María Isabel Granda Larco (Cotabamba, Apurímac, Perú, 3 September 1920 – Mi… Read Full Bio ↴María Isabel Granda Larco (Cotabamba, Apurímac, Perú, 3 September 1920 – Miami, USA, 1983), better known as Chabuca Granda, was a beloved Peruvian singer and composer. She created and interpreted a vast number of Criollo waltzes with Afro-Peruvian rhythms. Her best known song is "La flor de la canela" (The Best of the Bunch" or "Cinnamon Flower)".

Biography

María Isabel Granda Larco was born on 3 September 1920, in a copper mining area in the region of Apurímac. She began singing at 12 years old, in the school choir at the exclusive girl's school Colegio Sophianum, in San Isidro. At this age she sang as a soprano (an operation later gave her the deep voice for which she is remembered). However, she wasn't well known until after her divorce, a scandal in contemporary Lima's conservative Catholic society.

Early in her career her work was expressive and picturesque – evoking the romantic and beautiful neighborhood of Barranco in Lima, with its grand French houses with impressive entrances and winter gardens. Some of her most famous songs from this period are "Lima de Veras", "La flor de la Canela", "Fina Estampa", "Gracia", "José Antonio", and "Zeñó Manué", to name a few. She broke the conventional rhythmic structure of the waltz, later broke convention with her poetic cadences as well. Later in her career she wrote songs dedicated to the Chilean Violeta Parra and to Javier Heraud, a Peruvian poet who died in 1968.

Towards the end of her career, Chabuca Granda incorporated Afro-Peruvian rhythms into her work. Afro-Peruvian music, while popular, was not considered "high art" due to the prevalent racism and devaluation of Afro-Peruvian culture. She masterfully blended the suggestive and colorful rhythms into her work, enriching Peruvian popular music.

She died of heart problems in a clinic in Miami, in the United States, in 1983. Her voice and compositions are known far from the borders of her country, and her popularity has introduced the world to the fine and sensitive character of Peruvian music.

Chabuca Granda continued to make her presence felt a decade after her death, when Caetano Veloso used her song, "Fina Estampa", as the title track of an album released in 1994, while her song, "Maria Lando", written with Cesar Calvo, provided the North American breakthrough for Peruvian vocalist Susana Baca the following year.

Granda's song "La Flor De La Canela" has become an anthem for the city of Lima. Granda worked with a lengthy list of influential guitarists including Oscar Aviles, Martin Torres, Lucho Gonzalez, Alvaro Lagos, and Felix Casaverde.

Vertigo
Chabuca Granda Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Cuando será el día
Que me pierden tus brazos
Vendrá, vendrá para el vértigo
Suave, lento, dulce, largo
Como el camino largo
Que quiero andar contigo
Cuando, cuando, vértigo

Mío, solo mío
Mío y escondido
Vendrá, vendrá para el vértigo
Vértigo, vértigo

Lento, dulce, largo
Como el camino largo
Que quiero andar contigo
Cuando, cuando, vértigo

Mío, solo mío
Mío y escondido
Vendrá, vendrá para el vértigo
Vértigo, vértigo, vértigo

Mío, solo mío
Mío y escondido

Vendrá, vendrá para el vértigo
Vértigo, vértigo, vértigo

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Chabuca Granda's song "Vertigo" express a longing for the day when the embrace of a loved one becomes a source of exhilarating vertigo. The singer eagerly awaits the moment when they will be lost in the arms of their beloved, and they anticipate that it will be a gentle, slow, sweet, and profound experience. The idea of a long path they want to walk together suggests a desire for a deep and enduring connection.

The repetition of the word "vértigo" emphasizes the intensity of the emotions involved. It highlights the overwhelming feeling that comes when the singer is enfolded in their partner's arms. The repetition of the phrases "mío, solo mío, mío y escondido" further emphasizes the possessiveness and secrecy associated with this intimate connection.

Overall, the lyrics of "Vertigo" convey a yearning for a powerful and consuming love, where the union with the loved one transcends the ordinary and brings about a dizzying sensation of delight and fulfillment.

Line by Line Meaning

Cuando será el día
When will the day come

Que me pierden tus brazos
That your arms lose me

Vendrá, vendrá para el vértigo
It will come, it will come for the vertigo

Suave, lento, dulce, largo
Soft, slow, sweet, long

Como el camino largo
Like the long road

Que quiero andar contigo
That I want to walk with you

Cuando, cuando, vértigo
When, when, vertigo

Mío, solo mío
Mine, only mine

Mío y escondido
Mine and hidden

Vértigo, vértigo
Vertigo, vertigo

Lento, dulce, largo
Slow, sweet, long