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.
Punay
Atahualpa Yupanqui Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
¡Devuélveme, devuélveme,
mi pastorcita perdida!
Pastorcita de la Puna,
te extraviaste en noche mala,
mi voz te busca en el viento
y en la Puna te reclama.
Punay! ... Punay! ...
Aunque tengo en esto vida,
que viento y tierra tragar,
pastorcita de la Puna,
ti de encontrar.
¡Punay! ¡Punay! ...
Atahualpa Yupanqui's song Punay is an ode to a lost shepherdess, whom the singer is desperately searching for. The repeated refrain of "Punay! Punay! Devuélveme, devuélveme, mi pastorcita perdida!" (Punay! Punay! Return to me, return to me, my lost shepherdess!) portrays the singer's deep yearning to be reunited with his beloved. The verses describe the difficult terrain of the Puna, an arid high plateau in the Andes mountains, where the shepherdess was lost. The singer's voice echoes in the windswept landscape, calling out to his lost love.
The song's mournful melody and the poetic imagery of the lyrics evoke a sense of longing, sorrow, and nostalgia. The repetition of the word "Punay" creates a rhythmic pattern that adds to the emotional intensity of the song. The use of the Quechua language, the indigenous language of the Andes, also adds to the song's cultural significance and authenticity.
Line by Line Meaning
¡Punay! ¡Punay!
The singer is calling out for Punay, likely a name for someone they are searching for or a place they long to return to.
¡Devuélveme, devuélveme, mi pastorcita perdida!
The singer is pleading for their lost shepherdess to be returned to them, possibly referring to a lost love or a feeling of being lost themselves.
Pastorcita de la Puna, te extraviaste en noche mala, mi voz te busca en el viento y en la Puna te reclama.
The singer is speaking directly to their lost shepherdess and telling her that she became lost on an unlucky night, but they are searching for her through their voice and in the highlands of the Puna.
Aunque tengo en esto vida, que viento y tierra tragar, pastorcita de la Puna, ti de encontrar.
The singer is proclaiming that although they have experienced hardship and are willing to face more, they will continue to search for their lost shepherdess in the highlands of the Puna.
¡Punay! ¡Punay! ...
The singer continues to call out for Punay, a symbol for their lost love or the place they long to return to.
Contributed by Natalie A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.