only a pawn in their game

 

(*) Bob Dylan

A bullet from the back of a bush
Took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than the blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin, " they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used, it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game

From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoofbeats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game

Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain
Only a pawn in their game

One too many mornings

 

(*) Bob Dylan

Down the street the dogs are barkin'
And the day is a-gettin' dark
As the night comes in a-fallin'
The dogs 'll lose their bark
And the silent night will shatter
From the sounds inside my mind
As I'm one too many mornings
And a thousand miles behind

From the crossroads of my doorstep
My eyes start to fade
And I turn my head back to the room
Where my love and I have laid
And I gaze back to the street
The sidewalk and the sign
And I'm one too many mornings

And a thousand miles behind

It's a restless hungry feeling
That don't mean no one no good
When ev'rything I'm a-sayin'
You can say it just as good
You're right from your side
I'm right from mine
We're both just one too many mornings
And a thousand miles behind

Song to Woody

 

(*) Bob Dylan

I'm out here a thousand miles from my home
Walking a road other men have gone down
I'm seeing your world of people and things
Your paupers and peasants and princes and kings

Hey, hey, Woody Guthrie, I wrote you a song
About a funny old world that's a-coming along
Seems sick, and it's hungry, it's tired, and it's torn
It looks like it's a-dying, and it's hardly been born

Hey, Woody Guthrie, but I know that you know
All the things that I'm a-saying an' a-many times more
I'm a-singing you the song, but I can't sing enough
'Cause there's not many men that done the things that you've done

Here's to Cisco and Sonny and Leadbelly too
And to all the good people that traveled with you
Here's to the hearts and the hands of the men
That come with the dust and are gone with the wind

I'm a-leaving tomorrow, but I could leave today
Somewhere down the road someday
The very last thing that I'd want to do
Is to say I've been hitting some hard traveling too

Tell me how do it

 

(*) Migrantes (Tote / B.Torres)

I won't mess with your life no more

You know it was love, I just ask for respect though

You can try to hide it, but you gotta face it

Some loves stay even when you change location

What you gon' tell me, that you love him now

That you're so happy, he's the reason that you blossomed

Since I left, you didn't waste no time

You're confusing real love with a little bit of comfort

Tell me how you do it,

How you don't feel my hand when he is touching ya

How it don't move you nothing,

Watching our love fade, it don't even shake ya

Watching my heart break

Even though he doesn't deserve ya

Tell me how you do it,

I kissed other lips but I tasted your mouth still

Tried to forget you but my soul just won't listen

How do I make my heart turn into stone

And forget you in a couple months?

You're trying to cover the sun with one finger

That hug ain't real even if it gives you some heat

I know one day you'll see it even if not today

It's not healing to search for me in others, you're just hiding the pain

Our love ain't easy to forget, and I'm so fragile

Your memory comes back and it kills me, it kills me

Tell me how you do it,

How you don't feel my hand when he is touching ya

How it don't move you nothing,

Watching our love leave, it don't even hurt ya

Watching my heart break

Even though he don't deserve ya

Tell me how you do it,

I kissed other lips but I tasted your mouth still

Tried to forget you but my soul just won't obey

How do I make my heart turn into stone

And forget you in a couple months?

To the Young Who Want to Die

(*) Gwendolyn Brooks

Siéntate. Inhala. Exhala.

El arma esperará. El lago esperará.

la sustancia amarga en el pequeño hermoso frasco

esperará, esperará:

podrá esperar una semana: y esperará todo abril.

No tienes que morir este día. 

La muerte permanecerá, 

Te aseguro que la muerte esperará. La muerte

tiene todo el tiempo. La muerte puede

atenderte mañana. O la próxima semana. La muerte está

justo en esta calle, un poco más allá; y es la vecina

más complaciente, está lista para encontrarte

a cada instante.

No necesitas morir hoy.

Quédate aquí un poco  –pese al despecho, y el desánimo y el dolor.

Espera a ver lo que depara el mañana.

En las tumbas no crecen verdes que te sirvan.

Recuerda, el verde es tu color. Eres la primavera. 

