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.
dos baladas amarillas
Daniel Viglietti Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
hay un arbolillo verde.
Pastor que vas,
pastor que vienes.
Olivares soñolientos
bajan al llano caliente.
Pastor que vas,
pastor que vienes.
ni cayado ni amor tienes.
Pastor que vas.
Como una sombra de oro
en el trigal te disuelves.
Pastor que vienes.
The lyrics of Daniel Viglietti's song, "Dos Baladas Amarillas," are a poetic portrayal of the pastoral landscape of Uruguay. The opening lines "En lo alto de aquel monte / hay un arbolillo verde," describe a green tree situated on top of a hill. The pastoral imagery of the countryside continues with "Olivares soñolientos / bajan al llano caliente," illustrating lazy olive groves descending to the scorching plain. The song employs the traditional poetic device of repetition with the recurring lines "pastor que vas, pastor que vienes," suggesting the passerby and wanderlust of a nomad shepherd.
However, the pastoral idyll is disrupted with the lines "Ni ovejas blancas ni perro / ni cayado ni amor tienes," portraying the wandering shepherd without any sheep, dog, staff or love. The song ends with "Como una sombra de oro / en el trigal te disuelves. /Pastor que vienes," conveying a sense of ephemeral, transitory existence. The lyrics thus underline the fleeting, cyclic nature of pastoral life, capturing the liminal state of the shepherd, who is simultaneously present and absent, in the world but not of it.
Line by Line Meaning
En lo alto de aquel monte
There's a small green tree on top of that mountain.
hay un arbolillo verde.
There's a small green tree on top of that mountain.
Pastor que vas,
Shepherd, where are you going,
pastor que vienes.
and where are you coming from?
Olivares soñolientos
Drowsy olive groves
bajan al llano caliente.
descend to the hot plain.
Pastor que vas,
Shepherd, where are you going,
pastor que vienes.
and where are you coming from?
Ni ovejas blancas ni perro
No white sheep or dog
ni cayado ni amor tienes.
or staff or love do you have.
Pastor que vas.
Shepherd, where are you going.
Como una sombra de oro
Like a golden shadow
en el trigal te disuelves.
you dissolve in the wheat field.
Pastor que vienes.
Shepherd, where are you coming from.
Contributed by Sophia E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.