The band started when Jorge González and Miguel Tapia decided to start their own band while being high school students. They were inexperienced but enthusiastic, after many practices and writing songs, they asked Claudio Narea if he would like to join them, and impressed by the music they were making, he accepted. Towards the early 80's they went through some name changes and before settling on "Los Prisioneros" they had the name "Los Vinchukas" as their original name. In 1983, they had played a number of local shows and that's when they met Carlos Fonseca, their future manager. Through him, they managed to score a record deal with Fusión Producciones.
In 1984, the band's debut album was released, with the hit song "La Voz De Los '80" (which was never a single). They reached acclaim in the radio and by the next year they would be touring. In 1986, their long awaited second album "Pateando Piedras" went double Platinum album in Chile. By that time, the group was invited to perform at Argentina's Chateau Rock Festival and later to a similar event in Montevideo, Uruguay. They continued touring and they became more successful mainstream wise.
The band disbanded in 1992, then as a quartet with additional members Cecilia Aguayo (keyboards) and Robert Rodríguez (guitar), since Claudio Narea had left the band earlier in 1990.
The original lineup of the band decided to get back together in 2001, offering two massive concerts in the National Stadium of Santiago, and then releasing "Los Prisioneros", their first original studio album in 13 years. However, internal problems between González and Narea led again to the departure of the guitarist in 2001. Los Prisioneros continued working as a duet with guest members like Álvaro Henríquez whom with they released a cover album. In 2004 two additional musicians joined the band: Sergio "Coty" Badilla and Gonzalo Yáñez, releasing their sixth album Manzana the same year. A little while after the release of the album band members decided to establish themselves in Mexico, attempting to get more international exposure. Yáñez decided not to leave Chile and left the band. After touring through several locations in North and South America, they finally disbanded in 2006.
Poder Elegir
Los Prisioneros Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hay algo mas que comer y llorar
Que ver pasar los años
Siempre pensando en pensar
Las vidas no son bromas
Hay un poco mas que se puede hacer
Bastanta mas que enviar cupones a la tele
Mas que planchar tus bluyines
A cada fin de mes
Hay gente que esta comiendo
De tu no saber que decir
Su fuerza es la ignorancia
De todos nosotros
Vampiros que suponen que somos
Felices con sobrevivir
Y se aseguran que todo siga asi
Queremos elegir decidir
Debemos elegir como quieres vivir
Reclamar y pelear obligar
Y dejar de llorar
Y que nadie aproveche de ti
Es tan difícil
Yo sé que hay tanto miedo y frustración
Ellos se rién de todas las caras
Unas gotas de sangre a cambio de mil toneladas
Y solo cantar canciones
Queremos elegir decidir
Debemos elegir como quieres vivir
Reclamar y pelear obligar
Y dejar de llorar
Y que nadie aproveche de ti
In the song "Poder Elegir" by Los Prisioneros, the lyrics talk about the reality of life and how there is more to it than just eating and crying, or simply existing and letting the years go by. The singer emphasizes that there is more that can be done, more than just sending coupons to the television or fighting for a decent salary at the end of the month. He also talks about people taking advantage of others’ ignorance, and how some individuals assume that others are happy just surviving.
The song encourages people to choose and decide how they want to live their lives, reclaim their rights and fight for them, and stop crying and letting others take advantage of them. The lyrics recognize that it is not easy, as there is a lot of fear and frustration, but it also emphasizes that not choosing and not fighting is not the way to go. The singer acknowledges that there are individuals who laugh at others’ faces, and that sometimes people are willing to trade a few drops of blood for a thousand tons of something else.
Overall, the song is a call to action, encouraging people to take control of their lives, demand their rights, and not let others take advantage of them.
Line by Line Meaning
La vida no es broma
Life is not a joke
Hay algo mas que comer y llorar
There is more to life than eating and crying
Que ver pasar los años
Just watching the years go by
Siempre pensando en pensar
Always thinking about thinking
Las vidas no son bromas
Lives are not jokes
Hay un poco mas que se puede hacer
There is a little more that can be done
Bastanta mas que enviar cupones a la tele
Much more than sending coupons to the TV
Mas que planchar tus bluyines
More than ironing your jeans
Mas que pelear por un sueldo decente
More than fighting for a decent salary
A cada fin de mes
At the end of each month
Hay gente que esta comiendo
There are people out there eating
De tu no saber que decir
Because you don't know what to say
Su fuerza es la ignorancia
Their strength is ignorance
De todos nosotros
From all of us
Vampiros que suponen que somos
Vampires who assume that we are
Felices con sobrevivir
Happy just to survive
Y se aseguran que todo siga asi
And ensure that everything stays that way
Queremos elegir decidir
We want to choose to decide
Debemos elegir como quieres vivir
We should choose how we want to live
Reclamar y pelear obligar
To demand and fight, to compel
Y dejar de llorar
And stop crying
Y que nadie aproveche de ti
And no one takes advantage of you
Es tan difícil
It's so difficult
Yo sé que hay tanto miedo y frustración
I know there is so much fear and frustration
Ellos se rién de todas las caras
They laugh at all the faces
Unas gotas de sangre a cambio de mil toneladas
A few drops of blood in exchange for a thousand tons
Y solo cantar canciones
And only sing songs
Lyrics © SADAIC LATIN COPYRIGHTS, INC.
Written by: JORGE GONZALEZ
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Eduardo V
Excelente. Escuchaba mucho el disco "la cultura de la basura" en mi adolescencia. Vuelvo a escuchar esta canción luego de años de escuchar un sinfín de artistas latinos y europeos y me ratifico en que los prisioneros fueron una bandaza.
Saludos desde Perú
Marco Vasquez
EN PLENO 2021, ESTE VERDADERO HIMNO A LA DESIGUALDAD DESPUES DE 30 AÑOS SIGUE LATENTE, EN CHILE MUCHAS COSAS SIGUEN IGUAL QUE HACE 50 AÑOS. LOS UNICOS QUE EN PLENA DICTADURA DOIERON LA CARA CON SU MUSICA LLENA DE VALENTIA, IDEALES Y FUERZA POPULAR.
Byca Gabriel Belicci
Así tendría q haber sido grabado q potencia!!! Smithers traiga a ese hombre, lo voy a hacer vicepresidente ejecutivo
Ynely Pélez
Porfa haz más deLos Prisioneros Como Algo tan moderno, El vals,Una mujer que no llame la atención,Exijo ser un heroe,Otro día etc
alexdiaz 43
te quedó genial, podrías hacer más reediciones delos prisioneros xfa 👍🏻
Andres Flores Angulo
Brutal brother, de lo mejor
Alex
Genial! Me gustó mucho, creo que una re edición de Cuando Te Vayas estaría genial, siento que el tema está un poco vacío para el potencial que tiene en cuanto a melodía y letra :)
Escorpión 🐕 11.
Hola están todos buenísimo tus vídeos, ahora veo que hay muchos de verdad gracias por tu buenas producciones, FELICITACIONES 🥇🥇🥇🥇 Y ojala muchos mas videos de los grupos chilenos de los 80s. 🤗🤗😉🙌🎵🎶🎵🎶🇨🇱🇨🇱🇨🇱
Vania Tardones
Qué lindo suena 🤯
XL c4ble TrueGames
Otra vez. Esto no es una reedición, esto es una obra de arte.
Me pregunto si lo habrá visto Jorge.