Be Thankful for What You Got

 

(*) William DeVaughn

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you've got

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you've got

Though you may not drive a great big Cadillac
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back
You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall

Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean, wooh-ooh-ooh
Diamond in the back, sunroof top

Speak low

 

(*) Kurt Weill

Speak low when you speak, love
Our summer day withers away too soon, too soon
Speak low when you speak, love
Our moment is swift, like ships adrift, we're swept apart, too soon
Speak low, darling, speak low
Love is a spark, lost in the dark too soon, too soon
I feel wherever I go that tomorrow is near, tomorrow is here and always too soon
Time is so old and love so brief
Love is pure gold and time a thief
We're late, darling, we're late
The curtain descends, ev'rything ends too soon, too soon
I wait, darling, I wait
Will you speak low to me, speak love to me and soon

Recuerdo eterno

(*) Agustina Vila

(**) Ganadora del 13er. concurso literario

   nacional del Centro ¨Ana Frank¨ - 2021

Todos los dias desde hace 50 años suelo ir a un bar característico de mi amada ciudad, El Cairo, siempre pido lo mismo, un cortado con dos criollitos, los mozos saben que jamás cambio mi orden, que no soy un hombre de experimentar, es más, podría decir que soy la representación de la constancia, y que por eso mismo recuerdo muy bien las cosas que han desacomodado mi vida.

Es más, escribo esto para nunca olvidar aquella persona que me cambió la vida, ya que el médico me diagnosticó con alzheimer, dijo que escriba, que anote mis canciones favoritas aquellas que me traerían recuerdos, tal vez llegue a un punto donde ni yo sepa quien fue el hombre que escribió esas memorias pero por ahora me limito a contar la historia de la mujer que tanto amé, amo y amaré incluso aunque no tenga noción de mi propio nombre. Ojalá algún día ella también pueda leer esto.

Fue un día de verano, lunes 17 de enero de 1976, la humedad característica de Rosario, las charlas típicas de un bar, el olor a café que se mezclaba con el humo del cigarrillo, todo tan corriente; hasta que siento un perfume penetrante, de esos cítricos que yo solía detestar; no le presté atención, estaba por empezar a comer mi criollito hasta que siento que unas manos con textura de terciopelo toman mi muñeca, y cuando miro, ahí estaba ella, con su pelo oscuro como la noche, sus pequeños lunares que parecían estrellas en el cielo de su piel blanca como las nubes; quede inmutado por su belleza, y ella atino a sonreír, suavemente sin siquiera mostrar ni un poco de dentadura, mi reacción fue preguntarle si la conocía o simplemente tomó a la persona incorrecta, a lo que su respuesta fue "para vos voy a ser Carmen, la que toma el café con vos los lunes, solo quiero que me digas un nombre con el cual llamarte, pero que ese nombre no sea con el que te llamen todos", yo aún intentando entender la jugada, simplemente me sale seguirle la corriente, le digo que me llame Emilio, e inmediatamente ella llama al mozo, pidió una lágrima con tres de azúcar y medialunas dulces, absolutamente todo lo contrario a mí, que mientras mas lejos el azúcar mejor. Recuerdo que eran alrededor de las 10:00, tuvimos una charla muy trivial, pero nunca supe si Carmen decía la verdad en las respuestas que le daba a mis preguntas, al terminar su desayuno, sacó un block de notas rosado como el color de sus uñas, y anotó "todos los lunes a las 9:30 en el bar -Carmen".

Ese día volví a mi casa sin poder creer lo que habia pasado, y así fueron mis lunes por casi tres meses; en marzo se declaró la dictadura militar, ya no se podía salir con total libertad, menos a un bar, por lo tanto Carmen decidió que invitarme a su casa a desayunar sería una gran idea, y así fue, por largos meses, hasta que me anime a que Carmen visite mi casa, y así fue por mucho tiempo, todos los lunes a las 9:30, hasta que un día Carmen no llegó. Fui a su casa pero nadie contesto, le pregunte a los vecinos y me dijeron que la última vez que la vieron fue el día anterior, domingo, yendo a la casa de su hermana María, gracias a una vecina conseguí la dirección, fui a hablar con María a lo que ella me comenta que Carmen o "geronima" su real nombre, estaba embarazada, con mucha ilusión de que yo lo supiera ella volvió a su casa pero al parecer nunca eso no pasó. He movido cielo y tierra para encontrarla, pero hasta pareciera nunca haber existido, no dejó rastro alguno, busque en todas las comisarías, hospitales y cementerios. Nadie sabía nada, ella simplemente se esfumó con nuestro hijo dentro de su cuerpo, unos meses después, me dijeron que la vieron, de esos pocos que podían salvarse de los centros clandestinos de detención, me contó que Carmen ya parió y que le quitaron a nuestro hijo de sus propias manos apenas nació. Como ella ya no les servía más abusaron de su cuerpo, la torturaron y se la llevaron. Muchos me dicen que la olvide, que seguro la han tirado al mar, que jamás voy a encontrarla, pero Carmen me gustaría que sepas que yo aún te espero, que todavía estoy

