Molina started her career in 1988 as a comedic television actress in Argentina on the show La Noticia Rebelde. She later starred in Juana y sus hermanas, a hit sketch show across the Spanish-speaking world, for which she remains better known in Latin America.
When you ask most Argentines for an opinion of her music, however, you are likely to get a response related to her popular sketch comedy show from the ’90s, ‘Juana y Sus Hermanas’. The local tendency to pigeonhole her as a wacky comic actress. Appreciation of the originality of her art has grown in recent years—in concurrence with the rise of her international popularity—but her early dismissal by critics here in Argentina continues to hang over her.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was this early criticism of her music that freed her to defy expectations on following albums. She could venture beyond influences and plunge ever deeper inside herself—digging out the music that she herself found most pleasing.
Molina grew up in a musical home. Her father, Horacio Molina, is a successful Tango singer and composer who gave Juana her first guitar lessons. Her mother is an actress and music lover who kept a diverse music library and regularly initiated family dances.
Dating back to her first years with the guitar, Molina was always intrigued by playing simple and repetitive melodies. She explains, “The first songs that I wrote were like loops. I would spend weeks playing the same few notes or chords, I would enter a trance. But I didn’t have the confidence necessary to play those by themselves. So I would insert a chorus, verse and bridge to make them resemble traditional song structures.”
Following the military coup in Argentina in 1976, the Molina family moved to Paris to flee the ensuing dictatorship. During those formative teenage years in Paris, Molina’s musical palette was vastly expanded. Long before “world music” became a genre of its own (loosely defined as it is), a couple of French radio stations that Molina regularly listened to offered programs featuring music from around the globe: Africa, Asia, India, Pakistan and various Middle Eastern countries. Molina loved the curious, exotic sounds and says, “It all really fascinated me, it seemed like it was from another world.”
She recorded these shows whenever she could, and built up a library of several hundred cassettes. She listened to the tapes constantly. But just weeks after her return to Buenos Aires the tapes were stolen out of a friend’s house. Molina still describes the loss as a “terrible pain”.
The painful loss, however, may also be understood as contributing to Juana’s daring artistic nature. As she developed her own form of expression, she couldn’t go back and study those strange sounds and styles that had interested her so much. She had to venture inwardly to find what was inside of her that had resonated with the unusual sounds that she had heard. They had planted a seed, but she would have to chase them down the rabbit hole herself.
In 1996 she decided to start her musical career and released her first album, Rara. Her second album, Segundo, was named Best World Music Album 2003 in Entertainment Weekly and gained a Shortlist Award 2004 nomination. Tres Cosas, her third album, was placed in the Top Ten Records of 2004 by the New York Times.
Son, her fourth album, released in 2005, has been acclaimed by the critics. In 2008, she released her fifth studio album, titled Un Día on Domino Records.
The lyrics on her albums are sung in her native Spanish and are often accompanied by acoustic guitar, among other instruments. Her music features elements of ambient and electronica, and she is often compared by critics to Björk, Beth Orton, and Lisa Germano. She usually writes, mixes tracks and performs on her own.
Antes
Juana Molina Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lo que decían fulana o mengana
Antes, a mi no me importaba nada
Antes, yo no quería saber nada
Con los que reían y disimulaban
Antes, yo no quería saber nada
Finjo y miento
Ya no soy yo
Soy lo peor
The song Antes, by Juana Molina, is about a change in oneself over time. The singer is reflecting on how they used to not care about what other people said or thought of them. They were content being themselves, never trying to fit in with others. However, something has changed, and the singer has become someone they don't recognize anymore. They now pretend and lie, revealing that they have lost their authenticity and genuine nature.
The repetition of "antes" (before) contrasts the singer's current state with their former self, highlighting the stark contrast between their old and present ways of being. The lyrics convey a sense of regret, as the singer wishes they could go back to the way they used to be. This song can be interpreted as a warning about the dangers of trying to conform to societal expectations and the importance of staying true to oneself.
Overall, the song Antes portrays the internal struggles of an individual who is trying to fit in with society and losing their authentic self in the process.
Line by Line Meaning
Antes, a mi no me importaba nada
Before, nothing mattered to me
Lo que decían fulana o mengana
What people said about me did not bother me
Antes, a mi no me importaba nada
Before, nothing mattered to me
Antes, yo no quería saber nada
Before, I did not care to know anything
Con los que reían y disimulaban
I did not want to be around people who laughed and pretended
Antes, yo no quería saber nada
Before, I did not care to know anything
Pero ya no
But not anymore
Finjo y miento
I pretend and lie
Ya no soy yo
I am not myself anymore
Soy lo peor
I am the worst
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: JUANA MOLINA
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Maria Florencia Gagliardi
Luca si que era un HOMBRE 100 POR CIENTO ....Te amo Luca
EleDe Erre
por menos pappos y mas luca prodanes en el rock.
Uriel Muzzio
Supongo que te referís a la denuncia de acoso que hizo la periodista Alicia Barrios...
for admiral
Totalmente!
EleDe Erre
@Nuck Chorris uuuh como esta el gremio de camioneros porque le tocaron el pappito mojadito. yo soy un feministo porque pienso que violar o abusar de alguien esta mal? hacete ver el marulo papu.
Nuck Chorris
Ven? Este tipo es el claro ejemplo de porqué los "hombres" feministos no deberían tener acceso a las redes sociales...si alguien, quien sea, te escucha comentando eso en cualquier bar te comes un cachetazo (no una piña porque a los feministos se les pega con mano abierta) pero te amparas en la impunidad de las redes, como buen feministo.
speednoise
@EleDe Erre mira nunca vas a llegar hacer nada como Pappo, vos sos un pelotudo
Juan Gadea
Luca serás mi heroe eterno!!! Lo mejor que paso por lá musica Argentina
Indira Robba
Juana siempre fue muy diosa y gran artista. Qué bueno q Luca Prodan la defendió. No todos son machistas en el rock!
Franco Javier Fazio
@Juan Ceniza por?