Talk:Guantanamera

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Since the three versions that have been listed are all basically the same it's pointless to have them all. I'm sure Julio and Juilan sing them very differently, but since we can't hear them here it does us no good to compare them. The entire original poem without comments or translation would belong in wikisource, if anywhere, and under its correct name, not Guantanamra, which is based on it. Likewise it is useless for an English encyclopedia to have this much untranslated Spanish. So I'm deleting the redundancies, again. -R. fiend 22:03, 12 Jan 2005 (UTC)

• gratuitous anality and self-appointed hairsplitters impede the wondrous superfluity, redundancy, and quirkiness that gives wikipedia its charm and value, and distinguishes it from the bland corporate alternatives like Britannica and Encarta, IMHO

Contents 1 Guajira Guantanamera 2 Patriotic, but political? 3 Lyrics 4 Non sequitur

[edit] Guajira Guantanamera

Guantanamera means a girl from Guantanamo.

What does "guajira" mean? It was excluded from the translation for some reason... Thanks! --AC.

• evidently, in French, it means ma ville, HTH

Guajira is a colloquial term used in Cuba for a country girl.

Correct. The song/poem is addressed to the girl the "country girl from Guantanamo." I think this should be in there to put the song in context. Murcielago 22:42, 13 June 2006 (UTC)

• Guajira is also the style of music.—BassBone (my talk · my contributions) 02:05, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

See my comment about this ambiguity in the text of the article. Demf 18:07, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Patriotic, but political?

Is this song most often invoked by supporters of the current government, or the opposition (in Cuba and abroad), or equally by both, or neither? Basically, my question is, does this song have any particular political association today, or is it just generally patriotic? (I realize that Marxism is against patriotism, but as far as I known Castro has not espoused that particular element of Marxism)

I suspect it is like Marti himself - espoused by both. Though I am not sure it is seen as especially patriotic in Cuba. -- Beardo 05:18, 23 March 2006 (UTC)

My Spanish teacher told me that it was used by supporters of Castro to compare the glorious life lived by those wealthy enough to live in Guantanamo to the life of the impoverished, but the lyrics don't exactly make sense with that interpretation. However, the song Guantanamera is absolutely a song of Castro's supporters, not the opposition.Emmett5 04:24, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Celia Cruz a Castro supporter ? Nana Mouskouri ? Julio Iglesias ? Could there be different lyrics to the same tune ? -- Beardo 05:13, 17 May 2006 (UTC)

Naaaah, the Guantanamera is as popular and as flexible in Cuba (and elsewhere) as La Bamba is in Veracruz, Mexico and elsewhere. It is so simple in its musical structure that any set of 4-verse octosyllabic lyrics in Spanish can be adapted to it. Pro- as well as anti-Castro. It has become a universal song. Demf 05:29, 24 August 2006 (UTC)

Thanks - and thanks for your recent additions. It would be great if you could add a few references, as that is something this article is lacking at the moment. -- Beardo 13:01, 25 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Lyrics

We can't post the lyrics in the article, since the song is presumably still copyrighted. — BrianSmithson 09:31, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Is it ? Marti died 111 years ago - so his verses aren't, surely ? -- Beardo 11:12, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Idunno. The article says it was written in 1929, which is copyright territory. If there are older verses, I guess they would be okay. — BrianSmithson 16:01, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

Of course - those versions were in Spanish. I am not sure about the copyright status of the English translastion that we were using. -- Beardo 19:15, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

If they were translations, they would be derivative works, which are also not allowed (unfortunately). All that said, I Am Not a Lawyer. :) — BrianSmithson 22:21, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

The words are a 19th century Jose Marti poem. How can they be copywrited?--Zleitzen 00:35, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

The first and third verses are Marti http://oldpoetry.com/opoem/46409-Jose-Marti-A-Sincere-Man-Am-I---Verse-I- and http://www.wosib.org/translators/poems/poem3.htm, the chorus isn't - but once would surely be fair use. The other two verses ? And is the process of picking a couple of bits of Marti a copyright-able process ? -- Beardo 01:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC) (PS must split the film off from this).

That makes sense; the chorus is okay fair use. I'd be careful about the other verses, though. -- BrianSmithson 01:35, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

There's Simple Verse V - http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Versos_sencillos_%28J._Mart%C3%AD%29:_V. and III http://es.wikisource.org/wiki/Versos_sencillos_%28J._Mart%C3%AD%29:_III So i) is the process of picking out four verses copyrightable and ii) what translations are we using ? -- Beardo 02:18, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Non sequitur

Ok, folks, what am I missing here?

"she did have a romantic interest in him, but merely a platonic one"

Isn't this, like, an impossibility? 216.199.161.66 20:24, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

Has a "not" gone walkies ? -- Beardo 08:42, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Many people think there is such a thing as a "platonic romance", with "platonic" meaning "non-sexual"; that's a widely used term. I read the article as saying that she liked him but didn't want to have sex with him. 216.59.230.140 16:57, 7 January 2007 (UTC)