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®
Querida
Joan Manuel Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
pero es imprescindible su colaboración
para saber dónde se me ha perdido
la muchacha que hace un rato
estaba aquí conmigo
echándole aceite a mi lamparilla
tratándome como a uno de la familia.
No sabe con cuánto mimo
Vea mis dedos desde que no la toco
menguando entre mis propias manos poco a poco.
Me vienen anchos los pantalones,
hablo solo y sufro alucinaciones.
Le importaría darse la vuelta?
Déjeme verla de frente,
póngase aquí en la luz junto a la puerta.
Se le parece tanto físicamente!
Avíseme si volviera,
no es por capricho,
le juré amor eterno y no quisiera
quedar en entre dicho.
Y parece todo tan fácil
como extender la mano,
y es tan lejano
y tan frágil
que estoy tentado a emprender hoy mismo
un curso acelerado de transformismo.
Esconda las uñas, querida,
no soy el enemigo,
no es esa mi intención.
Sólo sospecho que es usted quien esconde
contra su voluntad
algo que me corresponde.
Póngale fin a este disparate,
vengo dispuesto negociar el rescate.
Le importaría que eche un vistazo
por sus intimidades,
que me dé un chapuzón entre sus brazos
prescindiendo de formalidades?
Avíseme si volviera,
no es por capricho,
Le juré amor eterno y no quisiera
quedar en entredicho.
The song "Querida" by Joan Manuel Serrat tells the story of a man who seeks the help of his lover to find a girl who has been lost. The singer seems to be in a desperate situation and needs the assistance of his lover to locate the girl he had with him just a moment ago. He tries to convince his lover to help him, saying that he cares for things that his lover might despise. He also shares that he is suffering from hallucinations and is having a hard time dealing with the loss of the girl.
Line by Line Meaning
Disculpe que insista, querida, pero es imprescindible su colaboración para saber dónde se me ha perdido la muchacha que hace un rato estaba aquí conmigo echándole aceite a mi lamparilla tratándome como a uno de la familia.
I'm sorry for this nagging, my dear, but I need your help to find out where the girl who was here with me a while ago, helping me with my lamp, and treating me like family, has gone missing.
No sabe con cuánto mimo cuida esas cosas que usted tanto desprecia de mí.
You have no idea how meticulously she takes care of the things you disdain in me.
Vea mis dedos desde que no la toco menguando entre mis propias manos poco a poco.
Look at my fingers, shrinking between my own hands since I haven't touched her.
Me vienen anchos los pantalones, hablo solo y sufro alucinaciones.
My pants are getting loose, I talk to myself, and I suffer from hallucinations.
Le importaría darse la vuelta? Déjeme verla de frente, póngase aquí en la luz junto a la puerta.
Would you mind turning around? Let me see you face-to-face, stand here in the light by the door.
Se le parece tanto físicamente! Avíseme si volviera, no es por capricho, le juré amor eterno y no quisiera quedar en entre dicho.
Physically, she resembles you so much! Let me know if she comes back, it's not a whim, I promised eternal love, and I wouldn't want to be in doubt.
Y parece todo tan fácil como extender la mano, y es tan lejano y tan frágil que estoy tentado a emprender hoy mismo un curso acelerado de transformismo.
It all seems so easy, as if I could just reach out and take it, but it's distant and fragile, and I'm tempted to enroll in an accelerated course of transformation right now.
Esconda las uñas, querida, no soy el enemigo, no es esa mi intención. Sólo sospecho que es usted quien esconde contra su voluntad algo que me corresponde.
Hide your claws, my dear, I'm not the enemy, that's not my intention. I only suspect that you're hiding something that belongs to me against your will.
Póngale fin a este disparate, vengo dispuesto negociar el rescate. Le importaría que eche un vistazo por sus intimidades, que me dé un chapuzón entre sus brazos prescindiendo de formalidades?
Put an end to this nonsense, I come ready to negotiate the ransom. Would you mind if I take a look at your intimate things or take a dip in your arms without formalities?
Avíseme si volviera, no es por capricho, le juré amor eterno y no quisiera quedar en entredicho.
Let me know if she comes back, it's not a whim, I promised eternal love, and I wouldn't want to be in doubt.
Contributed by Jayce I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
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Alberto Fumiato
Una de mis favoritas de Joan Manuel. Poesía y emoción. Muchas veces me he sentido como el personaje de la canción. Después de 40 años, a veces es el amor de mi vida, a veces una desconocida. Sin embargo no puedo vivir sin ella.
sergio constanzo sandaña
Le jure ,amor eterno.
sergio molina
El genio de Serrat es impresionante, todos sus discos son magníficos y tocan la fibra del corazón, yo compre este LP cuando salió no tiene una sola canción que no sea buena desde la primera a la ultima y tengo mas discos suyos, muchas de sus canciones me hacen llorar y otras reír de felicidad es inconmensurable su talento y su maestría componiendo y cantando sus temas, me se muchas de sus canciones de memoria.
Marcelo meditronic
ABSOLUTAMENTE GENIAL!!!!!!!!!!!! me emociona hasta el alma, para los que alguna vez hemos pasado por este tipo de cuestiones sentimentales, aunque superadas, no puedo evitar ocultar alguna lagrima cuando me siento a escucharla nuevamente
Cecilio Santana Silvestre
Esta es una de mi canciones favoritas del maestro Serrat, ahora la aprecio aun mas por mi hijo Elvis Santana Espinal que se deleita con ella...larga vida para este gran cantautor, Español, pero de todos los latinoamericanos que apreciamos la verdadera música con poesía....
Víctor Blanca
Que belleza, que disco.
ANA LILIA ESCALANTE ZAMUDIO
Ahhhh que manera de abordar la nostalgia por la distancia que pone entre las personas el tiempo transcurrido, lo cotidiano, los malos entendidos...
Roberto Pucciano
lo compre cuando apenas salio alla cerca de mayo del 83,yo estaba en tercer año del industrial,cuando pienso en 1983 ,solo recuerdo mi secundario,las salidas,las campañas electorales,serrat,mi primer cigarrillo,los años pasan
German Llanes
Es difícil quedarse con una sola canción de Serrat, pero si esta no es mi favorita, es mi segunda favorita.