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®
La Saeta
Joan Manuel Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"Quien me presta una escalera
Para subir al madero
Para quitarle los clavos a Jesús el nazareno?"
Oh, la saeta al cantar
Al cristo de los gitanos
Siempre con sangre en las manos
Siempre por desenclavar
Cantar del pueblo andaluz
Que todas las primaveras
Anda pidiendo escaleras
Para subir a la cruz
Cantar de la tierra mía
Que echa flores
Al Jesús de la agonía
Y es la fe de mis mayores
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar
No puedo cantar, ni quiero
A este Jesús del madero
Sino el que anduvo en la mar?
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar
No puedo cantar, ni quiero
A ese Jesús del madero
Sino el que anduvo en la mar?
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar
No puedo cantar, ni quiero
A este Jesús del madero
Sino el que anduvo en la mar?
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar
La Saeta by Joan Manuel Serrat is a timeless piece of music that speaks to the deeply religious culture of Andalusia, Spain. The song is a call for an essential tool, a ladder, to reach the crucified Jesus Christ, and is sung by a voice of the Andalusian people, telling of their faith, devotion and passion.
The opening verse sets the tone and rhythm of the song. The voice of the people asks for a ladder to climb upon the wooden frame of the crucifixion to take off the nails that hold the body of Christ, a cry attuned to the suffering imposed on Christ and to the emotion that accompanies it. The following verses talk about the significance of the song and its spiritual essence. The saeta, a flamenco song form, is dedicated to Christ of the gypsies and is always sung with blood on his hands as a sign of the sacrifice he must bear. The people are seeking the ladder each spring to climb to the top of the cross, the ultimate symbol of faith.
The song then turns introspective questioning the relationship between the singer and the Jesus on the cross, asking if it is the same Christ that walked over the waters, seemingly distancing himself from the visual and physical suffering of the crucifixion but still recognizing the spiritual essence of his sacrifice. In this sense, Serrat questions the representation of Jesus and tries to identify with the Jesus faced in his other mythic transformations beyond the traditional image of the crucified one.
Overall, La Saeta is a complex and deeply emotional piece of music that reflects the intersection of religious, cultural and political forces in Spain.
Line by Line Meaning
Dijo una voz popular
A popular voice spoke up
Quien me presta una escalera Para subir al madero Para quitarle los clavos a Jesús el nazareno?
Who will lend me a ladder, to climb up the wood, to remove the nails from Jesus the Nazarene?
Oh, la saeta al cantar Al cristo de los gitanos Siempre con sangre en las manos Siempre por desenclavar
Oh, the saeta as it sings to the gypsy Christ, always with blood on his hands, always to unfasten
Cantar del pueblo andaluz Que todas las primaveras Anda pidiendo escaleras Para subir a la cruz
Song of the Andalusian people, who every spring ask for ladders to climb to the cross
Cantar de la tierra mía Que echa flores Al Jesús de la agonía Y es la fe de mis mayores
Song of my homeland, which showers flowers on Jesus in agony and represents the faith of my ancestors
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar No puedo cantar, ni quiero A este Jesús del madero Sino el que anduvo en la mar?
Oh, you are not my song, I can't and don't want to sing to this Jesus on the wood, but to the one who walked on the sea?
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar No puedo cantar, ni quiero A ese Jesús del madero Sino el que anduvo en la mar?
Oh, you are not my song, I can't and don't want to sing to that Jesus on the wood, but to the one who walked on the sea?
Oh, no eres tú mi cantar No puedo cantar, ni quiero A este Jesús del madero Sino el que anduvo en la mar?
Oh, you are not my song, I can't and don't want to sing to this Jesus on the wood, but to the one who walked on the sea?
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Antonio Machado, Joan Manuel Serrat
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@coconoballnofun1777
Quié vino después de escuchar a Igancio en La Voz Argentina. Viva Macahado, viva Serrat y viva Ignacio!!
@amartyadas3794
ajajaj aca presente!
@MarianoBeatlero
Yo!
@kevinferreyra9762
X2
@PedroRamirez-mq8sq
x 3
@lucianokenshiro9548
Tal cual jaaa
@beatrizderkrikorian8099
Maravilloso poema y hermosa manera de transmitirlo a través del canto de este grande que es Serrat.
@isidororodriguez7259
Conmovedor Poema de Machado, en la voz del Gran Maestro Serrat, me hizo llorar, "no puedo cantar ni quiero, a ese Jesús del madero, sino al que anduvo en la Mar". Sublime!!!
@lorenavaca5747
Yo lloro cada vez que la escucho
@aliciamariaalanis610
Isidoro! SÍ a ése Jesús debemos ver, al q anda entre nosotros y NO al q colgaron en la Cruz!!