Miren cómo sonrién los presidentes
To be hopeful about the future, politically, has always felt fraught. It hasn't stopped me one bit, mind you, to go out and cast a vote, but few have left me feeling confident about the future. If you haven't read it, take a moment to read Darius Simpson's "The Most Important Ballot of our Lifetime Again" (literally it's 11 lines on Instagram). Why am I saying this? Because once again I am heading into the election week of a country that I am a citizen of holding hope that things can change, but bracing myself for everything to stay the same or get worse, as it has. Go vote, you deserve the future you help make! La canción
Niña Tormenta & Diego Lorenzini - Miren Cómo Sonríen (original de Violeta Parra) El ambienteThere were thousands of us in the street and we forced change to happen, right? Why are we alone again? What happened to the people who were going to enact change? Why is it so quiet on this street as the armored vehicles roll down them once again? El contextoReleased in 1965 originally, the original is a song written by Violeta Parra (who is credited as one of the pioneers of the Nueva Canción Chilena). The cover above notably takes place on the empty streets of Chile in 2020 (during the so-called "estallido social"). It's an angry song if you're paying attention to what's said in the lyrics, angry that nothing changes and angry that so many people can be hypocrites. Oh, and if you're wondering what the deal is with the whole Pikachu mask (this Vice piece in Spanish was great), it was a whole thing during the estallido social. I tell people about this song at the same time as I explain the Chilean protests in 2019-2020, which inevitably leads me to this medley from that time (which real ones know I've talked about too much), it leads me to maybe the second song that ever radicalized me, and finally to explaining listening to Los Prisioneros as a Peruvian.
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