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®
Te guste o no
Joan Manuel Serrat Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Pero el caso es que tenemos mucho en común
Bajo un mismo cielo, más o menos azul
Compartimos el aire
Y adoramos al sol
Los dos tenemos el mismo miedo a morir
Idéntica fragilidad
Dos ojos y un sexo similar
Y los mismos deseos de amar
Y de que alguien nos ame a su vez
Puede que a ti te guste o puede que no
Pero por suerte somos distintos también
Yo tengo una esposa, tú tienes un harén
Tú cultivas el valle
Yo navego la mar
Tú reniegas en swajili y yo en catalán
Yo blanco y tú como el betún
Y, fíjate
No sé si me gusta más de ti
Lo que te diferencia de mí
O lo que tenemos en común
Te guste o no
Me caes bien por ambas cosas
Lo común me reconforta
Lo distinto me estimula
Los dos tenemos el mismo miedo a morir
Idéntica fragilidad
Un corazón
Dos ojos y un sexo similar
Y los mismos deseos de amar
Y de que alguien nos ame a su vez
Te guste o no
, the song "Te Guste O No" by Joan Manuel Serrat is a beautiful ode to the commonality shared by all human beings. The song opens with the lines "Puede que a ti te guste o puede que no" which translate to "You may like it or you may not" implying that the singer is not concerned whether the listener likes what they are saying or not. The singer then goes on to state that despite any differences, we all have many things in common. We share the same air, we worship the same sun, and we all fear death and have similar desires to love and be loved.
The second verse of the song highlights the differences between the singer and the person they are addressing. The singer has a wife, while the other person has a harem. The singer sails the sea while the other cultivates the valley. Yet, despite these differences, the singer is drawn to the other person because they still share the same fragility, desires, and emotions.
Overall, "Te Guste O No" is a beautiful reminder that underneath our differences, we all have inherent commonalities that make us human. The song celebrates these commonalities and encourages us to appreciate both the similarities and the differences that make up the human experience.
Line by Line Meaning
Puede que a ti te guste o puede que no
It's possible that you like it, or maybe you don't.
Pero el caso es que tenemos mucho en común
However, the fact is that we have a lot in common.
Bajo un mismo cielo, más o menos azul
Under the same sky, sometimes more blue and sometimes less.
Compartimos el aire
We share the air.
Y adoramos al sol
We both worship the sun.
Los dos tenemos el mismo miedo a morir
Both of us have the same fear of death.
Idéntica fragilidad
We share identical vulnerability.
Un corazón
One heart.
Dos ojos y un sexo similar
Two eyes and a similar gender.
Y los mismos deseos de amar
And the same desire to love.
Y de que alguien nos ame a su vez
And to be loved in return.
Pero por suerte somos distintos también
Fortunately, we're also different.
Yo tengo una esposa, tú tienes un harén
I have a wife, and you have a harem.
Tú cultivas el valle
You cultivate the valley.
Yo navego la mar
I sail the sea.
Tú reniegas en swajili y yo en catalán
You complain in Swahili, and I do it in Catalan.
Yo blanco y tú como el betún
I'm white, and you're like black shoe polish.
Y, fíjate
And, you know what?
No sé si me gusta más de ti
I don't know if I like more about you.
Lo que te diferencia de mí
What makes you different from me.
O lo que tenemos en común
Or what we have in common.
Te guste o no
Like it or not.
Me caes bien por ambas cosas
I like you for both.
Lo común me reconforta
The common things comfort me.
Lo distinto me estimula
The different things stimulate me.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: J.M. SERRAT
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind