavaba en venezolano
Using wordplay to indicate that Juanita washes clothes in a Venezuelan style

Cuando usaba detergente
Explaining that Juanita uses detergent when washing clothes

El sucio se iba debajo
Describing how the dirt disappears when she washes the clothes

Pero pensándolo bien, Juanita
Taking a step back and reconsidering Juanita's situation

La sociedad y tu batea
Drawing a comparison between Venezuelan society and the basin that Juanita uses to wash clothes

Casi son la misma cosa
Stating that the two are almost interchangeable

Con el grueso de la batea
Referring to the thickness of the basin

Y el sucio que va debajo
Pointing out that the dirt gathers at the bottom of the basin

Si dejas pasar el tiempo
Warning that if you let time go by without taking action, things will get worse

Va a ser difícil romperla
Predicting that it will be hard to change the situation once it sets in

Romperla cuesta trabajo
Stressing that breaking the cycle of poverty and oppression requires effort and hard work

Del presidente, su mamá del Presidente
A puzzling phrase that appears to be meaningless, or possibly a reference to nepotism or corruption in government

Contributed by Zachary S. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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