Daniel Santos was born and raised with his three sisters in Trastalleres, a poor section of Santurce, in San Juan (Andy Montañez would later be raised just two streets from Santos' childhood house). He attended Las Palmitas Elementary School. Although he was doing well in school his father took him out of school when he was in the fourth grade and forced him to shine shoes because his family was facing a bad economic situation. In 1924, his family immigrated to New York City looking for a better way of life. When his parents enrolled him in school, he had to start from the first grade again because he did not know enough English. Santos joined his high school's choir but he dropped out of high school in his second year and moved out of his parents apartment.
Santos moved into a small low rent apartment; here, one day, while he was taking a shower, he started to sing "Te Quiero, Dijiste" (You said I Love You). A member of the Trio Lirico was passing by and heard him sing, he then knocked on Santos' door. The trio member invited Daniel to join the trio and he accepted. Santos debuted with them on September 13, 1930, he sang in various social events and was paid a dollar for every song that he sang
Santos struggled while living on his own in New York. In one occasion, he was stabbed once by a loan shark who lent him USD$52.00 and demanded payment soon after. When he recovered from the stab wound he made sure to find the loaner and hit him with a lead pipe, quote, "Fifty-two times. And I counted them!".
Santos joins Pedro Flores
In 1938, Santos was working at the Cuban Casino Cabaret in Manhattan. He did a little bit of everything, from singing to being the master of ceremonies to waiting on tables. On one occasion, he was singing "Amor Perdido" (Love Lost), without knowing that the composer of the song Pedro Flores was in the audience. Flores liked what he heard so much that he invited Santos to join his group "El Cuarteto Flores" which also included Myrta Silva and in the future would also include Pedro Ortiz Davila "Davilita".
Santos recorded many songs with the Cuarteto Flores and started to gain fame. Among songs that he recorded were:
* "Perdon" (I'm Sorry),
* "Amor" (Love),
* "El Ultimo Adios" (The Last Good-bye),
* "Borracho no Vale" (Being Drunk don't Count) and many others.
In 1941, due to Puerto Rico's political relationship with the United States, most young Puerto Ricans were being drafted into the United States Army. Santos recorded "Despedida" (My Good-bye), a strongly emotional farewell song written by Flores from the viewpoint of an Army recruit who had to leave behind his girlfriend and his ailing mother. The song became an instant hit. Santos recalled in an interview once that he had to hold back tears while recording the song, since his draft papers had just arrived and he would soon have to live a situation similar to what the song's lyrics described, but that a friend started mocking him at the control booth, to which he decided to curse him on the spot, trading the word mama'o (an expletive in Puerto Rican Spanish) for mamá (mother). This incident produced two mannerisms that Santos eventually adopted in his singing style: chopped delivery (almost syllable by syllable, as suggested by Flores) and stretched last vowel in the last verse of each stanza, in almost every song he recorded afterwards.
"Linda"
In 1942, before Santos was drafted and sent to fight in World War II, he recorded his greatest hit "Linda", written specially for him by Flores after a former Dominican girlfriend of Santos', and sang for a while with Xavier Cugat's orchestra. He was later stationed in Okinawa and South Korea, where he had to defend himself constantly from racial attacks from fellow battalion members.
Political activist
After returning from the war, and partly because of the prejudice he experienced within the Army ranks, Daniel became active in the Puerto Rican Independence Movement and identified himself with the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party and its president Pedro Albizu Campos. His devotion for Albizu lasted all through his life, to the point of commissioning, later in his life, a full-sized statue of Albizu for his Florida estate.
Together with Davilita, he recorded "Patriotas" (Patriots) and "La Lucha por la Independencia de Puerto Rico" (The Fight for Puerto Rico's Independence) which was adopted from one of Juan Antonio Corretjer's poems. Santos called for Puerto Rico's independence through his music and as a consequence of his actions, he had problems with the FBI and the United States State Department whenever he wanted to travel abroad.
In the 1950s Santos traveled between Cuba and New York making presentations. He composed the song "Sierra Maestra", which Fidel Castro adopted as the official hymn of the movement of July 26 and which was always transmitted through "Radio Rebelde" (Rebel Radio) every morning. Santos continued to perform in Cuba even after Castro and his men overthrew Cuba's president Fulgencio Batista. However, when he heard that Castro was planning to train children for the military, Santos became disillusioned and left Cuba for good. During that same decade Daniel composed:
* "El Columpio de la Vida" (The Swing of Life),
* "Patricia",
* "El Preso" (The Prisoner) and
* "Bello Amor" (Beautiful Love) as well as 400 other compositions.
