While fully supportive of the Cuban Revolution, Milanés was critical of some aspects of the Cuban regime. He took official positions but allegedly avoided participating in pro-government campaigns; on January 25, 2007, he signed a petition supporting Puerto Rico's independence from the United States of America.
A number of artists have performed with him; among them Silvio Rodríguez, Joaquín Sabina, Ana Belén, Lilia Vera, Joan Manuel Serrat, Víctor Manuel, etc. Among his songs, "Yolanda", "Yo me quedo", "Amo a esta isla", "Yo pisaré las calles nuevamente", "Para Vivir", and "El breve espacio en que no estás" are especially well-known.
Since his first recording ("Versos sencillos de José Martí" in 1973), he issued more than 40 solo records, and many more in collaboration with other artists from Cuba, elsewhere in Latin America, and Spain.
The heyday of his creativity occurred probably in the early 1980s, with his records "El guerrero", "Yo me quedo", and "Comienzo y final de una verde mañana".
Cancion
Pablo Milanés Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Se me adentra usted sonriendo
Como si fuera la primavera
Yo muriendo
Y de qué modo sutil
Me derramó en la camisa
Todas las flores de abril.
Nunca llanto?
Como si fuera la primavera
¡no soy tanto!
En cambio que espiritual
Que usted me brinde una rosa
De su rosal principal.
De qué callada manera
Se me adentra usted sonriendo
Como si fuera la primavera
Yo muriendo.
Yo muriendo.
The lyrics of Pablo Milanés’s “Canción” are a beautiful portrayal of how someone enters our lives quietly and gradually, bringing so much joy and light that we cannot help but fall for them. The singer is struck by how the person is able to approach them with a smile, lighting up their world like springtime, while they themselves feel as if they are slowly dying. The subtle and gentle manner in which they have spilled all the flowers of April onto their shirt is a metaphorical expression of how this person has affected them deeply.
The singer then wonders who had told this new person that they were always laughing and never crying. They express that they are not always happy, but like the spring, they have their moments of blooming and withering. They also appreciate the spiritual and symbolic gesture of being given a rose from their main garden. The singer is once again revived with how they enter their life, and yet, it is also killing them softly.
Overall, the song is a beautiful ode to how someone can enter our lives so quietly but bring about such significant change. The lyrics capture the essence of living in the present moment by celebrating the small things and finding beauty in the everyday.
Line by Line Meaning
De qué callada manera
How silently you enter my life
Se me adentra usted sonriendo
With a smile, you make your way in
Como si fuera la primavera
As if it were springtime
Yo muriendo
While I am slowly dying inside
Y de qué modo sutil
And in such a subtle way
Me derramó en la camisa
You spilled onto my shirt
Todas las flores de abril.
All the flowers of April.
¿Quién le dijo que yo era risa siempre
Who told you I am always laughing
Nunca llanto?
And never crying?
Como si fuera la primavera
As if I were always in a good mood
¡no soy tanto!
I am not always that way!
En cambio que espiritual
Instead, how spiritual it is
Que usted me brinde una rosa
That you would offer me a rose
De su rosal principal.
From your main rosebush
Yo muriendo.
And all the while, I am slowly dying inside.
Writer(s): Pablo Milanes, Nicolas Guillen Batista
Contributed by Joseph B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Rachel
on El Amor De Mi Vida
Texto afectado en caracteres con tilde, corregido!
Rachel
on El Amor De Mi Vida
Te negar tres veces
Antes de que llegue el alba
Me fundiré en la noche
Donde me aguarda la nada.
Me perderé en la angustia
De buscarme y no encontrarme
Te encontrar en la luz
Que se me esconde tras el alma.
Desangrer caminos,
Sin salidas como muros.
Recorreré los cuerpos,
Desolados sin futuro.
Destruiré los mitos,
Que he formado uno a uno,
Y pensaré en tu amor,
Este amor nuestro vivo y puro.
Te veo sonreir,
Sin lamentarte de una herida.
Cuando me vi partir,
Pensé que no tendras vida.
Que gloria te tocó,
Que ángel de amor,
Que has renacido.
Qu milagro se dio,
Cuando el amor volvio a tu nido
Qu puedo hacer?
Quiero saber,
Que me atormenta en mi interior.
Si es el dolor,
Que empieza a ser,
Miedo a perder lo que se amó.
Te veo sonreir,
Sin lamentarte de una herida.
Cuando me vi partir,
Pens que no tendras vida.
Que gloria te tocó,
Que ángel de amor,
Que has renacido.
Que milagro se dio,
Cuando el amor volvio a tu nido
Qu puedo hacer?
Quiero saber,
Que me atormenta en mi interior.
Si es el dolor,
Que empieza a ser,
Miedo a perder lo que se amó.
Ser que eres el amor de mi vida