Career
Jurado began performing flamenco at a very young age, debuting on the big screen in 1962 with Los guerrilleros, acting alongside Manolo Escobar. She also played a main role in 1966's Proceso a una estrella and 1971's Una chica casi decente. While temporarily living in Argentina, the Spanish diva participated in a successful musical called La zapatera prodigiosa, based on Federico García Lorca's work. After teaming with composer Manuel Alejandro, Rocío Jurado became a major and beloved figure on the Latin music scene, acclaimed throughout America and Spain after releasing Muera el amor and Señora, among other hits.
Illness
In 2004, Jurado was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer for which she was treated in Houston, Texas in 2006. In April 2006, she was also treated for acute liver failure in a hospital in Madrid, Spain. On May 26, 2006, Spain's Culture Minister Carmen Calvo announced that Jurado had suffered a stroke, an assertion denied by Jurado's personal physician Dr. Domingo and by her brother and manager Amador Mohedano. She died at 5:15 in the morning on June 1st, 2006, at her home in La Moraleja, Madrid, aged 61. She is buried in her hometown, Chipiona, Cadiz, in the San José Cemetery.
Jazminero de Estrellas
Rocío Jurado Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
El cielo terciopelo negro y frio,
Mi corazón un pajaro perdido,
Mi libertad la luna que se aleja,
¡Ay amor!, ¡Ay amor!
La noche no me calma, el dia me hiere,
Voy sola entre la aurora perseguida
Sed de calor fuego de las mujeres,
¡Ay amor!, ¡Ay amor!
Si pudiera parar yo me paraba,
Pero voy a seguir toda la vida,
Pero antes de agonizar mas madrugadas
Ya no se donde voy, nadie lo sabe,
Pero sé que delante está la vida
Y detrás una muerte que no vale.
The song "Jazminero de Estrellas" by Rocío Jurado is a poetic and melancholic expression of the feelings of a person lost in her own world. The music creates a peaceful and serene atmosphere while the lyrics provide a vivid imagery of a starry night. The night, here, is personified as a jasmine tree made of stars, standing against a velvety, black and cold sky. The persona is represented as a lost bird, her heart beating with the anxiety of the unknown. She is seeking her freedom in the moon, which is slowly moving away from her. All these images are symbols of a person's struggles with life and its mysteries.
The persona is searching for an escape from the pain of existence, to calm her restless mind. However, both the day and the night seem to be hurting her in their own ways. In the dawn, she is still persistently searching for something she cannot define. She feels a thirst that now she doesn't know whether it's hers or others. She is still searching, desiring the warmth and fire of women. The lines "¡Ay amor!, ¡Ay amor!" repeated in the refrain, signify the pain and longing that are present in the character's heart as she is lost in her own world.
The song's lyrics symbolize the complexities of human existence in a beautiful and poetic way. The mood of the music is contemplative, and the lyrics leave a deep impression on the listener. The song speaks about the struggles that people go through in life, their desire for freedom, and the pain that comes with it. It is a relatable song that can move anyone who has experienced the difficulties of life.
Line by Line Meaning
La noche un jazminero hecho de estrellas
The night is like a jasmin tree made of shining stars
El cielo terciopelo negro y frio,
The sky is a cold and black velvet
Mi corazón un pajaro perdido,
My heart is a lost bird
Mi libertad la luna que se aleja,
My freedom is like the moon that fades away
¡Ay amor!, ¡Ay amor!
Oh love!, Oh love!
La noche no me calma, el dia me hiere,
The night doesn't calm me, and the day hurts me
Voy sola entre la aurora perseguida
I'm alone between the dawn chased by something
Por una sed que ya no sé si es mía,
Because of a thirst that I don't know if it's mine
Sed de calor fuego de las mujeres,
A craving for warmth and fire like those of women
¡Ay amor!, ¡Ay amor!
Oh love!, Oh love!
Si pudiera parar yo me paraba,
If I could stop, I would stop
Pero voy a seguir toda la vida,
But I'll keep going all my life
Pero antes de agonizar mas madrugadas
But before dying through more early mornings
Ya no se donde voy, nadie lo sabe,
I don't know where I'm going, and nobody knows
Pero sé que delante está la vida
But I know that life is ahead
Y detrás una muerte que no vale.
And behind there's a worthless death.
Contributed by Claire T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.