Arlo Guthrie is Woody Guthrie's son; Arlo was very popular in 1960's hippie… Read Full Bio ↴Arlo Guthrie is Woody Guthrie's son; Arlo was very popular in 1960's hippie communities for his lyrics, always looking for fun, chronicling the values of the day, sample verbiage "You can get everything you want in Alice's Restaurant" And Alice's Restaurant was also a movie as well as an album, Arlo Guthrie made the music for the film, devised it and featured in it. Woody Guthrie, obviously performing a generation earlier, was a folk-singer, singing solo songs to speak out for his fellow downtrodden Americans, as well as working children's songs, just using acoustic guitar, while Arlo had occasional, collaborating backgound musicians, such was the communal zeitgeist, adding to his sound and his much-acclaimed 1960's public stance.

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Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger Lyrics

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Yo soy un hombre sincero
De donde crecen las palmas
Yo Soy un hombre sincero
De donde crecen las palmas
Y antes de morirme quiero
Echar mis versos del alma

Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera

Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmin encendido
Mi verso es de un verde claro
Y de un carmin encendido
Mi verso es un ciervo herido
Que busca en el monte amparo

Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera

I am a truthful man from this land of palm trees
Before dying I want to share these poems of my soul
My verses are light green
But they are also flaming red

I cultivate a rose in June and in January
For the sincere friend who gives me his hand
And for the cruel one who would tear out
This heart with which I live
I do not cultivate thistles nor nettles
I cultivate a white rose

Qultivo la rosa blanca
En junio como en enero
Qultivo la rosa blanca
En junio como en enero
Para el amigo sincero
Que me da su mano franca

Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera

Y para el cruel que me arranca
El corazon con que vivo
Y para el cruel que me arranca
El corazon con que vivo
Cardo ni ortiga cultivo
Cultivo la rosa blanca

Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera
Guantanamera
Guajira Guantanamera

Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar
Con los pobres de la tierra
Quiero yo mi suerte echar

El arroyo de la sierra
Me complace mas que el mar

Overall Meaning

The song "Guantanamera" is originally a Cuban folk song that has been covered by numerous artists over the years, including Arlo Guthrie and Pete Seeger. The song's verses express the desire to live truthfully and cultivate a spirit of sincerity and friendship towards all, even those who might be considered one's enemies. In the song's opening verses, the singer identifies as a man from a land of palm trees who wishes to share his soulful poetry before he dies. The song then continues with a refrain of "Guantanamera," which is a term that refers to a woman from Guantánamo, a region in eastern Cuba.

The song's lyrics champion the value of honest relationships and the cultivation of beauty in the world through the metaphor of cultivating a white rose instead of thistles or nettles. The metaphor speaks to the idea that we can choose what we cultivate in our lives and relationships, and the song encourages us to choose the beauty of friendship and sincerity over the negativity of hatred or conflict. The final verse takes a political turn, calling for the singer to cast his lot with the poor of the world and expressing a preference for the simple pleasures of nature over the vast expanse of the sea.

Line by Line Meaning

Yo soy un hombre sincero
I am an honest man

De donde crecen las palmas
from the land of palm trees

Y antes de morirme quiero
Before I die, I want

Echar mis versos del alma
to share the poems of my soul

Guantanamera
A woman from Guantanamo

Guajira Guantanamera
Countrywoman from Guantanamo

Mi verso es de un verde claro
My verses are light green

Y de un carmin encendido
But they are also flaming red

Mi verso es un ciervo herido
My verse is a wounded deer

Que busca en el monte amparo
That seeks shelter in the woods

Qultivo la rosa blanca
I cultivate the white rose

En junio como en enero
In June as well as in January

Para el amigo sincero
For the true friend

Que me da su mano franca
who extends a helping hand

Y para el cruel que me arranca
And for the cruel one who would tear out

El corazon con que vivo
This heart with which I live

Cardo ni ortiga cultivo
I do not cultivate thistles nor nettles

Con los pobres de la tierra
With the poor people of the earth

Quiero yo mi suerte echar
I want to share my fortune

El arroyo de la sierra
The stream of the mountain range

Me complace mas que el mar
Pleases me more than the sea

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group
Written by: Julian Orbon, Peter Seeger, Armando Christian Perez, Marc Kinchen, Diaz Jose Fernandez, Hector Angulo

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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