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®
Cambalache
Joan Manuel Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
El que no llora no mama y el que no roba es un gil! �Dale nom�s! �Dale que va! �Que all� en el horno se vamo a encontrar! �No pienses m�s s�ntate a un lao, que a nadie importa si naciste honrao! Que es lo mismo el que labura noche y d�a como un buey, que el que vive de las minas, que el que roba, que el que mata o est� fuera de la ley.
The lyrics to Joan Manuel Serrat's song Cambalache are a commentary on the state of society, particularly in the 20th century. The song asserts that the world has always been a mess, with thieves, hypocrites, contented and bitter people, and both good and bad people. But the 20th century is especially insolent and harsh, with everyone wallowing in the same mud and performing the same merengue dance. The song notes that in this world, it's all the same to be honest or a traitor, ignorant or wise, generous or a cheat. There is no hierarchy or scale, and the immoral people have become equal to the honest ones. Everyone is a lord, or everyone is a thief. The song blends past and present, bringing together historical figures like Stavisky, Don Bosco, and Napoleon with contemporary characters like Don Chicho and San Martin. The lyrics conclude with a plea to forget about being honest and just go along with the way things are.
Line by Line Meaning
Que el mundo fue y será una porquería ya lo sé... (En el quinientos seis y en el dos mil también!)
The world has always been a mess, even in the 1500s and even now in the 2000s!
Que siempre ha habido chorros, maquiavelos y estafaos, contentos y amargaos, valores y dubl�...
There have always been thieves, manipulators, scammed victims, happy and sad people, good and bad values...
Pero que el siglo veinte es un despliegue de mald� insolente ya no hay qui�n lo niegue.
But it's undeniable that the 20th century has amplified rude evil.
Vivimos revolcaos en un merengue y en un mismo lodo todos manoseaos...
We're all mingled up messily in a dance of life, and we all get touched by the same dirt.
Hoy resulta que es lo mismo ser derecho que traidor!... Ignorante, sabio o chorro, generoso o estafador!... Y todo es igual! Nada es mejor! Lo mismo un burro que un gran profesor!
Now it turns out it doesn't matter if you're honest or a traitor, a fool or wise, a giver or a scammer! Everything's equal! Nothing's better! There's no difference between a donkey and a great professor!
No hay aplazaos ni escalaf�n, los inmorales nos han igualao.
There are no longer any differences in social status, the immoral have equalized us.
Que uno vive en la impostura que otro roba en su ambici�n, da lo mismo que si es cura, colchonero, rey de bastos, caradura o poliz�n!...
Some live in deceit while others steal due to their ambition, whether they are priests, mattress makers, kings, shameless people or policemen, it makes no difference!
Qu� falta de respeto, qu� atropello a la raz�n! Cualquiera es un se�or! Cualquiera es un ladr�n!
How disrespectful and irrational! Anyone can be a gentleman! Anyone can be a thief!
Mezclao con Stavisky va Don Bosco y La Mignón, Don Chicho y Napoleón, Carnera y San Martín... Igual que en la vidriera irrespetuosa de los cambalaches se ha mezclao la vida, y herida por un sable sin remaches vi llorar la Biblia contra un calefón...
In a disrespectful glass cabinet of dealing, Stavisky meets Don Bosco and La Mignón, Don Chicho meets Napoleon, Carnera meets San Martin... life is mixed up in the same way, and the Bible cries against a water heater wounded by a sword without a hilt.
Siglo veinte, cambalache problem�tico y febril...
The 20th century is a problematic and feverish mishmash.
El que no llora no mama y el que no roba es un gil! Dale nom�s! Dale que va! Que all� en el horno se vamo a encontrar! No pienses m�s s�ntate a un lao, que a nadie importa si naciste honrao!
If you don't ask, you won't receive, and if you don't steal, you're a fool! Go ahead and do what you want! We'll all end up in the fire anyway! Don't think too much, just sit down, because it doesn't matter if you were born with honor or not!
Que es lo mismo el que labura noche y d�a como un buey, que el que vive de las minas, que el que roba, que el que mata o est� fuera de la ley.
It's all the same whether you work day and night like a bull or live off mines, or steal, or kill, or are outside the law.
Contributed by Madelyn G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@jonathanbernardi4306
Magistral la ejecución de Serrat, como siempre. Y tremendo visionario el Sr. Discépolo... Esa canción describe los tiempos presentes mejor que ninguna otra. Bravo.
@mariajosemantilla265
Que verdad tan grande, cuanta verdad encierra esta letra maravillosa, siempre estará vigente, y si además se le añade la maravillosa voz y el estilo de nuestro admirado y Symo Joan Manuel Serrat es una maravilla que siempre hay que escuchar te adoro queridísimo Joan Manuel Serrat
@julianmetz
Increíble la visión del autor de esta composición...es de que 200 años después sigue siendo igual!
@josefinaalvarez5928
Juan Manuel Serrat se adapta a toda clase de música! Que lindo lo canta a cambalache!! Y es así ese tango es tal cual como vivimos y ya estamos en el siglo XXI
@marthaballesteros2345
Increíble en la voz del maestro Serrat. Esta canción es un icono de la humanidad.
@janetmaria9050
Simplemente genial. Cómo siempre, Serrat.
@Airlm7
Casi 80 años después de ser escrita, se puede utilizar el mismo discurso. Para hacerselo mirar urgentemente. Serrat genio!!
@Gardenia262
Serrat interpreta muy bien este tango. Está de plena actualidad. Gracias por subirlo
@celiavilla-guillen7033
Ah! mi querido Joan Manuel!!! Gracias por compartir!!
@cynthiaveronicavegamarambi8217
Vivimos tiempos de cambalache ahora más que nunca