Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz. (*Siboney, 18 de noviembre de 1907 - † La … Read Full Bio ↴Máximo Francisco Repilado Muñoz. (*Siboney, 18 de noviembre de 1907 - † La Habana, 14 de julio de 2003). Fue músico y compositor cubano de amplia trayectoria mundial.

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.

Son de la Loma
Compay Segundo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Mamá yo quiero saber
De donde son los cantantes
Que los encuentro muy galantes
Y los quiero conocer
Con sus trovas fascinantes
Que me las quiero aprender
Mamá yo quiero saber

De donde serán, ¡Ay mamá!
Serán de La Habana
Serán de Santiago, tierra soberana
Son de la loma y cantan en llano

Tu verás, tu verás

Mamá ellos son de la loma
Mamá ellos cantan en llano

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Compay Segundo's song "Son de la loma" tell the story of a curious child who wants to know where the singers that they admire come from. They ask their mother where these gallant singers who sing fascinating trovas could possibly be from, and express a desire to learn these trovas themselves.

The response from the mother is that the singers in question are from the loma and sing in the llano. The singer seems satisfied with this answer and repeats it, adding that the singers are indeed from the loma and they sing in the llano.

The lyrics demonstrate a fascination with the origins of creativity and talent, as well as a desire to learn and emulate the skills and expressions of others. The reference to the loma and the llano also highlights the importance of roots and regional identity in Latin American music.

Line by Line Meaning

Mamá yo quiero saber
I wish to know, Mother

De donde son los cantantes
Where the singers are from

Que los encuentro muy galantes
I find them very charming

Y los quiero conocer
I desire to meet them

Con sus trovas fascinantes
With their fascinating troubadour songs

Que me las quiero aprender
That I want to learn

De donde serán, ¡Ay mamá!
Where could they be, Oh Mother!

Serán de La Habana
Perhaps they are from La Habana

Serán de Santiago, tierra soberana
Maybe they are from Santiago, the sovereign land

Son de la loma y cantan en llano
They are from the hills and sing on the plain

Tu verás, tu verás
You will see, you will see