buscando a nuestro hijo, él ya tendría 44 años, quizás hasta ya somos abuelos Carmen. La dictadura ya ha terminado, te espero en nuestro bar con tu lágrima y tus medialunas. Extraño tu olor cítrico y tus lunares, me he vuelto un hombre que no hace nada mas que esperarte a las 9:30 de cada lunes en el café sigo teniendo esperanzas de que algun día cruzaras esas puertas que doblan tu tamaño, quizas con tu pelo negro bañado en canas y nuevas arrugas en tu cara. Te quiero y te voy a querer siempre incluso si esta enfermedad intentase arrebatarte de mi mente no podría, porque mi amor por vos es lo único que me permite seguir con vida, te espero en el lugar de siempre.

Emilio.

Brivido felino

 

(*) Paolo Audino / Stefano Cenci

Ormai avevo pensato
Ho voglia solo io di te
Invece sento il profumo
Che hai messo su stasera per me
Provo a fare finta che
Ti resisto un po'
Ma in tondo poi perché
Qui è già calda l'atmosfera
Io con te stasera ci sto

Con un brivido felino sento che mi vuoi
La luce del camino spande su di noi
Hai la voce che ti trema stringi le mie mani
Mi chiami, mi chiami piano lo so
Ora che anche tu mi vuoi

Adesso mentre mi baci
Capisco che mi piaci perché

(Quel mistero dentro te)
È affascinante davvero
Sei quella che speravo per me

Provo a fare finta che
Ti resisto ma
Il gioco mi delude
É già calda l'atmosfera
Da te vorrei stasera di più

Con un brivido felino sento che mi vuoi
Il fuoco del camino brucia insieme a noi
Hai la voce che ti frema
Stringi le mie mani mi ami, mi ami

Con un brivido felino ora che ti dai
Ti sento travolgente vero come sei
Ho l'impulso di fermarti ma tanto non
Potrei
Se ti muovi, ti muovi, come tu sai
E ti sento che mi vuoi

Brivido felino, brivido felino, brivido felino
Brivido felino

Con un brivido felino, io potrei morire da adesso
Per come mi prendi e ti dai
E ti sento che mi vuoi

Ce ne hai messo di tempo!

One day

 

(*) Avidan / Nir / Winokur / Sheleg / Peled / Kleinman

No more tears, my heart is dry
I don't laugh and I don't cry
I don't think about you all the time
But when I do, I wonder why

You have to go out of my door
And leave just like you did before
I know I said that I was sure
But rich men can't imagine poor

One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told
One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told

Little me and little you
Kept doing all the things they do
They never really think it through
Like I can never think you're true

Here I go again the blame
The guilt, the pain, the hurt, the shame
The founding fathers of our plane
That's stuck in heavy clouds of rain

One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told
One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told

One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told
One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told

One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be-

One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told
One day, baby, we'll be old
Oh baby, we'll be old
And think of all the stories that we could have told

Piano man

(*) Billy Joel

It's nine o'clock on a Saturday
The regular crowd shuffles in
There's an old man sitting next to me
Making love to his tonic and gin

He says: Son, can you play me a memory?
I'm not really sure how it goes
But it's sad, and it's sweet, and I knew it complete
When I wore a younger man's clothes

La-la-la-di-dee-da
La-la-di-dee-da-da-dum

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine
He gets me my drinks for free
And he's quick with a joke or to light up your smoke
But there's someplace that he'd rather be

