How We Resemble Each Other (En qué nos parecemos)

Music piece by:
Unknown. Popularised by Quilapayún
Testimony by:
Luis Cifuentes Seves
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, September - November 1973

During the 1960s, the group Quilapayún popularised this old Spanish song in Chile. Víctor Canto and I performed it as a duet in Santiago’s National Stadium, which had been converted into a concentration, torture and extermination camp.

Whenever the military allowed us to do so, we would sing it in the locker rooms where we slept, and in the grandstands where we spent much of the day.


Tags:

Published on: 23 December 2014

How each of us,
you and I,
resemble snow
You so white and graceful
and I in the way I melt.

The tall trees
are swayed by the wind
and people in love
by their thoughts.


Related testimonies:

  • Run Run Went up North (Run Run se fue pa'l norte)  Ernesto Parra Navarrete, Campamento de Prisioneros, Estadio Nacional, 9 November 1973

    Run Run... On the big pitch, mild summer weather was in the air.

  • Zamba so as Not to Die (Zamba para no morir)  Ana María Jiménez, Villa Grimaldi, April 1975

    I want to recall a night at Villa Grimaldi.

  • Lucky Devil (El suertúo)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974

    This cueca was composed at Chacabuco sometime between November 1973 and February 1974 and was sung by Los de Chacabuco, of which Víctor Canto and I were members.

  • A Cocky Fellow (El puntúo)  Luis Cifuentes Seves, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, November 1973 - February 1974

    This cueca was composed in Chacabuco between November 1973 and February 1974, and was sung by the band Los de Chacabuco, to which Víctor Canto and I belonged.

  • The Crux of the Matter (La madre del cordero)  Servando Becerra Poblete, Campamento de Prisioneros Chacabuco, 9 November 1973 - 10 November 1974

    I recited this poem in the National Stadium. I continued to do so in the Chacabuco prison camp, earning the nickname of “Venancio” from my fellow prisoners.

Testimonies from the Cantos Cautivos platform can be cited and shared as long as they are attributed (including the author, our project’s name and URL), for non-commercial purposes and without modifications, as per the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons licence (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Authorisation is required for 1) any reuse different from citations and sharing via the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license of the platform data and its associated metadata, and 2) any use in events, concerts, plays, films, etc., of musical works written or recorded by project participants. To that end, we request that you send a proposal at least one month in advance to contact@cantoscautivos.org. For uses of musical works written or recorded by people outside the project, please contact copyright holders.