Catalan singer-songwriter Joan Manuel Serrat got involved in music at the age of 17, when he got his first guitar, to which he dedicates one of his earliest songs, "Una guitarra."
In early 60's the young artist participated in a pop band playing along with classmates at Barcelona's Agronomy School, doing mainly Beatles stuff and Italian 'pop-of-the-era' songs translated to Spanish.
In 1965, while singing in a radio show called Radioscope, host Salvador Escanilla helped him to get a record deal with local label Edigsa where he recorded his first EP, as well as became part of Els Setze Jutges, a group of Catalan artists aiming to promote a renaissance of Catalan culture after Spanish Franco's dictatorship and make it spread into popular classes.
Joan Manuel Serrat's first live stage performance in 1967 at the Catalan Music Palace, established definitely his name as one of the most important artists inside the 'Nova cançó' ('New Song') movement in Catalonia.
Next year, Spain originally entered Serrat in the Eurovision Song Contest 1968 to sing "La, la, la", but he asked to sing it in Catalan, to which the Spanish authorities would not agree. This would be the first time he came into conflict with the language politics of Francoist Spain, because of his decision to sing in his native Catalan language, repressed by Franco. After the incident, Serrat was hurriedly substituted by Massiel, who won the contest with her Spanish-language version. By that time Serrat's songs were banned and his records burned in the streets. He then traveled to South America and participated in the Rio de Janeiro's World Music Festival, where he took first place with the song "Penélope."
In 1969 Serrat released an album containing songs with texts of Antonio Machado, a well known Spanish poet of late 19th-early 20th century. This album gave him immediate fame in all Spain and Latin America though, in spite of this, his decission to sing in Spanish was still criticized in some nationalistic Catalan circles.
The release of 1971's Mediterráneo LP consolidated the artist worldwide. In 1976, Joan Manuel Serrat was acclaimed for the first time in the U.S.A. while performing in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York.
In late 1974, Serrat was exiled in Mexico due to his condemnation of arbitrary executions under Franco's regime. It wasn't until Franco's death (November 20, 1975) that Serrat was able to return to his homeland.
In January of 1995, the Spanish government gave him a medal for his contribution to the Hispanic culture. That same year, a tribute album called Serrat, Eres único was made to honor his career, featuring artists such as Diego Torres, Ketama, Rosario (Flores), Joaquín Sabina, and Antonio Flores. In the year 2000, the Spanish Association of Authors and Editors (SGAE) awarded him with one of ten Medals of the Century.
In October 2004 he revealed that he had been undergoing treatment for cancer of the bladder and in November that year he cancelled a tour of Latin America and the USA in order to undergo surgery in Barcelona, where he still lives. By that time, his wonderful song "Mediterráneo" was selected as the most important song of the 20th century in Spain.
His recovery was satisfactory, and in 2005 he went on a tour again ("Serrat 100×100") around Spain and Latin America with his lifelong producer and arranger, Ricard Miralles.
A second volume of Serrat, eres único was also released this year, featuring Alejandro Sanz, Estopa, and Pasión+Vega. Around the same time, Cuban artists such as Silvio Rodríguez, Pablo Milanés, Chucho Valdez, and Ibrahim Ferrer came together to make another tribute CD, Cuba le canta a Serrat.
Source: Wikipedia®
A un Olmo Seco
Joan Manuel Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
y en su mitad podrido,
con las lluvias de abril y el sol de mayo,
algunas hojas verdes le han salido.
El olmo centenario en la colina...
Un musgo amarillento
le lame la corteza blanquecina
Antes que te derribe, olmo del Duero,
con su hacha el leñador, y el carpintero
te convierta en malena de campana,
lanza de carro o yugo de carretera;
antes que rojo en el hogar, mañana,
ardas de alguna mísera caseta.
Antes que el río hasta la mar te empuje
por valles y barrancas,
olmo, quiero anotar en mi cartera
la gracia de tu rama verdecida.
Mi corazón espera
también hacia la luz y hacia la vida,
otro milagro de la primavera.
The song A un Olmo Seco by Joan Manuel Serrat is a beautiful ode to an old elm tree. The tree has been struck by lightning and decayed in the middle, yet still manages to sprout green leaves with the rains of April and the sun of May. Serrat describes the tree as a century-old giant on the hill, with yellow moss creeping up its white bark, and the trunk full of holes and dust. He then pleads with the tree, saying that before the lumberjack cuts it down, and the carpenter turns it into a handle, he wants to celebrate the grace of its green branches in his notebook.
The song is an allegory about life, death, and the cycle of nature. The decaying elm, though once a mighty giant, is now in its twilight days, and nature is taking its course. However, even in its dying days, the tree manages to sprout new leaves, a sign of hope and renewal. Serrat sees that even in death, the tree can provide warmth and comfort, as it might be used for fuel in some poor person's house. He, therefore, wants to savor the beauty of its green branches and the promise of the new life that they signal.
Line by Line Meaning
Al olmo viejo, hendido por el rayo
To the old elm, split by lightning
y en su mitad podrido,
And in its middle, rotten
con las lluvias de abril y el sol de mayo,
With the April rains and May sun
algunas hojas verdes le han salido.
A few green leaves have sprouted.
El olmo centenario en la colina...
The centennial elm on the hill...
Un musgo amarillento
A yellowish moss
le lame la corteza blanquecina
Licks its whitish bark
al tronco carcomido y polvoriento.
On the worm-eaten and dusty trunk.
Antes que te derribe, olmo del Duero,
Before the axe fells you, Duero elm,
con su hacha el leñador, y el carpintero
With the woodsman's axe, and the carpenter
te convierta en malena de campana,
Turn you into a clapper for a bell,
lanza de carro o yugo de carretera;
A shaft for a cart or a yoke for a wagon,
antes que rojo en el hogar, mañana,
Before tomorrow, you blaze red in a hearth,
ardas de alguna mísera caseta.
Burn in some wretched hut.
Antes que el río hasta la mar te empuje
Before the river pushes you to the sea,
por valles y barrancas,
Through valleys and ravines,
olmo, quiero anotar en mi cartera
Elm, I want to mark in my notebook
la gracia de tu rama verdecida.
The grace of your green branch.
Mi corazón espera
My heart waits
también hacia la luz y hacia la vida,
Also towards the light and towards life,
otro milagro de la primavera.
Another miracle of spring.
Contributed by Kaitlyn A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.