She sang in public for the first time in a radio contest at the age of ten. She didn't win that year, but won the next year. Her early singing caught the attention of a movie producer who introduced her to the cinema audiences as "Ana Belen" in the movie "Zampo y Yo" when she was thirteen.
Ana didn't want to become a child-star and focused on her studying. It wasn't until she finished drama school that she went back performing in public, being theater her prefered way to do so. She did small incursions in movies till she was offered major parts.
In 1973 she was cast opposite Víctor Manuel in Morbo and he became her husband as well as the composer of the songs included in her first album. In 1982 she released "Ana en Rio", an album with Brazilian music that included the song "Balance" and became an instant hit.
In 1986, took one more step and became one of the first female movie directors in Spain with the movie "Cómo ser mujer y no morir en el intento" which earned her the Gold Medal of Spanish Cinematographic Academy. That year concluded with another major success, a tour with Victor Manuel and many special guests of which they released a live album: "Mucho mas que dos". The success of this tour lead to a new one, "El Gusto es Nuestro" with Miguel Rios, Joan Manuel Serrat y Victor Manuel.
She releases several albums through the 90's that achieve great success like "Veneno para el Corazon" that included Spanish versions of Cole Porter songs among others, "Mirame" full of duets with the most important Spanish voices or "Lorquiana", a double CD with popular songs and poems of Federico García Lorca.
The new century finds her busy with filming and recording songs. Albums "Peces de Ciudad" or "Viva L'Italia" are released as she appears on stage plays and her name is on some of the most acclaimed films of the moment.
In 2006, she is currently touring with her husband Víctor Manuel across Spain with "Una Cancion me Trajo Aqui", a CD+DVD has been released of their very first performance in Segovia.She also has a new album in the works and a new movie pending.
Asturias
Ana Belén Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Si yo supiera cantarte
Asturias verde de monte
Y negra de minerales.
Yo soy un hombre del sur
Polvo, sol, fatiga y hambre
Hambre de paz y horizontes
Bajo la piel resecada
Ríos sólidos de sangre
Y el corazón asfixiado
Sin venas para aliviarte
Los ojos, ciegos los ojos
Ciegos de tanto mirarte
Sin verte Asturias lejana
Hija de mi misma madre
Dos veces, dos ha tenido
Ocasión para jugarte
La vida en una partida
Y las dos te la jugaste
Quién derribará ese árbol
De Asturias ya sin ramaje
Desnudo, seco, clavado
Con su raíz entrañable
Corre por toda España
Crispándonos de coraje
Mirad obreros del mundo
Su silueta recortarse
Contra ese cielo impasible
Vertical inquebrantable
Firme sobre roca firme
Herida, vibra su carne
Millones de puños gritan
Su cólera por los aires
Millones de corazones
Golpean contra tus cárceles
Prepara tu salto último
Líbida muerte cobarde
Prepara tu último salto
Que Asturias está aguardándote
Sola en mitad de la Tierra
Hija de mi misma madre
Sola en mitad de la Tierra
Hija de mi misma madre
Sola en mitad de la Tierra
Hija de mi misma madre
Sola en mitad de la Tierra.
Ana Belén's song Asturias is a heartfelt tribute to the region of Asturias in northern Spain and its rugged beauty. In the opening lines, the singer expresses her desire to sing about Asturias, with its green forests and dark minerals. The contrast between the verdant landscape and the harsh reality of mining and industrialization is a recurring motif in the song.
The singer then reflects on her own origins, as a man of the south, with all its hardship and poverty. She speaks of a thirst for peace and new horizons, and the toll that the struggle for survival takes on the body and soul. The image of rivers of solid blood flowing beneath a parched skin is particularly striking.
The song then turns to the struggles of the Asturian people, who have twice taken up arms against oppression, only to be defeated. The image of the barren tree stands as a symbol of their resilience and rootedness, even in the face of defeat and decay. The final verses are a call to arms, urging workers and people around the world to rise up against injustice and oppression, and to prepare for the final showdown.
Asturias is a powerful anthem of resistance and solidarity, written at a time of great political and social upheaval in Spain. It speaks to themes of social injustice, economic exploitation, and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.
Line by Line Meaning
Asturias si yo pudiera
If I could, I would sing to Asturias
Si yo supiera cantarte
If I knew how to sing to you
Asturias verde de monte
Asturias, green with hills
Y negra de minerales.
And black with minerals
Yo soy un hombre del sur
I am a man from the south
Polvo, sol, fatiga y hambre
Covered in dust, sunburnt, tired and hungry
Hambre de paz y horizontes
Craving for peace and open spaces
Hambre.
Hungry for those things
Bajo la piel resecada
Underneath the dry skin
Ríos sólidos de sangre
Solid rivers of blood
Y el corazón asfixiado
And the suffocating heart
Sin venas para aliviarte
Without veins to relieve you
Los ojos, ciegos los ojos
Blind eyes
Ciegos de tanto mirarte
Blind from looking at you so much
Sin verte Asturias lejana
Without seeing you, distant Asturias
Hija de mi misma madre
Daughter of the same mother
Dos veces, dos ha tenido
Twice, there have been two occasions
Ocasión para jugarte
Opportunities to gamble on you
La vida en una partida
Life in a single game
Y las dos te la jugaste
And both times you risked everything
Quién derribará ese árbol
Who will bring down that tree
De Asturias ya sin ramaje
Now leafless, from Asturias
Desnudo, seco, clavado
Naked, dry, and fixed
Con su raíz entrañable
With its intimate root
Corre por toda España
It runs throughout Spain
Crispándonos de coraje
Filling us with fury
Mirad obreros del mundo
Look, workers of the world
Su silueta recortarse
Its silhouette stands out
Contra ese cielo impasible
Against that impassive sky
Vertical inquebrantable
Unbreakable and upright
Firme sobre roca firme
Steadfast on solid rock
Herida, vibra su carne
Wounded, its flesh trembles
Millones de puños gritan
Millions of fists shout
Su cólera por los aires
Their fury in the air
Millones de corazones
Millions of hearts
Golpean contra tus cárceles
Beat against your prisons
Prepara tu salto último
Prepare for your final leap
Líbida muerte cobarde
Cowardly, lustful death
Prepara tu último salto
Prepare for your final leap
Que Asturias está aguardándote
Asturias is waiting for you
Sola en mitad de la Tierra
Alone in the middle of the Earth
Hija de mi misma madre
Daughter of the same mother
Sola en mitad de la Tierra
Alone in the middle of the Earth
Hija de mi misma madre
Daughter of the same mother
Sola en mitad de la Tierra
Alone in the middle of the Earth
Hija de mi misma madre
Daughter of the same mother
Contributed by Sophia O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
SokSa
One of my all-time favorites