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®
Barquinho De Papel
Joan Manuel Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Sin nombre, sin patrón
Y sin bandera
Navegando sin timón
Donde la corriente quiera
Aventurero audaz
Jinete de papel
Que mi mano sin pasado
Sentó a lomos de un canal
Cuando el canal era un río
Cuando el estanque era el mar
Y navegar
Era jugar con el viento
Era una sonrisa a tiempo
Fugándose feliz
De país en país
Entre la escuela y mi casa
Después el tiempo pasa
Y te olvidas de aquel
Barquito de papel
Barquito de papel
En qué extraño arenal
Habrán parado
Tu sonrisa y mi pasado
Vestidos de colegial
Cuando el canal era un río
Cuando el estanque era el mar
Y navegar
Era jugar con el viento
Era una sonrisa a tiempo
Barquito de Papel is a nostalgic and reflective song by Joan Manuel Serrat, and its lyrics describe the experience of sailing with a small paper boat. The boat is an emblem of freedom, adventure, and childhood innocence. The boat has no name, no flag, and no owner, it simply navigates wherever the current wants. The singer describes himself as a daring adventurer, a rider of paper horses, who boards the boat and sails away, leaving behind the strict lines and rules of adulthood. The boat takes him to different countries and horizons, always with a smile on his face.
The second stanza of the song shows a shift in perspective, where the singer wonders what has become of his paper boat and his youthful memories. He questions where it may have gone or what may have happened to it. The memories of his childhood are now veiled through time and forgotten. The boat represents a time where everything was simple and joyous. The final lines of the song reflect how these memories seem to fade away with time.
Overall, the song Barquito de Papel is an invitation to embrace the simplicity and carefree spirit of childhood that often gets lost in the complexities of adulthood.
Line by Line Meaning
Barquito de papel
The singer is reminiscing about a little paper boat.
Sin nombre, sin patrón
The paper boat had no name or owner.
Y sin bandera
The paper boat had no flag, representing no nation or allegiance.
Navegando sin timón
The paper boat floated without a rudder, directionless.
Donde la corriente quiera
The boat went where the current took it.
Aventurero audaz
The little paper boat was a bold adventurer.
Jinete de papel
The boat was like a horse to the singer.
Cuadriculado
The paper was squared or graphed like notebook paper.
Que mi mano sin pasado
The boat was created by the artist without any prior experience or knowledge.
Sentó a lomos de un canal
The artist put the paper boat in a canal to set it off on its journey.
Cuando el canal era un río
The little boat floated through streams and rivers on its adventures.
Cuando el estanque era el mar
The small, simple body of water became a vast ocean in the eyes of the artist and the boat.
Y navegar
Sailing the paper boat was like a game to the singer.
Era jugar con el viento
The boat sailed with the wind, giving a sense of playfulness.
Era una sonrisa a tiempo
The boat brought smiles to the face of the singer.
Fugándose feliz
The boat and speaker escaped happiness and joyfully sailed away.
De país en país
The boat was like a traveler, moving from place to place.
Entre la escuela y mi casa
The boat was sailed between the singer's school and home.
Después el tiempo pasa
As time passed, the singer grew up and moved on from the boat.
Y te olvidas de aquel
The artist forgot about the paper boat.
Barquito de papel
The artist remembers the little paper boat.
En qué extraño arenal
The artist wonders where the boat has ended up after all these years.
Habrán parado
The singer wonders where the boat has stopped and settled down.
Tu sonrisa y mi pasado
The paper boat symbolizes a happy memory from the artist's past.
Vestidos de colegial
The singer remembers sailing the boat as a child, dressed in a school uniform.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JUAN MANUEL SERRAT TERESA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind