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
Mañana Me Voy Pa'l Norte
Inti-Illimani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A cantarle a los nortinos
Tengo lista mi trutruca
Mi tambor y mis platillos.
Un esquinazo en la pampa
Le ofreceré al salitrero
Con cogollito de amores
Adornaremos la mesa
Con flores de tamarugo
Matizados con copihues
Del copihual de Temuco.
Y cuando empiece a cantar
Que lloren todas las quenas
Tambor del indio palpiten
Al son de todas sus penas.
The song Mañana Me Voy Pa'l Norte by Inti-Illimani tells the story of a musician who is leaving for the northern part of Chile to sing for the people there. He is bringing with him his trutruca, a kind of traditional wind instrument, as well as his drum and cymbals. In the song, he talks about how he will offer a serenade to the saltpeter worker and will bring him some flowers as gifts from the southern region of the country.
The musician speaks about how they will decorate the table with tamarugo flowers, which are native to the Atacama Desert, and will also add some copihue flowers from Temuco. As he begins to sing, he talks about how the sound of the quenas, a traditional Andean instrument, will make people cry, and how the beating of the drum will palpitate to the rhythm of everyone's pain.
Overall, the song is about the power of music to bring people together and to heal. It speaks to the importance of cultural traditions and how they connect us to our past and to each other. The musician's journey to the north is symbolic of this connection and the ability of music to transcend geographic and cultural boundaries.
Line by Line Meaning
Mañana me voy p'al Norte
Tomorrow I am going to Northern Chile
A cantarle a los nortinos
To sing for the people of the North
Tengo lista mi trutruca
I have my trutruca (a traditional Chilean wind instrument) ready
Mi tambor y mis platillos
My drum and cymbals as well
Un esquinazo en la pampa
I will sing a serenade in the desert
Le ofreceré al salitrero
I will offer this song to the saltpeter miners
Con cogollito de amores
With a bouquet of love
Regalo de los sureños
A gift from the Southern people
Adornaremos la mesa
We will decorate the table
Con flores de tamarugo
With tamarugo flowers
Matizados con copihues
Mixed with copihue flowers
Del copihual de Temuco.
From the copihue groves of Temuco
Y cuando empiece a cantar
And when I start to sing
Que lloren todas las quenas
May all the quenas (Andean flute) cry in response
Tambor del indio palpiten
The drum of the indigenous people beats in response
Al son de todas sus penas.
To the rhythm of all their sorrows.
Contributed by Elijah L. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
pedro antonio veliz-canto hill
Soy Iquiqueño, nací en la Salitrera Iris, viví muchos años en mi tierra y esta canción me trae los recuerdos de mi bella estadía en Iquique, tierra que se quiera hasta cuando exhalamos el último suspiro, cómo quiero mi tierra!!
Perringo Starr
tengo mas de 30 años oyendo esta alegre canción...y nunca me he aburrido de escucharla....!!!!
Patricia Chávez Jiménez
Bella interpretación de Inti illimani.
La autoría de este tema es de Violeta Parra.
Karina Carrasco
es una cancion muy bonita
Servicio OK Autmotriz
Me encanto
hdbsnsksk Hsbsnsksjsn
mañana me voy pal norte a cantarles a los nortinos tengo lista mi trutruca mi tambor y mis platillos...
Jeannette Maribur
Q mas sigue no sale las letra mi hijo tiene q aprenderselo
Karina Carrasco
me gusta la cancion
T
muy buen video
Pfaffenfresser1
This makes really happy!!!!!!