His musical career started at age 17 while he was doing his military service in the recently formed FAR (Revolutionary Armed Forces) created in late 1961 after the failed invasion of Cuba by the U.S.A. led mainly by the C.I.A. and the Cuban exiles in that country, the self-titled "Gusanos", ordered by former president John F. Kennedy.
The bombings by the U.S.A. where targeted mainly towards the urban settlements in La Habana, Santiago de Cuba and San Antonio de los Baños, the latter in which Silvio was living at the time. He was working as an educator for the Alphabetization Program of the Revolution in which he taught History, Mathematics, Geography, Grammar and Politics.
Esteban Baños was the friend that taught him how to play guitar while they were in the army, it was around 1964 when Silvio wrote his first songs. In 1967 he finished his Army training and started his career as a musician mainly as a solo artist but also shortly as a part of the Grupo de Experimentación Sonora del ICAIC (GESI).
Óleo de mujer con sombrero
Silvio Rodríguez Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Conocer el delirio y el polvo
Se ha perdido esta bella locura
Su breve cintura debajo de mí
Se ha perdido mi forma de amar
Se ha perdido mi huella en su mar
Veo una luz que vacila
Veo un perro ladrando a la luna
Con otra figura que recuerda a mí
Veo más: veo que no me halló
Veo más: veo que se perdió
La cobardía es asunto
De los hombres, no de los amantes
Los amores cobardes no llegan a amores
Ni a historias, se quedan allí
Ni el recuerdo los puede salvar
Ni el mejor orador conjugar
Una mujer innombrable
Huye como una gaviota
Y yo rápido seco mis botas
Blasfemo una nota y apago el reloj
Qué me tenga cuidado el amor
Que le puedo cantar su canción
Una mujer con sombrero
Como un cuadro del viejo chagall
Corrompiéndose al centro del miedo
Y yo, que no soy bueno, me puse a llorar
Pero entonces lloraba por mí
Y ahora lloro por verla morir
The song "Oleo de Mujer con Sombrero" by Silvio Rodriguez is a poignant and melancholic portrayal of lost love and the pain of separation. The lyrics describe a woman who has been lost, both physically and emotionally as the singer mourns the loss of their relationship. The woman's beauty and passion are emphasized through the imagery of "delirium" and "dust", which evoke a sense of wildness and freedom. The intimacy of their past relationship is also highlighted through the reference to her "brief waist" beneath the singer.
As the song progresses, the sense of loss and disconnection deepens. The wavering light and barking dog speak to the uncertainty and unpredictability of life, while the singer reflects on his own inability to find or hold onto love. This is contrasted with the idea that cowardice is a trait of men, not lovers, suggesting that true love requires courage and a willingness to take risks.
Finally, the lyrics introduce the idea of a woman with a hat, perhaps a reference to the surrealist painter Marc Chagall or the classic song "La Mujer con Sombrero" by Silvio Rodriguez. The evocative language of the verses gives way to a more direct expression of the singer's sorrow, as he confesses to weeping not just for the loss of his love, but for the sight of her dying.
Overall, the song is a moving and poetic meditation on the nature of love and loss, filled with rich imagery and emotional depth.
Line by Line Meaning
Una mujer se ha perdido
A woman is lost
Conocer el delirio y el polvo
Understanding the madness and dust
Se ha perdido esta bella locura
This beautiful insanity is lost
Su breve cintura debajo de mí
Her short waist beneath me
Se ha perdido mi forma de amar
My way of loving is lost
Se ha perdido mi huella en su mar
My footprint is lost in her sea
Veo una luz que vacila
I see a wavering light
Y promete dejarnos a oscuras
And promises to leave us in the dark
Veo un perro ladrando a la luna
I see a dog barking at the moon
Con otra figura que recuerda a mí
With another figure that reminds me of myself
Veo más: veo que no me halló
I see more: I see that she did not find me
Veo más: veo que se perdió
I see more: I see that she is lost
La cobardía es asunto
Cowardice is a matter
De los hombres, no de los amantes
Of men, not lovers
Los amores cobardes no llegan a amores
Cowardly loves do not become loves
Ni a historias, se quedan allí
Nor do they become stories, they remain there
Ni el recuerdo los puede salvar
Not even memories can save them
Ni el mejor orador conjugar
Nor can the best speaker conjugate them
Una mujer innombrable
An unnameable woman
Huye como una gaviota
Runs away like a seagull
Y yo rápido seco mis botas
And I quickly dry my boots
Blasfemo una nota y apago el reloj
I curse a note and turn off the clock
Qué me tenga cuidado el amor
Love should be careful of me
Que le puedo cantar su canción
Because I can sing its song
Una mujer con sombrero
A woman with a hat
Como un cuadro del viejo chagall
Like an old Chagall painting
Corrompiéndose al centro del miedo
Corrupting at the center of fear
Y yo, que no soy bueno, me puse a llorar
And I, who am not good, started to cry
Pero entonces lloraba por mí
But then I was crying for myself
Y ahora lloro por verla morir
And now I cry for seeing her die
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Silvio Rodriguez
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind