Here is a song, “de que” written in 1973 by the popular Uruguayan musical
artist, Alfredo Zitarrosa, with a translation in English.
You can hear a recording of him performing it, on YouTube as
Cancion “de que”, Alfredo Zitarrosa.
The year 1973 was the year in which a military dictatorship in Uruguay
took control of the country. (Which dictatorship ruled until 1985.
Which dictatorship drove Zitarrosa to exile in Argentina, Spain, and
Mexico.)
To me this song has an estrangement effect along the lines of what Bertolt
Brecht designed for the theater. In Brecht’s vision, rather than becoming
emotionally engaged and lost in the narrative, we as the audience are
encouraged to remain intellectually detached and critical. I would say that not
rather, but in addition to. That is, we as the audience experience our
emotional responses in a conscious way, such that in addition to being
entertained and given to feel, we entertain an intellectual knowledge of what
we are feeling. The encouragement to not only feel, but be conscious of the
feeling leads us to evaluate the circumstances of the play and how they apply
to our own circumstances: the structures, systems, and norms in which we find
ourselves living.
The language of this song leaves me feeling alienated and at the same time
glued within a web of circular rhetoric. It has the feeling of talking with
someone who insists upon twisting the meaning of the words in order to entrap
the speaker. It conveys a sense of disbelief and outrage.
It conveys a sense of disorientation that borders on declaring
that the thing is entirely nonsense, before realizing that it reenacts rhetoric
to distract from something while at the same time pointing to it.
"de que" -me dice el presidente-
"de que" -me dice el cantor,
el gerente, el locutor-,
"de que..." -me va a decir algo-
"de que..." -me dice- "que me dice
de que me va a decir…"
"de que me va a decir…"
¿Qué será, qué será?
"de que me va a aconsejar"
-dice que me va a hablar-
"de que me va a avisar"
¿Qué demonios será…
qué dirá, qué dirá…?
-dice "de que lo pensará…"-
Me dice "de que le da rabia…"
¿De qué?
Me dice que yo piense
"de que sucederá…"
¿Qué es lo que pasará
qué será, qué será…?
Me dice que hablará
-qué vergüenza le da…!-
Me dice "de que ya no puede soportar
de tener que explicar…"
(lo que me dice que dirá.)
Me dice "de que ya no sabe por qué
la gente no comprende
de que ya sucedió…"
Qué cosa con la vida
que el pueblo la ve!
Y él, que llegó hasta arriba
me dice "de que…"
¿De qué tartamudez,
de qué cosa tal vez
que no puede creer
es que me dice que "de que…"
"de que…" -me va a decir algo-
"de que…" -me dice- "que me dice
de que me va a decir…"
"de que me va a decir…"
¿Qué será, qué será?
"de que me va a aconsejar"
-dice que me va a hablar-
"de que me va a avisar"
¿Qué demonios será…
qué dirá, qué dirá…?
"what about it" - the president tells me -
"what about it" - the singer tells me,
the boss, the speaker-,
"what about it…" -you’re going to tell me something-
"what about it…" -you tell me- "that you tell me
what you’re going to tell me…"
"you’ll tell me about what…"
What happens happens?
"what will you advise me about"
-you say that I’m going to chatter-
"what will you warn me about"
What demons there will be…?
that you will tell, that you will tell…?
-you say, "what about you think about it…"
You say to me, "what about it makes you crazy…"
What about it?
You tell me that I ought to think
"about what will follow…"
What is it that will happen
what happens happens…?
You tell me that I’m going to chatter
-what shame you give to it…!-
You tell me, "that about which already you can’t stand
to have to explain…"
(that which you tell me that you’ll say.)
You say to me, "what about already you don’t know the reason
the people don’t understand
about what has already happened…"
What a slice of life
the town has seen!
And he, that got to the top
tells me, "what about it…"
What are you stuttering about,?
of what thing perhaps
that you can’t believe
is that you say to me that "what about it…"
"what about it…" -you’re going to tell me something-
"what about it…" -you tell me- "that you tell me
what you’re going to tell me…"
"you’ll tell me about what…"
What happens happens?
"what will you advise me about"
-you say that I’m going to chatter-
"what will you warn me about"
What demons there will be…?
that you will tell, that you will tell…?