Performer of a music style known as Canto Nuevo or Nueva Trova, Luis Eduard… Read Full Bio ↴Performer of a music style known as Canto Nuevo or Nueva Trova, Luis Eduardo Aute has been an artist in many different ways. It was in 1954 when Aute moved to Spain, after spending his childhood in the Philippines. Deciding to become an artist, Luis Eduardo Aute's first passion was painting, having his first exhibition in 1960, while living in Madrid. By the mid-'60s, the painter and poet was convinced to start recording his own music and he signed up to RCA in 1966. The following year, Aleluya and Rosas En El Mar were released. Prominent books such as Las Matematicas del Espejo, La Liturgia del Desorden, and Animal were published in recognition to his writing skills. After releasing Alevosía in 1995, Aute started touring all over Latin America and Spain with a painting exhibition called Ad Libidum; he later participated in a collective album called Un Secreto A Voces, based on lyrics by Alejandro Filio.

Rojo sobre negro
Luis Eduardo Aute Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Rojo sobre negro,
una rosa roja se cayó
sobre el asfalto
y después llovió.

Fui a recogerla,
el viento sopló;
corrí detrás de ella

y desapareció.

Rojo sobre negro,
tus labios en la oscuridad,
llamas que se encienden
para iluminar.

Me acerqué a besarlos
buscando el placer,
maldije aquellos labios
cuando me quemé.

Rojo sobre negro,
sangre que tiñe el barrizal,
alma de un soldado
que no sufre más.

No pidió la guerra,
no quiso morir,

¡Cielos, cuánta mierda
para sobrevivir!

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Luis Eduardo Aute's Rojo sobre negro convey a deep sense of loss and struggle, using color imagery to express human experiences of pain and disappointment. In the first stanza, the singer describes a red rose falling onto the asphalt, followed by rain. The singer chases after the rose, but it disappears in the storm. This imagery of the fleeting nature of beauty evokes a sense of sadness and loss.

In the second stanza, the singer refers to someone's lips in the darkness, which they approach to kiss. The lips are described as flames that illuminate the darkness, but when the singer tries to kiss them, they are burned. This metaphor of love as a destructive force adds to the overall feeling of despair and frustration in the song.

Finally, in the last stanza, the singer refers to blood in the mud, and the soul of a soldier who no longer suffers. The soldier did not choose the war, nor did he want to die, yet he was forced to endure the violence and pain of battle. The song ends on a note of resignation, reflecting on the senselessness of war and the human cost of violence.

Overall, Rojo sobre negro is a powerful and emotional song that speaks to the difficulties of life and the human experience of loss and struggle.

Line by Line Meaning

Rojo sobre negro, una rosa roja se cayó sobre el asfalto y después llovió.
A red rose fell on the asphalt, contrasting against its dark color, and then it rained, making it even more difficult to see.

Fui a recogerla, el viento sopló; corrí detrás de ella y desapareció.
I tried to pick it up, but the wind blew it away, and I chased after it, but it disappeared.

Rojo sobre negro, tus labios en la oscuridad, llamas que se encienden para iluminar.
Your red lips in the darkness, resembling flames that light up the surroundings.

Me acerqué a besarlos buscando el placer, maldije aquellos labios cuando me quemé.
I approached them to kiss, seeking pleasure, but cursed those lips when I got burned by them.

Rojo sobre negro, sangre que tiñe el barrizal, alma de un soldado que no sufre más.
Red on black, blood stains the muddy ground, the soul of a soldier who does not suffer anymore.

No pidió la guerra, no quiso morir, ¡Cielos, cuánta mierda para sobrevivir!
He did not ask for the war, nor did he want to die, but he had to endure so much crap just to survive!

Contributed by Kylie J. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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