Santos was in a bad economical and emotional state after he left Cuba. He was invited to sing for the Sonora Matancera, which was contracted to work in "Radio Progreso". His luck improved, and he again gained fame and fortune. However, Santos spent most of his earnings on alcohol and women. He had 12 children and had been married 12 times. He made sure that he didn't marry a Puerto Rican woman, quote-unquote, "because I fear them, man!" (near the end of his life he did marry a Puerto Rican, Ana Rivera, who eventually became his companion in old age through one of his longer marriages and eventually his widow). He had also spent time in jail in Cuba, Ecuador and the Dominican Republic.[2]
Later years
During the last years of his life, Santos toured the United States and Latin-America to sell-out crowds.
Daniel Santos died on November 27, 1992 at his ranch, "Anacobero's Ranch", in Ocala, Florida. He is buried at what is virtually Puerto Rico's national pantheon, the Saint Mary Magdalene of Pazzis cemetery in Old San Juan, physically close to Pedro Albizu Campos and Pedro Flores. Due to the scarcity of empty space in the cemetery, when fellow Puerto Rican singer Yayo El Indio died, he was also buried in Santos' tomb.
Preciosa
Daniel Santos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
De mi Borinquen hermosa
Por eso la quiero yo tanto
Y siempre la llamaré preciosa
Isla del Caribe
Isla del Caribe
Borinquen
Y del olor de tus rosas
Y a esa mi tierra riqueña
Por siempre la llamaré, preciosa
Isla del Caribe
Isla del Caribe
Borinquen
Preciosa te llamen los olas
Del mar que te bañan
Preciosa, por ser un encanto
Por ser un Edén
Y tienes la noble hidalguía
De la madre España
Y el fiero cantillo
Del indio bravío
Lo tienes también
Preciosa te llamen los bardos
Que cantan tu historia
No importa el tirano te trate
Con negra maldad
Preciosa, serás sin bandera
Sin lauros ni gloria
Preciosa, preciosa te llaman
Los hijos de la libertad
The lyrics of Daniel Santos's song Preciosa are a tribute to the beauty, charm, and cultural richness of Puerto Rico, also known as Borinquen. The singer praises the enchanting aspects of his homeland, from the physical features such as the Caribbean Sea and the aroma of roses, to the historical and social aspects, such as the mix of Spanish and indigenous heritage and the struggle for freedom. The song creates a sense of pride and admiration for Puerto Rico, as well as a longing for it.
The chorus of the song, which repeats the phrase "Isla del Caribe, Borinquen," highlights the geographic and cultural identity of Puerto Rico as part of the Caribbean region and as a distinct entity. By using the term "preciosa" (precious), the singer emphasizes the emotional attachment and personal value of Puerto Rico, not only as an object of national identity but also as a beloved place of origin and belonging. The lyrics also allude to the political situation of Puerto Rico, which at the time of the song's composition in the 1940s, was a territory of the United States and had limited autonomy.
Line by Line Meaning
Yo sé lo que son los encantos
I understand the beauty and appeal of my beloved Puerto Rico
De mi Borinquen hermosa
My beautiful homeland of Borinquen
Por eso la quiero yo tanto
That's why I love it so much
Y siempre la llamaré preciosa
And I will always call it precious
Isla del Caribe
Caribbean island
Isla del Caribe
Caribbean island
Borinquen
Borinquen
Yo sé de tus hembras trigueñas
I know about your dark-skinned women
Y del olor de tus rosas
And the scent of your roses
Y a esa mi tierra riqueña
And to my rich land
Por siempre la llamaré, preciosa
I will always call it precious
Preciosa te llamen los olas
The waves that bathe you call you precious
Del mar que te bañan
From the sea that bathes you
Preciosa, por ser un encanto
Precious, for being a charm
Por ser un Edén
For being an Eden
Y tienes la noble hidalguía
And you have the noble chivalry
De la madre España
Of Mother Spain
Y el fiero cantillo
And the fierce spirit
Del indio bravío
Of the brave Indian
Lo tienes también
You have it also
Preciosa te llamen los bardos
The bards call you precious
Que cantan tu historia
Who sing your history
No importa el tirano te trate
No matter how the tyrant treats you
Con negra maldad
With black malice
Preciosa, serás sin bandera
Precious, you will be without a flag
Sin lauros ni gloria
Without laurels or glory
Preciosa, preciosa te llaman
Precious, they call you precious
Los hijos de la libertad
The children of liberty
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing
Written by: Alejandro Jaen Palacios, Daniel Santacruz, David Zepeda
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
ines lasso
Mis abuelos bailaban esta canción y desde que no está él, mi abuela se emociona mucho al escucharla🥺❤️
Jesús Blanco García
Una pregunta para mis hermanos Boricuas... ¿Por que esta canción no es su himno nacional?. Increíble esta canción. Soy Venezolano, pero la canto con mucho cariño.
