Pink Martini has twelve instrumentalists (and sometimes travels with string sections), and performs its multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Northern Africa, Australia and New Zealand and North America. Pink Martini made its European debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997 and its orchestral debut with the Oregon Symphony in 1998 under the direction of Norman Leyden. Since then, the band has gone on to play with over 30 orchestras around the world, including multiple engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl, the Boston Pops, the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. Other appearances include the grand opening of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s new Frank Gehry-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall, with return sold-out engagements for New Year’s Eve 2003, 2004 & 2008; two sold-out concerts at Carnegie Hall; the opening party of the remodeled Museum of Modern Art in NYC; the Governor’s Ball at the 80th Annual Academy Awards in 2008; and the opening of the 2008 Sydney Festival in Australia.
Lauderdale met China Forbes, Pink Martini’s lead vocalist, at Harvard. He was studying history and literature while she was studying English literature and painting. Late at night, they would break into the lower common room in their college dormitory and sing arias by Puccini and Verdi – and the occasional campy Barbra Streisand cover –thus sealing their creative collaboration. Three years after graduating, Lauderdale called Forbes who was living in New York City, where she’d been writing songs and playing guitar in her own folk-rock project, and asked her to join Pink Martini. They began to write songs together for the band. Their first song “Sympathique”– with the chorus “Je ne veux pas travailler” (”I don’t want to work”) – became an overnight sensation in France, and was even nominated for “Song of the Year” at France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards. Forbes, though fluent only in English, sings in 15 different languages.
Pink Martini’s debut album Sympathique was released independently in 1997 on the band’s own label Heinz Records (named after Lauderdale’s dog), and quickly became an international phenomenon, garnering the group nominations for “Song of the Year” and “Best New Artist” in France’s Victoires de la Musique Awards in 2000.
In October 2004, the group released its second album, Hang on Little Tomato.
In May 2007, it released its third album, Hey Eugene!.
A fourth studio album, Splendor in the Grass, followed on October 27, 2009.
Sympathique, Hang on Little Tomato and Hey Eugene! have all gone gold in France, Canada, Greece and Turkey; collectively, Pink Martini's records have sold more than two million copies worldwide.
On New Year's Eve 2005, Pink Martini performed live at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland, Oregon. This performance was aired live on National Public Radio's Toast of the Nation, and in partnership with Oregon Public Broadcasting was recorded for a live DVD and later broadcast on US public broadcasting and French television.[citation needed] The DVD has been rereleased to retail as Discover the World: Live in Concert, featuring not only the full concert, but several vignettes and a short documentary of the band's history.
The band has collaborated and performed with Jimmy Scott, Carol Channing, Henri Salvador, Jane Powell, Chavela Vargas, Georges Moustaki, Michael Feinstein, DJ Dimitri from Paris, clarinetist and conductor Norman Leyden, Hiroshi Wada, DJ Johnny Dynell and several drag queens from New York City, among others. On June 1, 2007, the band appeared on the long-running BBC Two Later with Jools Holland TV music program. On June 14, 2007, Pink Martini performed on Late Show with David Letterman, performing "Hey Eugene".
Pink Martini played Walt Disney Concert Hall on New Year's Eve for the first two years it was open (2003/4 and 2004/5). They returned to play NYE there again in 2008/9.
In May 2009, the band recorded three concerts with the Oregon Symphony under the direction of Carlos Kalmar for the band’s fifth album … a symphonic record which is slated for a 2011 release.
Pink Martini songs appear in such films as In the Cut, Nurse Betty, Josie and the Pussycats, Tortilla Soup, Shanghai Kiss, Mary and Max, and Mr. & Mrs. Smith and have been used on television shows such as Dead Like Me, The Sopranos and The West Wing, among others.[citation needed] Their song "Una notte a Napoli" is an integral part of the Italian movie Mine Vaganti (2010), by the Italian-Turkish director Ferzan Özpetek. The song "No Hay Problema" is included as background/setup music for Microsoft's Windows Server 2003 and was also used as the background/setup music for an early build of Windows Longhorn, now known as Windows Vista.[citation needed]
In February 2011, the group's lead singer, China Forbes, recorded a video greeting to the European Space Agency's Italian astronaut, Paolo Nespoli, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Kaleri, on board the International Space Station. The astronauts were preparing to oversee the docking of ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) cargo vessel, Johannes Kepler, which took place at 17:08 CET on 24 February. The greeting was set to the sound track of Dosvedanya Mio Bombino - one of Pink Martini's signature songs - and was mixed with footage of the actual docking.
