Yupanqui was born Héctor Roberto Chavero Haram in Pergamino (Buenos Aires Province), in the Argentine pampas, about 200 kilometers away from Buenos Aires. His family moved to Tucumán when he was ten. In a bow to two legendary Incan kings, he adopted the stage name Atahualpa Yupanqui, which became famous the world over.
In his early years, Yupanqui travelled extensively through the northwest of Argentina and the Altiplano studying the indigenous culture. He also became radicalized and joined the Communist Party of Argentina. In 1931, he took part in the failed uprising of the Kennedy brothers and was forced to seek refuge in Uruguay. He returned to Argentina in 1934.
In 1935, Yupanqui paid his first visit to Buenos Aires; his compositions were growing in popularity, and he was invited to perform on the radio. Shortly thereafter, he made the acquaintance of pianist Antonieta Paula Pepin Fitzpatrick, nicknamed "Nenette", who became his lifelong companion and musical collaborator under the pseudonym "Pablo Del Cerro".
Because of his Communist Party affiliation (which lasted until 1952), his work suffered from censorship during Juan Perón's presidency; he was detained and incarcerated several times. He left for Europe in 1949. Édith Piaf invited him to perform in Paris in June of that year. He subsequently toured extensively throughout Europe.
In 1952, Yupanqui returned to Buenos Aires. He broke with the Communist Party, which made it easier for him to book radio performances.
Recognition of Yupanqui's ethnographic work became widespread during the 1960s, and nueva canción artists such as Mercedes Sosa recorded his compositions and made him popular among the younger musicians, who referred to him as Don Ata.
Yupanqui alternated between houses in Buenos Aires and Cerro Colorado, Córdoba province. During 1963-1964, he toured Colombia, Japan, Morocco, Egypt, Israel, and Italy. In 1967, he toured Spain, and settled in Paris. He returned regularly to Argentina, but these visits became less frequent when the military dictatorship of Jorge Videla came to power in 1976.
Yupanqui died in Nimes, France in 1992 at the age of 84; he was buried in the Cerro Colorado Cementery.
Camino del Indio
Atahualpa Yupanqui Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sendero colla
Sembrao de piedras
Caminito del indio
Que junta el valle con las estrellas
Caminito que anduvo
De sur a norte
Antes que en la montaña
La pachamama se ensombreciera
Cantando en el cerro
Llorando en el río
Se agranda en la noche
La pena del indio
El sol y la luna
Y este canto mío
Besaron tus piedras
Camino del indio
En la noche serrana
Llora la quena su honda nostalgia
Y el caminito sabe
Quién es la chola
Que el indio llama
Se levanta en el cerro
La voz doliente de la baguala
Y el camino lamenta
Ser el culpable
De la distancia
Cantando en el cerro
Llorando en el río
Se agranda en la noche
La pena del indio
El sol y la luna
Y este canto mío
Besaron tus piedras
Camino del indio
Atahualpa Yupanqui's "Camino Del Indio" depicts the pain and sorrow of the Indigenous people in South America who faced great oppression and displacement due to colonialism. The song speaks of a path that connects the valley to the stars, symbolizing the spiritual connection the Indigenous people had with their land and ancestry. The lyrics also refer to how the Indigenous people used to walk this path, from south to north, before their land was taken over by the colonizers. The singer laments the fact that the Pachamama or the mother earth was overshadowed even before they could take shelter in the mountains.
The song also talks about the different traditional musical instruments used by the Indigenous people such as the quena, which is a type of Andean flute, and the baguala, which is a traditional folk music form found in northwest Argentina and Chile. The instruments are used to express the pain and nostalgia that the Indigenous people feel for their land and their heritage. The lyrics describe how the voice of the baguala echoes through the hills, enhancing the feeling of sorrow and detachment.
