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.
Canción del Cañaveral
Atahualpa Yupanqui Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Y en su moler, y en su moler
Hasta la vida del hombre
Muele también, muele también
Tumbao sobre la maloja
Pobre de mí, pobre de mí
Sin que me arrime consuelos
Verde cañita de azúcar
¡ qué dulce es, qué dulce es ¡
Pero al final de la zafra
Se vuelve hiel, se vuelve hiel
Yo tengo un sueño secreto
Vivo por él, vivo por él
No hay trapiche que a mi sueño
Pueda moler, pueda moler
No hay trapiche que a mi sueño
Pueda moler, pueda moler
Ha de llegar algún tiempo
¿ cuando será ¿ cuando será ¿
En que te sienta mi amigo
Cañaveral, cañaveral
En que te sienta mi amigo
Cañaveral, cañaveral
El sol de alguna mañana
Me alumbrará, me alumbrará
Cantando sobre los surcos
Cañaveral, cañaveral
Muele, que muele el trapiche
Y en su moler, y en su moler
Hasta la vida del hombre
Muele también, muele también
The song "Canción del Cañaveral" by Atahualpa Yupanqui is a tribute to the sugarcane fields of Argentina and the hard-working laborers who toil there. The first stanza describes the sugar mill, or trapiche, grinding away tirelessly until it even grinds down the lives of men. The second stanza speaks of the singer's pain and heartache, likening it to the sad and mournful yaraví music. The third stanza praises the sweet flavor of fresh sugar cane, but warns that it turns bitter at the end of the harvest season.
The fourth stanza expresses the singer's secret dream, which he lives for despite the trapiche's inability to crush it. The fifth stanza looks forward to a time when the singer's friend, the cañaveral or sugarcane field, will welcome him in the warm embrace of its plants. The final stanza speaks of the hope of a future when the sun's rays will shine down on the fields as the singer sings out his joy among the rows of sugarcane.
Line by Line Meaning
Muele, que muele el trapiche
The sugar mill grinds and grinds
Y en su moler, y en su moler
In its grinding, in its grinding
Hasta la vida del hombre
It grinds the life of man as well
Muele también, muele también
It grinds as well, it grinds as well
Tumbao sobre la maloja
Swaying over the leaves
Pobre de mí, pobre de mí
Poor me, poor me
Sin que me arrime consuelos
Without any comfort coming near me
El yaraví, el yaraví
The yaravi (Andean song of lament)
Verde cañita de azúcar
Green sugar cane
¡ qué dulce es, qué dulce es ¡
How sweet it is, how sweet it is
Pero al final de la zafra
But at the end of harvest
Se vuelve hiel, se vuelve hiel
It turns into bitter ice
Yo tengo un sueño secreto
I have a secret dream
Vivo por él, vivo por él
I live for it, I live for it
No hay trapiche que a mi sueño
There is no sugar mill that can grind
Pueda moler, pueda moler
My dream, my dream
Ha de llegar algún tiempo
Some time must come
¿ cuando será ¿ cuando será ¿
When will it be? When will it be?
En que te sienta mi amigo
When you, my friend, will feel
Cañaveral, cañaveral
Sugar cane fields, sugar cane fields
El sol de alguna mañana
The sun of some morning
Me alumbrará, me alumbrará
Will lighten me up, will lighten me up
Cantando sobre los surcos
Singing over the furrows
Cañaveral, cañaveral
Sugar cane fields, sugar cane fields
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ildefonso Torres F
Gracias por deleitarnos con estas canciones y poemas folclóricos del extraordinario cantor y poeta de las pampas Atahualpa Yupanqui. Pedimos bendiciones de DIOS ALTÍSIMO para todos los que han hecho posible deleitarnos y disfrutar con estas bellas canciones: a las personas que han subido estas grandiosas grabaciones a You Tube, y a los medios electrónicos modernos que generosamente las han difundido universalmente, You Tube, Google, y todos los que han contribuido a esta noble tarea. A todos los que visiten este sitio les compartimos que, solamente a través de NUESTRO SEÑOR JESUCRISTO se llega a la salvación (vida eterna). JESÚS dijo: "Yo soy la verdad, y el camino, y la vida; nadie viene al Padre sino por mí"(JUAN 14: 6). Recibe hoy a NUESTRO SEÑOR JESUCRISTO, reconociéndolo como único y suficiente Salvador y como Señor de tu vida. SU SEGUNDA VENIDA COMO JUEZ SUPREMO ESTÁ MUY PRÓXIMA.