Musicalized Dialogue between Two Old Prisoners (Diálogo musicalizado entre dos ancianos presos)

Music piece by:
Sergio Vesely
Testimony by:
Sergio Vesely
Experience in:
Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

At Puchuncaví Detention Camp (Melinka) I shared a cell with an elderly man from Lota, where he had spent his entire life working in the coal mines.

I was struck by the way he spoke. It was very different from the 'Chilean' way of a twenty-something-year-old from the capital like me. When he talked to our fellow prisoners, I could barely understand a word he said. I composed this song in the cell by transcribing some of our conversations.


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Published on: 22 June 2015

What’s the matter with you, buddy, why don't you cumpa*?
I don’t cumpo, buddy. But nothing’s wrong.
What’s the matter with you, buddy, why don't you cumpa?
Dry your face, it’s wet.

I don’t cumpo, buddy. But nothing’s wrong.
What’s the matter with you, buddy, why don't you cumpa?
What’s the matter? I’ve been behind bars a long time,
I’m in the slammer
and no one cares.




Related testimonies:

  • The Black King (El rey negro)  Sergio Vesely, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, 1975

    One cold winter night of 1975, the small clinic of Melinka, in the Puchuncaví Detention Camp, became the setting for a touching story.

  • National Anthem of Chile  Boris Chornik Aberbuch, Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, March 1975

    The Puchuncaví detention camp’s daily routine included mandatory participation in the ceremonies of raising and taking down the Chilean flag on the flagpole at the entrance to the camp.

  • Dreams of my Imprisonment (Sueños de mi encierro)  Mario Patricio Cordero Cedraschi, Cárcel de Valparaíso, Winter of 1975

    I’d spent two years in prison and there was no end in sight for my time in jail. I observed during visiting hours that many prisoners had children, a wife, family.

  • Ode to Joy (Himno a la alegría)  Luis Madariaga, Cárcel de Valparaíso, 1974 - 1976

    In prison, we would sing the 'Ode to Joy' when a comrade was released or sent to exile.

  • To Sing by Improvising (Pa’ cantar de un improviso)  Claudio Enrique Durán Pardo (Kila Chico), Campamento de Prisioneros Melinka, Puchuncaví, June 1975

    We made a Venezuelan cuatro from a large plank of wood attached to one of the walls of the "ranch" where we ate.

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