Zoe Rodriguez
Jesús Blanco García
Tenemos muchas canciones que podrian ser himno,como Verde Luz.
Tor
Preciosa canción... Así como también En mi viejo san juan una de las candidatas a ser un himno boricua...
carlos martinez
Jesus Blanco Garcia, saludos,yo tambien soy venezolano y escuche por vez primera esta canción cuando un amigo puertorriqueño andaba por Venezuela y se la dedicaron, lo cierto de el caso es que a mi me parecio como su nombre" preciosa", sin embargo posteriormente y con un espiritú crítico empece a diseccionarla y ya de verdad no me parecio ni tan patriotica ni tan preciosa, pues no se bajo que contexto la escribio, Rafael Hernandez o si tenía miedo de alguien o si al bombardearnos tanto con lo extranjero las personas empiezan a pensar o a sentir como ellos en una especie de sindrome de Estocolmo, esto lo hago extensivo esto a ti y a todos los que responden y paso a explicarme,cualquier persona que me responda sera bien recibida en su apreciacion, puesto que tal vez el engañado sea yo,quizas, no se, no soy puertoriqueño pero conoci como dije antes a uno que lamentablemente ya no esta entre nosotros y era bastante revolucionario y puedo ser tan revolucionario como el y o tan crítico...
En primer lugar el autor nos habla de la noble hidalguía de la madre España,que yo conozca o sepa,"la noble hidalguía" según la historia, arrasó con el indio bravio al que nombran despues, luego nos cita a " los bardos que cuentan tu historia", poetas antiguos que cuentan leyendas, como si esto fuera en pasado, luego aparece "el tirano de negra maldad"que tacitamente tendriamos que entenderlo puesto que no hay mas etiquetas al respecto, (es decir no sabemos quienes son, si son sus gobernantes,el sistema, los norte americanos, el imperio español,sus propios tiranos?, es decir no sabemos quien es el tirano, ni si esa maldad es tan negra, puesto que como dice la letra, no importa el tirano te trate con negra maldad, parece que o debemos ser sumisos ante el tirano y aceptar todo lo que nos golpeen o esa maldad es agradable, puesto que la aceptamos con tal de que ella siga siendo preciosa) posteriormente borra de un plumazo, banderas lauros y glorias,fijate lo que te digo, seras preciosa,aunque no tengas bandera ni lauros ni glorias? que barrabasada es esa? o sea tu me vas a borrar la historia de mi patria, sus triunfos y su gloria porque le vas a decir preciosa en una cancion lo cual ya es tacito? no me parece,y ya al final te nombra a "los hijos de la libertad", tomando en consideracion, la situacion politica e historica de Puerto Rico,quienes son esos hijos de la libertad y de que libertad? desde luego si a mi me van a colocar una cancion asi como himno nacional la verdad que me quejaria puesto que no responderia a un ideal patriotico,soberano y ademas es muy conformista con respecto a una invasion extranjera o a cualquier abuso al que la patria sea sometida...Saludos...
Rogelio Flores
@Zoe Rodriguez deberías de subirla para oírla, amo a los pueblos del Caribe.
Zoe Rodriguez
@Rogelio Flores
No sé subirla, pero por aquí por Youtube debe estar.De hecho, a mi no es de las canciones a la patria que mas me gusta.Prefiero algo mas movido como Isla del encanto de la Broadway ó Nació Borinquen de la Sonora Ponceña.
Martha Irma Bernal Maldonado
La mejor interpretación por este grande es hermoso escuchar esta hermosa voz!
Maria del Rocio Rodriguez Ramirez
Tanto tiempo buscando esta cancion, me la cantaba mi papá que en paz descanse cuando yo era una niña. Mil gracias!!!
Harold Salas
Daniel Santos, el único, el inmortal e Inquieto Anacobero. Su voz y personalidad son inmortales para los amantes de su calidad musical. Viva Puerto Rico, Viva Daniel Santos.