Llegó a ser un popular compositor e intérprete, muy conocido entre los amantes de la música cubana. Comenzó tocando la guitarra, el clarinete y el bongó. Fue el inventor del armónico, un instrumento de siete cuerdas, entre la guitarra española y el tres cubano. También tocó la tumbadora.
Comenzó su carrera musical muy joven cuando compuso sus primeras canciones y tocaba en grupos de Santiago con su conocido armónico. Pero su fama internacional le llegó en 1997 con su participación en el disco Buena Vista Social Club, el cual ganó varios premios Grammy. Compay Segundo apareció también en la película del mismo nombre realizada posteriormente por Wim Wenders.
En los últimos años actuó ante millones de espectadores y grabó nueve discos. No pudo cumplir su sueño de llegar a la edad de 116 años, en la cual murió su abuela. Falleció en La Habana debido a una insuficiencia renal con 95 años.
La canción más importante de Compay Segundo es "Chan Chan".
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Compay Segundo (November 18, 1907 – July 13, 2003), was a Cuban musician and songwriter.
Segundo was born Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz and brought up in the city of Santiago de Cuba. He became a songwriter and performer, well-known to fans of Cuban music. He was also the inventor of the armónico, a seven-stringed guitar-like instrument.
In his early years he played the guitar, the clarinet and the bongos. He also played the congas.
His curious stage name derives from the fact that he played second voice in a popular duet of the 1950s called Los Compadres (compadre, or compay for short, in Cuba means "baptism brother", but as a colloquialism is used also to designate a good friend).
However, international fame only came in 1997 with the release of the Buena Vista Social Club album, a hugely successful recording which won several Grammy awards. Compay Segundo appeared in the film of the same title, made subsequently by Wim Wenders.
His most famous composition is "Chan Chan", the opening track on the Buena Vista Social Club album, whose four opening chords are instantly recognizable all over the world. "Chan Chan" was recorded by Segundo himself various times as well as by countless other Latin artists.
At a fiesta he sang to Presidente Fidel Castro, who took his pulse and joked about his vitality despite his 90-plus years. "Who could have imagined that?" he asked when he found himself at the Vatican City, performing "Chan Chan" before Pope John Paul II. He explained his longevity simply: mutton consommé and a drink of rum.
He predicted that he would live to be 115, but died of kidney failure in Havana, twenty years short of his ambition, and three days before Celia Cruz.
Malagueña
Compay Segundo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Que bonitos ojos tienes
Ellos me quieren mirar
Pero si tu no los dejas
Pero si tu no los dejas
Ni siquiera parpadear
Malagueña, salerosa
Besar tus labios quisiera
Besar tus labios quisiera
Malagueña, salerosa
Y decirte niña hermosa
Si por pobre me desprecias
Yo le concedo razón
Yo le concedo razón
Si por pobre me desprecias
Yo no te ofrezco riqueza
Te ofrezco mi corazón
Te ofrezco mi corazón
A cambio de mi pobreza
Malagueña, salerosa
Besar tus labios quisiera
Besar tus labios quisiera
Malagueña, salerosa
Y decirte niña hermosa
Eres linda y hechicera
Eres linda y hechicera
Como el candor de una rosa
Como el candor de una rosa
The lyrics of Compay Segundo's song Malagueña tell the story of a man admiring a woman's beauty. He begins by commenting on her beautiful eyes hidden beneath her eyebrows, which he desires to stare into. He tells the woman that he wants to kiss her lips and call her "salerosa," a term of endearment meaning "full of flavor and spice."
The man acknowledges his own poverty and the possibility that the woman might reject him because of it. He admits that he has nothing to offer her in material wealth, but offers her his heart in exchange for his poverty. He ends the song by describing the woman as both lovely and enchanting, comparing her to the purity of a rose.
Overall, the lyrics embody the sentiment of a man who is drawn to a woman's beauty and is willing to offer what he can, even if it's just his heart, in exchange for her affection. The repetitive phrase "Malagueña, salerosa" adds a romantic and beautifully melancholic touch to the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Que bonitos ojos tienes
Your eyes are so beautiful
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Under those two eyebrows
Debajo de esas dos cejas
Under those two eyebrows
Que bonitos ojos tienes
Your eyes are so beautiful
Ellos me quieren mirar
They want to look at me
Pero si tu no los dejas
But if you don't let them
Pero si tu no los dejas
But if you don't let them
Ni siquiera parpadear
Not even blink
Malagueña, salerosa
Malagueña, charming and salty
Besar tus labios quisiera
I want to kiss your lips
Besar tus labios quisiera
I want to kiss your lips
Malagueña, salerosa
Malagueña, charming and salty
Y decirte niña hermosa
And tell you beautiful girl
Si por pobre me desprecias
If you despise me for being poor
Yo le concedo razón
I admit it's reasonable
Yo le concedo razón
I admit it's reasonable
Si por pobre me desprecias
If you despise me for being poor
Yo no te ofrezco riqueza
I don't offer you wealth
Te ofrezco mi corazón
I offer you my heart
Te ofrezco mi corazón
I offer you my heart
A cambio de mi pobreza
In exchange for my poverty
Malagueña, salerosa
Malagueña, charming and salty
Besar tus labios quisiera
I want to kiss your lips
Besar tus labios quisiera
I want to kiss your lips
Malagueña, salerosa
Malagueña, charming and salty
Y decirte niña hermosa
And tell you beautiful girl
Eres linda y hechicera
You are beautiful and bewitching
Eres linda y hechicera
You are beautiful and bewitching
Como el candor de una rosa
Like the innocence of a rose
Como el candor de una rosa
Like the innocence of a rose
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
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