Line by Line Meaning
Caminito del indio
This is the path that has been walked by the indigenous people
Sendero colla
A path that belongs to the Colla people
Sembrao de piedras
The path is covered with stones
Que junta el valle con las estrellas
This path connects the valley to the stars above
Caminito que anduvo
This is the path that has been walked
De sur a norte
From the south to the north
Mi raza vieja
My ancestors
Antes que en la montaña
Before the mountains
La pachamama se ensombreciera
Before the Earth was shrouded in darkness
Cantando en el cerro
Singing on the hill
Llorando en el río
Crying by the river
Se agranda en la noche
The sadness of the indigenous people grows bigger at night
La pena del indio
The pain of the indigenous people
El sol y la luna
The sun and the moon
Y este canto mío
And this song of mine
Besaron tus piedras
Have kissed the stones on this path
En la noche serrana
In the highland night
Llora la quena su honda nostalgia
The quena flute cries with deep nostalgia
Y el caminito sabe
And this path knows
Quién es la chola
Who the chola woman is
Que el indio llama
That the indigenous people call
Se levanta en el cerro
The sorrowful voice of the baguala rises on the hill
La voz doliente de la baguala
The sorrowful voice of the baguala
Y el camino lamenta
And this path mourns
Ser el culpable
Being responsible
De la distancia
For the distance between people
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HECTOR ROBERTO CHAVERO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jean-pierrefrancofievez3328
Caminito del indio
Sendero coya sembrao de piedras
Caminito del indio
Que junta el valle con las estrellas
Caminito que anduvo
De sur a norte mi raza vieja
Antes que en la montaña
La Pachamama se ensombreciera
Cantando en el cerro
Llorando en el río
Se agranda en la noche
La pena del indio
El sol y la luna
Y este canto mío
Besaron tus piedras
Camino del indio
En la noche serrana
Llora la quena su honda nostalgia
Y el caminito sabe
Cuál es la chola que el indio llama
Se levanta en el cerro
La voz doliente de la baguala
Y el camino lamenta
Ser el culpable de la distancia
@socorropuertogarrido7572
Soy española de Barcelona .Todas sus canciones me gustan muchísimo es genial sus canciones te llegan al alma
@isidromirandacapetillo5177
Socorropuertoagarrado...lo bueno que no tienes apellidos de los odiados conquistadores..colones ,corteses, pizarros en minúsculas, pues no merecen más esos depredadores de nuestros saqueados países para engordar a sus reyezuelos que un papa de Roma indigno de Roma, ha apoyado en detrimento de muchas naciones....fuera los reyes, fuera el papá...!!!! Vivan los países libres de opresión....!!!
@MrPedroperico
Esta canción y muchas del floklore argentino las cantabamos en la Facultad de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Católica de Lima en los años 60s. Nos parecían tan salidas del alma profunda de los latinoamericanos mestizos, tan autenticas, tan expresivas y tan poco compuestas para fines comerciales que se nos salian las notas del pecho y las largimas de los ojos.
@IbonFernandez255
Es el mejor comentario que he leído en Youtube
@ignaciourrutia6821
@@IbonFernandez255 x2
@IbonFernandez255
@@ignaciourrutia6821 Saludos Urrutia desde el País Vasco!
@adrianacmr7088
Que lindo depoimento!!!!!! Beijos Adri de Brasil
@08ivanovich
QUE BELLESA DE POEMA ,UN MENSAJE...PARA LAS NUEVAS GENTES DE LO K ES LATINOAMERICA INDIA MIS RESPETOS SEÑOR ATAHUALPA YUPANQUI.
@carlosnavas166
Ante este tema, no hay dispares, soy Uruguayo, tengo 70 años, y en la escuela, en clases de canto, hacíamos esta canción.- Musicalmente, te sentís atorado, por los bajos, y los altos, que contiene, pero, el algo, está en el sentimiento, que se debe poner para cantarla.- En épocas dificiles, Atahualpa, vivió en Minas, y me era fácil la charla con el, y una de mis preguntas fue referente a que lo inspiraba; el me contestó: " Lo que se lleva adentro es fácil expresarlo, más aún si lo añoràs"
@raulmarx7078
Un sabio total don Atahualpa, compositor y músico de lo más selecto en nuestros pagos y en Europa, sus letras son para reflexionar mucho.