Héroes del Silencio (sometimes referred to as just Héroes) were a Spanish r… Read Full Bio ↴Héroes del Silencio (sometimes referred to as just Héroes) were a Spanish rock band from Zaragoza, Aragon, Spain formed by Juan Valdivia in 1987. In the 1990s they experienced success around Spain and the Americas, and various European countries including Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, France and Portugal becoming a successful Spanish group and icons in the history of the Rock en Español scene. After ten years and numerous albums, the band broke up in 1997. Then later on, the artist Enrique Bunbury went solo. In 2007, as part of a 20 year anniversary celebration and 11 years after their break-up, they participated in a 10 concert world tour.

Heroes del Silencio started in 1984 as a band named Zumo de Vidrio. The original members were Enrique Bunbury, Juan Valdivia and his brother, and Pedro Andreu. Bunbury was originally a bass player but after Juan Valdivia heard him singing a David Bowie song and told him that he had a great voice, Bunbury became the vocalist. Later on, Joaquin Cardiel joins the line-up.

The band changed their name to Heroes del Silencio in 1986. At first they played in public places and made demos but their break came when they participated in a music contest in Salamanca and won second place - an EMI producer, Gustavo Montesano, saw the band in the contest and some time later, at a concert in Sala En Bruto, he signed the band.

Their first EP, Héroe de Leyenda, was released in in 1987 and sold 30,000 copies. The following year, the album El Mar No Cesa was released, featuring the songs "Mar Adentro", "Agosto" and "El Estanque", and sold 100,000 copies. The supporting tour followed in 1989, documented on the limited edition live album En Directo.

In 1990 they released Senderos de Traicion, their best-selling album with 2 million copies, including 400,000 copies in the first two weeks in Spain alone. The following year they started the tour "Senda 91" and released another live album, Senda 91. 1992 saw the most important CD in their career, El Espiritu del Vino. They sold 600,000 copies of this album which was played throughout America. They followed this with a tour for El Espiritu del Vino. In 1993, Alan Bogulavsky joined the band.

Due to tensions within the band, they took a hiatus and went to Benasque to take a vacation and heal the rifts within the group. After this break they gained a new producer, Bob Ezrin (Lou Reed, Pink Floyd, Peter Gabriel, Alice Cooper, Kiss, etc.) and in 1995 released Avalancha, widely considered their best album. Avalancha was more hard rock than previous albums, with songs like "Avalancha", "Deshacer El Mundo" and "Iberia Sumergida". The album was followed by the "Avalancha" tour in 1995 and 1996, which produced the live album Para Siempre.

The band split in 1996 though this did not prevent the release of the Rarezas album in 1998.

2007 Reunion tour
20 years after their first album, and 10 years after they split up, the band announced a ten concerts reunion tour, taking in Guatemala City, Buenos Aires, Monterrey, Ciudad de México, Los Ángeles, Sevilla, Zaragoza and Valencia. For this tour, guitarist Gonzalo Valdivia (Juan Valdivia's brother) replaced former band member Alan Bogulavsky. More than 10,000 people attended each concert. The tour was followed by another live album, Tour 2007.
After the tour, singer-songwriter Enrique Bunbury announced the definitive split of the band and that he would be focusing in his solo career.

La Carta
Héroes del Silencio Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

No hace mucho que leí tu carta
Y, sin fuerzas para contestar
Mil pedazos al viento nos separan
Pondré casa en un país
Lejano para olvidar
Este miedo hacia ti, este miedo hacia ti
Y no hace mucho que rompí
Tu recuerdo pensando

Acabar de una vez

Pero el tiempo y la distancia
No son todo para mí
Siempre hay algo que me hace volver
Siempre he escuchado, y ya no te creo
¿Por qué no te entiendo?
¿Por qué estás tan lejos?
Siempre he escuchado, y ya no te creo
¿Por qué no te entiendo?
¿Por qué estás tan lejos?

Sé que siempre he sido así
Y que no tengo remedio
Ni lo quiero tener
Pero ni el miedo ni tu cartas
Lo son todo para mí
Quizás otra vez te echaré la culpa a ti
Siempre he escuchado, y ya no te creo
¿Por qué no te entiendo?
¿Por qué estás tan lejos?
Siempre he escuchado, y ya no te creo

¿Por qué no te entiendo?
¿Por qué estás tan lejos?

Overall Meaning

The song "La Carta" by Héroes del Silencio is an emotional ballad about the struggles of communication and distance in a relationship. The lyrics express the singer's frustration and confusion over a recent letter they received from their partner, and their struggle to find the strength to respond. They acknowledge the physical and emotional distance between them, and express a desire to escape to a faraway place to forget their fear and uncertainty about the future of their relationship.

The singer also reflects on their own flaws, admitting that they have a tendency to blame others for their problems and that they struggle to understand their partner's perspective. Despite this, they feel a strong connection to their partner and are unable to fully let go of the relationship, as evidenced by the repeated refrain of "¿Por qué no te entiendo? ¿Por qué estás tan lejos?" ("Why can't I understand you? Why are you so far away?") The song's haunting melody and powerful vocals convey a sense of longing and heartache that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the pain of a distant or struggling relationship.

Line by Line Meaning

No hace mucho que leí tu carta
Recently, I read your letter

Y, sin fuerzas para contestar
And, being powerless to respond

Mil pedazos al viento nos separan
A thousand fragments separate us in the wind

Pondré casa en un país
I will build a home in a distant country

Lejano para olvidar
Far away in order to forget

Este miedo hacia ti, este miedo hacia ti
This fear towards you, this fear towards you

Y no hace mucho que rompí
And not long ago, I broke

Tu recuerdo pensando
Thinking of your memory

Acabar de una vez
To end it once and for all

Pero el tiempo y la distancia
But time and distance

No son todo para mí
Are not everything to me