The group was formed by students at Universidad Técnica del Estado at Santiago, Chile in 1967. In 1973 as they were on tour abroad, General Augusto Pinochet launched a coup d'etat and took power. Having heard of the numerous extra-judicial killings of many fellow artists by Chile's army, they took up residence in Italy, resulting in "the longest tour in history" for Inti-Illimani as they lived in de facto exile. They continued their efforts supporting Chilean democracy internationally; magnitizdat copies of their work continued to be widely distributed in Chile. In September 1988, days after they were no longer banned from Chile, they began touring Chile again. They helped organize the voting down of the referendum that would have re-elected Pinochet. Recently, they were actually supported by Chile as representatives of Chilean culture.
In the past the group was musically led by Horacio Salinas and politically led by Jorge Coulon. However, in 2001 there was a controversial split of the group, which started when three key members left the group (José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas). They were replaced by Manuel Meriño (from Entrama), Cristián González and Juan Flores. Due to the importance of departed members, many called into question the ability of the remainder to carry on the Inti-Illimani name. Meanwhile, the three departed members started their own group they call Inti-Histórico. From 2005 there are two groups:
Inti-Illimani New (Coulon brothers)
Inti-Illimani Histórico (José Seves, Horacio Durán and Horacio Salinas)
Membership
In August 1967 Inti-Illimani's earliest membership consisted of:
Horacio Durán
Max Berrú
Jorge Coulon
Luis Espinoza
Oscar Guzmán
Ciro Retamal
Pedro Yáñez
In 1968 Inti-Illimani's membership consisted of:
Horacio Salinas (Musical director and main composer)
Horacio Durán
Max Berrú
Jorge Coulon
Ernesto Perez de Arce
Current line-up of the "Inti-Illimani Nuevo":
Jorge Coulon
Christian González
Daniel Cantillana
Juan Flores
Efren Viera
Marcelo Coulon
Manuel Meriño
César Jara
Current line-up of the "Inti-Histórico":
Horacio Salinas
Horacio Durán
José Seves
Jorge Ball
Fernando Julio
Camilo Salinas
Danilo Donoso
Other members in the history of the group:
Ernesto Pérez de Arce
Homero Altamirano
José Miguel Camus
Renato Freyggang
Pedro Villagra
La Valentina
Inti-Illimani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
yo te quisiera decir
que una pasión me domina
y es la que me hizo venir.
Dicen que por tus amores
un mal me van a seguir,
no le hace que sean el diablo
Si porque tomo tequila
mañana tomo jerez,
si porque me ven borracho
mañana ya no me ven.
Valentina, Valentina,
rendido estoy a tus pies,
si me han de matar mañana
que me maten de una vez.
The lyrics of Inti-Illimani's La Valentina are a passionate declaration of love for a woman named Valentina. The singer wants to tell her that he is possessed by a passion for her that has brought him to her. He has heard that because of his love for her, he will face certain doom, but he does not care. He is willing to die for his love for Valentina.
The next few lines continue to express his reckless devotion to her. He says that if he drinks tequila today, he will drink sherry tomorrow. And if anyone sees him drunk today, they will not see him tomorrow. These lines suggest that he is living in the moment and does not care about the consequences of his actions.
The song is a testament to the power of love and the lengths that people will go to for it. It is also a celebration of life and the joy that can be found in even the darkest of times.
Line by Line Meaning
Valentina, Valentina,
Oh Valentina, my sweet Valentina,
yo te quisiera decir
I want to tell you,
que una pasión me domina
that a passion overwhelms me,
y es la que me hizo venir.
and it's the reason why I came here.
Dicen que por tus amores
They say that because of your love,
un mal me van a seguir,
I'll face some harm,
no le hace que sean el diablo
Whether it be the devil himself,
yo también me sé morir.
I, too, know how to die.
Si porque tomo tequila
If I drink tequila,
mañana tomo jerez,
Tomorrow, I'll drink sherry,
si porque me ven borracho
If they see me drunk,
mañana ya no me ven.
They won't see me again tomorrow.
Valentina, Valentina,
Oh Valentina, my sweet Valentina,
rendido estoy a tus pies,
I am surrendered at your feet,
si me han de matar mañana
If they're going to kill me tomorrow,
que me maten de una vez.
let them kill me in one shot.
Contributed by Caden E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Fanny
on Hermanochay
Hola, mi padre tenia un grupo de musica andina y cantaba esta cancion. Mi padre hoy ya no está y me hubiera gustado entender la letra, no encuentro traducción por ningún lado, alguien sabe la traducción?