In November 2011, they played at the Balboa Theater with the Bonita Vista High School band, Club Blue.
La Soledad
Pink Martini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Como poesía en la canción
Mostrándome
Un nuevo mundo de pasión
Amándome
Sin egoísmo y la razón
Nomás sin saber
Yo protegí mi corazón
El sol se fue
Y yo cantando tu canción
La soledad
Se adueña de toda emoción
Perdóname
Si el miedo robó la ilusión
Viniste a mí
No supe amar
Y solo queda esta canción
Viniste a mí
Como poesía en la canción
Mostrándome
Un nuevo mundo de pasión
Amándome
Sin egoísmo y la razón
Más sin saber
Que era el amor
Yo protegí mi corazón
El sol se fue
Y yo cantando tu canción
La soledad
Se adueña de toda emoción
Perdóname
Si el miedo robó mi ilusión
Viniste a mí
No supe amar
Y solo queda esta canción
The lyrics to Pink Martini's "La Soledad" describe a bittersweet love story. The singer describes how their lover came into their life "like poetry in a song," opening up a new world of passion and selflessness. However, the singer confesses to protecting their heart, not understanding what love truly is, and ultimately letting their fear steal away their hopes and dreams. The chorus repeats the message of how the lover came into their life and how the singer's fear led to their inability to fully love, leaving only the memory of the song they shared together.
The lyrics evoke a sense of regret and longing for what could have been, perfectly complemented by the mournful melody and instrumentation of the song. The use of "La Soledad" or "The Solitude" as the title is deliberate as the song talks about the loneliness felt when one is unable to fully connect with another person despite having found love. The singer is left alone with only the memory of the love that they had.
As it is with most of Pink Martini's songs, "La Soledad" is multilingual, featuring Spanish verses and English choruses. The group is known for blending different languages, cultures, and musical styles into their music. The band's songs can be sung in more than 25 languages.
"La Soledad" was released in 1997 as part of Pink Martini's debut album, Sympathique. The song has become one of the band's most beloved songs and is often included in their live performances.
Line by Line Meaning
Viniste a mi
You came to me
Como poesia en la cancion
Like poetry in a song
Mostrandome
Showing me
Un nuevo mundo de pasion
A new world of passion
Amandome
Loving me
Sin egoismo why sin razon
Without selfishness and without reason
Mas sin saber
But without knowing
Que era el amor
What love was
Yo protegi mi corazon
I protected my heart
El sol se fue
The sun went away
why yo cantando tu cancion
And I singing your song
La soledad
Loneliness
Se aduena de toda emocion
Takes over all emotion
Perdoname
Forgive me
Si el miedo robo mi ilusion
If fear stole my illusion
Viniste a mi
You came to me
No supe amar
I didn't know how to love
why solo queda esta cancion
And only this song remains
Lyrics © Sentric Music
Written by: Frederic Chopin, Pepe Raphael, Thomas Lauderdale
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@astasdemir
Viniste a mi
Como poesia en la cancion
Mostrandome
Un nuevo mundo de pasion
Amandome
Sin egoismo why sin razon
Mas sin saber
Que era el amor
Yo protegi mi corazon
El sol se fue
why yo cantando tu cancion
La soledad
Se aduena de toda emocion
Perdoname
Si el miedo robo mi ilusion
Viniste a mi
No supe amar
why solo queda esta cancion
Viniste a mi
Como poesia en la cancion
Mostrandome
Un nuevo mundo de pasion
Amandome
Sin egoismo why sin razon
Mas sin saber
Que era…
@astasdemir
bana geldin, sarkidaki siir gibi
Vbana tutkuyla dolu yepyeni bir dunya gosterdin
beni bencillikten uzak ve sebepsizce sevdin
bense bunun ask oldugunu bilmeksizin kalbimi korudum daha cok..
gunes batti
senin sarkini soyluyorum
yalnizlik tum duygulara hakim oluyor
eger korkum yuzunden bu buyuyu bozduysam beni affet
bana geldin
sevmeyi bilemedim
ve geriye yalnizca bu sarki kaldi..