He says: Bill, I believe this is killing me
As the smile ran away from his face
Well, I'm sure that I could be a movie star
If I could get out of this place

Oh, la-la-la-di-dee-da
La-la-di-dee-da-da-dum

Now Paul is a real estate novelist
Who never had time for a wife
And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy
And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics
As the businessmen slowly get stoned
Yes, they're sharing a drink they call loneliness
But it's better than drinking alone

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

It's a pretty good crowd for a Saturday
And the manager gives me a smile
'Cause he knows that it's me they've been coming to see
To forget about life for a while

And the piano, it sounds like a carnival
And the microphone smells like a beer
And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar
And say: Man, what are you doing here?

Oh, la, la-la-di-dee-da
La-la-di-dee-da-da-dum

Sing us a song, you're the piano man
Sing us a song tonight
Well, we're all in the mood for a melody
And you've got us feeling alright

Rein me in

 

(*) Olivia Dean & Sam Fender

And I let go of everything I ever had

'Cause I couldn't give the love you deserved
By the Gunner you shouted, "Oh, my God"
It seemed churlish, but it's what I was owed, I suppose
Every flagstone of this town bears our prints
And all the bars 'round here serve my ghosts and carcasses
I wish I knew these things when I was young
'Cause now I've just grown so numb

We take whatever we can to get the reason back
So please, don't rein me in
Don't rein me in
Please, don't rein me in
I'm working myself up to a nice warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop, it's just pain
Please, don't rein me in

I wish I could tell you everything
But my stomach was too weak
Sometimes it's easier to throw away your love
Instead of accepting its defeat

Don't rein me in
Please, don't rein me in
Now I'm working myself up to a nice warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop it's just pain
Please, don't rein me in

And I'm, I'm stood here chewing everybody's lugs off
Telling everybody how much I fucked it up
Telling everybody how much I fucked it up
Telling everybody but you, how much I fucked it up
Slow down
Slow down

Now I'm working myself up to a nice warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop it's just pain
Please, don't rein me in
Now I'm working myself up to a nice warm bliss
All my memories of you ring like tinnitus
If I stop it's just pain
Please, don't rein me in

Alguien

 

(*) Jorge Luis Borges 

Un hombre trabajado por el tiempo, 

un hombre que ni siquiera espera la muerte 

(las pruebas de la muerte son estadísticas 

y nadie hay que no corra el albur 

de ser el primer inmortal), 

un hombre que ha aprendido a agradecer 

las modestas limosnas de los días: 

el sueño, la rutina, el sabor del agua, 

una no sospechada etimología, 

un verso latino o sajón, 

la memoria de una mujer que lo ha abandonado 

hace ya tantos años 

que hoy puede recordarla sin amargura, 

un hombre que no ignora que el presente 

ya es el porvenir y el olvido, 

un hombre que ha sido desleal 

y con el que fueron desleales, 

puede sentir de pronto, al cruzar la calle, 

una misteriosa felicidad 

que no viene del lado de la esperanza 

sino de una antigua inocencia, 

de su propia raíz o de un dios disperso. 

Sabe que no debe mirarla de cerca, 

porque hay razones más terribles que tigres 

que le demostrarán su obligación 

de ser un desdichado, 

pero humildemente recibe 

esa felicidad, esa ráfaga. 

Quizá en la muerte para siempre seremos,

 
cuando el polvo sea polvo, 

esa indescifrable raíz, 

de la cual para siempre crecerá, 

ecuánime o atroz, 

nuestro solitario cielo o infierno.

