He founded, in 1971, the recognized independent record label Ayuí/Tacuabé in order to promote and support valuable Uruguayan musical expressions, along with other musicians like José "Pepe" Guerra, Braulio López, Coriún Aharonián, Myriam Dibarboure, María Teresa Sande and Edgardo Bello,
He has performed the works of Cuban Nueva Trova stars Silvio Rodríguez and Pablo Milanés and Brazil's Chico Buarque and Edu Lobo and has worked with Cuban composer and arranger Leo Brouwer. His recordings are widely available, especially "Trópicos" (1972).
Viglietti was imprisoned in 1972 by his own government. He was supported by the likes of Jean-Paul Sartre as an international man of conscience, a voice for peace, and an opponent of the fascism and tyranny that plagued South America in the 1970s. Rumors about possible mistreatment against him forced the authorities to bring him out in front of television cameras to show that, in particular, his hands were fine. However, Viglietti spoke out that his treatment in police custody was much better than what other political prisoners received. He was a peer of the late Chilean poet and folk singer Victor Jara and composer and activist Violeta Parra.
Remontando los ríos
Daniel Viglietti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pasan los ríos por mi cara.
Los ojos son los ríos,
Son los ojos.
Quien canta,
Quien se ríe,
Quien grita,
Quien llora,
De mis ojos vuela
Alegre una barca.
Adiós ramo, ramito,
Para ti toda el agua,
Remontando los ríos.
In the song "Remontando los ríos" by the Uruguayan singer Daniel Viglietti, the singer speaks about the metaphorical connection between the rivers and our eyes. As the song begins, Viglietti instructs the listener to close their eyes as the rivers pass over their face, blurring the distinction between the two. He implies that the eyes serve as a channel for the rivers to flow through us and we become a part of them. The rivers in the song serve as a symbol of raw emotion that can be either positive or negative.
The following lines of the song explore how our emotions can create waves in the river within us. The singer lists different emotions such as singing, laughing, shouting, and crying, and how these emotions can either calm the river or make it turbulent. In the end, the singer is creating the image of the rivers inside his eyes breaking free with the flight of joy as he says adios to what was holding him back, and he is letting the river take him wherever it may go by rowing the boat over it.
Overall, "Remontando los ríos" is a song about the often-ignored interconnectedness between us and our surroundings. It highlights how our emotions play an integral role in how we perceive the rivers and how the rivers constantly flow within and around us.
Line by Line Meaning
Cierro los ojos,
I close my eyes,
Pasan los ríos por mi cara.
Rivers flow down my face.
Los ojos son los ríos,
Eyes are the rivers,
Son los ojos.
and the rivers are the eyes.
Quien canta,
Those who sing,
Quien se ríe,
Those who laugh,
Quien grita,
Those who shout,
Quien llora,
Those who cry,
Se desatan los ríos,
Unleash the rivers,
De mis ojos vuela
From my eyes flies
Alegre una barca.
A joyful boat.
Adiós ramo, ramito,
Goodbye bouquet, little bouquet,
Para ti toda el agua,
All the water for you,
Remontando los ríos.
Climbing up the rivers.
Contributed by Tyler E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.