@hamedghabech8074
Viniste a mi
Como poesia en la cancion
Mostrandome
Un nuevo mundo de pasion
Amandome
Sin egoismo why sin razon
Mas sin saber
Que era el amor
Yo protegi mi corazon
El sol se fue
why yo cantando tu cancion
La soledad
Se aduena de toda emocion
Perdoname
Si el miedo robo mi ilusion
Viniste a mi
No supe amar
why solo queda esta cancion
Viniste a mi
Como poesia en la cancion
Mostrandome
Un nuevo mundo de pasion
Amandome
Sin egoismo why sin razon
Mas sin saber
Que era el amor
Yo protegi mi corazon
El sol se fue
why yo cantando tu cancion
La soledad
Se aduena de toda emocion
Perdoname
Si el miedo robo mi ilusion
Viniste a mi
No supe amar
why solo queda esta cancion
@shahramtaleghani2034
You came to me as poetry comes in a song
and you showed me a new world of passion.
You loved me without conditions or reason
while I ignorant of the meaning of love, protected my heart.
The sun has gone and now I sing of you
this solitude consumes me.
Forgive me if I was stolen away by fear.
You came to me I did not know how to love
all that is left is this song.
@hoditacordoba1420
Viniste a mí
Como poesía en la canción
Mostrándome
Un nuevo mundo de pasión
Amándome sin egoismo y la razón
No más sin saber que era el amor
Yo protegí mi corazón
El sol se fue
Y yo cantando tu canción
La soledad se adueña de toda emoción
Perdóname si el miedo robó la ilusión
@astasdemir
bana geldin, sarkidaki siir gibi
bana tutkuyla dolu yepyeni bir dunya gosterdin
beni bencillikten uzak ve sebepsizce sevdin
bense bunun ask oldugunu bilmeksizin kalbimi korudum daha cok..
gunes batti
senin sarkini soyluyorum
yalnizlik tum duygulara hakim oluyor
eger korkum yuzunden bu buyuyu bozduysam beni affet
bana geldin
sevmeyi bilemedim
ve geriye yalnizca bu sarki kaldi..
@user-em2zy9co6t
This is one of the most sensual pieces of music I have heard in a long time. The soulful vocals against the backdrop of Chopin are sublime. Truly a masterpiece. One to make love to. With the right person that is.
@anwerakkad265
Wonderful
@marismellla6589
i heard it first at a funeral.very melancholic text
@fabz1509
You just hear the authenticity & years of mastering their craft. It is so well constructed & beautifully performed.
@MelodiousHeart1
Oh, how I adore this song...words can't describe the depth of emotion this song brings me...
@michaeljoyce9732
Me tooooo. Wow.
@katerinasarri
The best tango song, so passionate, so delicate but strong at the same time ! And his voice is live a wave in the ocean, it takes you with it 😮😮😮😮
@user-jo2lr5fz6s
Прекрасное исполнение!!Браво!!
@CavemanForChrist
This is a great example of the era where "mash-ups" were common. Yet in this case it resulted in a masterpiece. I'm enamoured by this song.
@nataliedoyle4701
This sing will forever stay associated in my mind with the memory of a man. Without understanding the words, he loved that song and asked me what the title meant. I knew the Spanish word and told me.. Much later, after I had walked away from him I looked uo the full lyrics and discovered that they expressed perfectly his "avoidant" psychology, his inability to love me back. When I left, I told him he needed to do something about it. I hope he did and escaped the curse of loneliness. The song asks for forgiveness and I want to express it here: Raj, I forgive you.