Lady Rain

 

(*) Roger Fakhr

Hear the story of the lady rain
It happened in the cloudy, early times of may
The sunshine who was going down his way
Saw the lady cry, cold, talking to her pain

Lady rain, lady rain
Won't you dry up your eyes?
Tell me, what's the reason for the useless cry?
Lady rain, lady rain
Won't you show me your smile?
I'm gonna tell you how to fight the saddest times

"Guiding sunray, " said the lady, "I feel sad" (ooh)
"The winter took away all of the strength I had
I'm going far beyond the highest hill"
No one can ever know how great a pain I feel"

Lady rain, lady rain
Won't you dry up your eyes?
I'm gonna give your heart a home deep in my soul
Lady rain, lady rain
Won't you show me your smile?
I'll never let you walk along the way alone

Hear the story of the lady rain
It ended 'bout the middle of the month of may
The sunshine, his big love couldn't refrain
He went too near and lady rain soon dried away

Lady rain, lady rain
Da-doo-da, doo-da-doo-da
Da-doo-da, dum-da-doo-da, dum-da-doo-da

Covered in you

 

(*)Jagger / Richards / Clifford

Covered in you, covered in you
Coming a bit unscrewed
Covered in you, covered in you
Feeling a bit unglued

I need a place to calm me down
But this town is so noisy
I need to drown my troubles somewhere
You're my love
You're the coat I can't take off
I'm aware of your affairs
And your perfume I can't shake off
I can never break off
The memory that's following me like a shadow
I'm always dreaming of your skin so soft
And ya hit me in the chest with your arrow
In my marrow
You're painted on my body all silver and gold
And purple and pink and your brain stone cold
This never gets old

Covered in you, covered in you
Coming a bit unscrewed
Covered in you, covered in you
Feeling a bit unglued
What can I do, what can I do
I'm coming a bit unglued

Listen, I wake up sick and tired of all these autocrats
You know they seem to be breeding like a swarm of dirty rats
With their missiles on parade and they're wreathed in gold brocade
Opposition plays charades, they must always be obeyed
You know I'm gonna to wait 'til the panic passes
Wait 'til you see the whites of their asses
Me and you were separated like Korea
There's so many knots we can't undo, we can't untie
You're always trying to give me bad reviews

Covered in you, covered in you
Coming a bit unscrewed
Covered in you, covered in you
Feeling a bit unglued
Smothered in blue, smothered in blue
Coming a bit unscrewed
Covered in you, covered in you
Feeling a bit abused

You were born on my doorstep, that's no coincidence
It all makes perfect sense, you know it's true
'Cause I'm covered in, you upset my equilibrium
Make me take way too much lithium
So goodbye lover, wish me luck
I'm gonna vanish down the highway in my truck
'Cause I couldn't really give a monkey's

Covered in you, covered in you
Coming a bit unscrewed
Covered in you, covered in you
Feeling a bit abused
Smothered in blue, smothered in blue
Feeling a bit unglued

You were born on my doorstep, that's no coincidence
It all makes perfect sense, you know it's true
Covered in you
'Cause I'm covered in you

What can I do
Covered in you, bent out of skew
Coming a bit unglued
Smothered in blue, broke the taboos
Coming a bit unscrewed

Freed from desire

(*) Rizzatto / Molella / Carmeni

My love has got no money, he's got his strong beliefs
My love has got no power, he's got his strong beliefs
My love has got no fame, he's got his strong beliefs
My love has got no money, he's got his strong beliefs

Want more and more, people just want more and more
Freedom and love, what he's looking for
Want more and more, people just want more and more
Freedom and love, what he's looking for

Freed from desire, mind and senses purified
Freed from desire, mind and senses purified
Freed from desire, mind and senses purified
Freed from desire

Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na

My love has got no money, he's got his strong beliefs
My love has got no power, he's got his strong beliefs
My love has got no fame, he's got his strong beliefs
My love has got no money, he's got his strong beliefs

Want more and more, people just want more and more
Freedom and love, what he's looking for
Want more and more, people just want more and more
Freedom and love, what he's looking for

Freed from desire, mind and senses purified
Freed from desire, mind and senses purified
Freed from desire, mind and senses purified
Freed from desire

Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na
Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na

Na-na-na-na-na, na-na, na-na-na, na-na-na 

Hey Jude

 

(*) Lennon & McCartney

Hey, Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

Hey, Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better

And anytime you feel the pain
Hey, Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders

For well you know that it's a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na

Hey, Jude, don't let me down
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better

So let it out and let it in
Hey, Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that is just you?
Hey, Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na

Hey, Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you'll begin to make it better
(Better, better, better, better, better, oh, yeah)

Na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, hey, Jude
Na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, hey, Jude
Na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, hey, Jude
Na, na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na, hey, Jude